Please explain UC to me, terrible stress

[Tiptoptum]

I have been on Tax credits for 15 years (working) and although a pain with overpayments it seems a lot less tricky than bloody UC.

Ive got a migration letter which ties in with me wanting to drop a few hours at work (personal reasons) but im getting in a real mess with AET and CET because on one hand they say it’s all about earnings, but on the other hand it’s also about hours!

Im a single mum to 3, (9/12/16) and I work 30 hours a week. I earn just over 18k gross.
I want to drop 3 hours a week to 27 hours which will be earnings of just over 16k gross. This will be just over the minimum wage.

I know I am fine for the earnings threshold as I get £1300 pm and will only lose £100 pm if I change hours, but I am not clear on how they work out how many hours I should be working as it’s a vague “up to” 30 hours.

So how do they decide? I have to work around school hours, we are out in the sticks and the buses are unreliable, the youngest is in a breakfast club to allow me to start at 8 anyway.

I am literally worrying myself stupid. The 3 hours will improve things a lot for me, especially my mental health, but I’m now nervous to agree to it, if UC are hoping to announce I should be working 30 hours.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Sorry, I didn’t see this! So I go into change of circumstances and the money bit, re add everything up and take off the CB and CMS? I applied on 2nd and got CMS on the same day and CH last week.

There wasn’t an option to say I had those things, so I just included them.

I am finding it really confusing, I am not going to lie.

You don't take cms or cb off savings, report what you have saved if its over 6k

What I mean is when I applied it asked for ALL money in all my accounts, the savings is fine, it’s the fact that I get £600pm in CMS and Child benefit, which was also added into that amount.
Now I think I was meant to take them off, but it didn’t specify that

CMS is disregarded I've claimed uc for 4 years and never had to declare maintenence or child benefit, they know you get cb.
Honestly it seems stressful at first but I've never had any issues, i get 85% of my childcare back and as I've moved jobs and earned more the amount I get has tapered down. So much better than the experience I'd had claiming tc when my first was born
There are some really good fb groups which give excellent advice

I have put a note on my journal saying that I included both these things in my money in my account when I applied and the amounts for both. I hope that they will advise me on what to do.

Am I meant to do this every month do you know?? IE add up all my money in all accounts?

Child maintenance and child benefit are disrgarded as income in the AP in which you receive them But if you are accumulating savings so you're over the £6k threshold then the fact that you can say some of that money is from CMC/CB won't stop you from having tariff income.

You do include CMS and CB as savings it's just not counted as income when working out your monthly award in the same way carers or maternity allowances are for example.
You add up all the money in your account on the last day of your assessment period every month, if it's above 6k you report the exact amount, if it's below you don't need to report anything. If your income goes above £6k (or £16k) on the 1st to the 2nd to last day of your assessment period that is not classed as savings and you don't need to report any changes.

So if I am waiting for a statement on the 4th June, do I update my amounts this weekend? And if so, how? Do I just go into change of circumstances?

Sorry I missed out a chunk of information I thought I had written! You deduct any wages or benefits and CMS received in that assessment period before coming to a final figure, as they are capital in the AP you receive them and savings in the next.
Yes change of circumstances and then report change in savings do this by the last day of your AP but only if your final figure is above £6k or if goes below when previously it was above.

Also, I was paid a few days ago, do I take that off? Currently after I put everything in at the begining I had well over 6k, I still have over 6k but it won’t be as much?

I already really miss TC, I’ve also had to accept commitments three times in 5 weeks, I earn enough, I don’t need to job search but still I’m having to repeatedly re accept things

IMO uc is designed to be difficult to deter people from claiming it even if entitled (especially working claimants like yourself) I know of 4 people who stopped claiming and scrapping by. I work in homeless sector and we have trained benefits staff who help people claim as it’s such a nightmare.

I’m an intelligent person, but I’ve really struggled with this. There seems to be a whole group of people who know what to do, and they are having to impart that knowledge to lots of other people, because I have looked and I can’t seem to find any answers anywhere.
Although I will have over 6k so I know I will get deductions, I don’t want to declare 10k of money (for example) when I was meant to put figures in again deducting lots of stuff!
However, there is no further guidance beyond putting your original figures in!

Have you looked on the face book group? I’m not sure what it’s called but there’s a support group that can help you, I believe. I hope you get some help.

I have, and they’ve been quite helpful, but for some reason I have a complete and utter block with all of this.

Ive had my statement today and it looks roughly right, but I think it would be more if I could get my head around this.

I much preferred just giving my figures yearly to TC, on top of work, the kids and life, this seems a lot of “doing” to get your money.

If you are keeping all money in one account then savings is what is left at the end of the following assessment period. If you know you are going to be living off some of it for the month and it's not going to be over 6k at the end of the assessment period then it's not a problem. It's probably better to have a separate savings account and current account.

You don't have to claim. Do you really need to with getting hundreds in CM ? The having to keep accepting commitments should settle down. It really isn't complex to claim unless you are self employed which you aren't ?

It sounds like you're a bit confused about the difference between 'income' and 'capital'.

Income is anything you get in the assessment period you're in. Your child maintenance won't count as income during the assessment period it's in. Child benefit doesn't count as income during the assessment period it is in.

Once the assessment period has passed, any money you have left, whether in your main account, a savings account, premium bonds, etc., is your savings. So if you get £1000 child maintenance in April, and you spend £600 of it, then the £400 remaining is 'capital' or 'savings' and counts towards the £6000 threshold.

You can easily work out what is 'savings' by deducting any income that you received in the assessment period from any total money you have (including any savings accounts, premium bonds, etc.)

Yes deduct your wage in the AP they are paid in.

If you've got capital over £6k and it's changing every month then you need to report it. You only need tell them once in each AP. I'd suggest putting a reminder on your phone to report it a couple of days before the end of the AP.

@Babyroobs why are you querying why I need it? Yes I get CMS and CB but I am actually entitled to that! My CMS isn’t going into the savings pot it’s £300 split between 3 children, hardly rolling in it and then Child benefit for 3 children.

I am also a low wage earner.

I do think your tone is actually really rude, considering that I believe you help people who need to claim benefits.

I don’t even know why you think I shouldn’t claim if I am honest

@Calmgirraffe245

I believe not only has the earnings requirement jumped by a couple of hundred,

but it has also changed from a min of 16 hours to 18 hours

which would mean a lot of people looking for 2 more hours from their current employer, or a 2nd job ( for 2 hours ! ) or finding a new job altogether.

Unlike tax credits UC doesn't, for the most part, look at hours worked but rather multiples of the National Living Wage.

You're usually helpful when replying to benefits questions. Disappointed to read this post tbh.

@Bromptotoo

i just Googled, and found a huge document re

and as part of the document is the copy of a letter, and in that letter it states:

The Rt. Hon Mel Stride MP
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions
Tothill Street
Caxton House
London SW1H 9NA
8 March 2024

Dear Secretary of State,
The Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2024
The above draft regulations were presented to the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) for statutory scrutiny at its meeting on 8 November 2023. 4
The amendment will raise the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) to a monthly figure equivalent to 18 hours earnings per week at the National Living Wage (NLW) for individual claimants

The document is ' The Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 and is 53 pages long...
Luckily I found what I was looking for on page 15

Just a shame Google couldn't find me a shorter version. and whilst what I found refers to a draft, I understand it came into being on 9th May.

That complies with the principle I mentioned; multiples of NLW. If one earns twice NLW then the threshold is met at nine and a half hours a week.