Universal credit - end of contract

[BrokeMummyHardWork]

Hi all. Going to keep this very simple. I am working in a well paid contract £3000 a month, but it's due to end. Im a sole trader so it gets paid to me and then I inform UC of my paid for the month. My assessment date is 22nd of the month and I get paid on 28th, so as you can see I operate in a debt window ( I get paid on the last day of each month by contract). So the issue I face, is that I pay my rent entirely which is £1500 a month, half my earnings. Next month, I'll have to lay my rent based on this month's earnings but I wouldn't have been paid for May at all as the contract ends in April. Is there any help UC can provide? The money comes in and is gone immediately, between bills travelling into work and food, child care etc so I've not managed to save hardly anything, maybe £900. Can anyone advise? Im single working mum BTW. UC payment when I dont have a contract is only £2000 and my rent is £1500. Thank you.

Sense check I've got this right please.

Contract ends 30-04-25 and you will be paid £3,000 on that date. As your AP ends on 22nd the May UC payment will be reduced by the taper for £3,000 (gross?) after any work allowance.

Assuming you've not found work by the end of the next AP then your June payment of UC will reflect that fact and pay more though you'll obviously be considerably worse of than when working.

What day of the month is the rent due?

Thanks for responding.
My May payment from UC will reflect April's payment of £3000, but I won't be paid from my contract at all in May. Rent is due on the 28th. I've tried to find another contract but doubt I'll secure one so quickly :(

What day do you get your UC? Would landlord be willing to wait?

Landlord is housing association so may pose the question to them. UC is the same day, 28th.

UC is paid in arrears so I think this is a fairly common situation. Are you eligible for a UC budgeting advance?

No, I've looked :(

Unfortunately, I don't think there's any special help available. All you can really do is budget tightly and hope you get another contract asap

@BrokeMummyHardWork if the Landlord is a HA and you approach them in advance with 'cards on the table' then I would hope they would give you some latitude.

If you’re eligible for an advance, you could try that; although I don’t know if they give them for rent and I think you’ve earned over the limit. Even if you haven’t, I believe the max amount for a single claim is around £860.

Otherwise there’s nothing, you’ll just need to make arrangements to pay with everyone. I’m sorry, it’s really stressful, I hope you find a new contract soon.

Jeez, how much more can you get wrong.

@BrokeMummyHardWork won't be eligible for an Advance (unless possibly it could be justified under Change of Circumstances.)

Not sure what earned over the limit means nor
the £860 figure for a single claim. I'm guessing that given user name etc she's got kids and, as she pays rent, the amount the law says she needs to live on will take account of that.

I think they may be right in regards to threshold.

It's the rent which that's worrying, as it's such a huge chunk of money I simply can't front. And it's HA. If it wasn't so high, I would not be worried.

I didn't say she would be, I said IF she was.

The earnings limit is £2500 in the last six months, so she definitely doesn’t qualify, and the max amount for a single claimant is £812. That doesn’t change whether you’ve got rent or children. The only advance affected by that is the start up advance. The budgeting advance is a set amount.

Do feel free to go and check the regulations yourself; though.

You might be eligible for a discretionary housing payment from your local council.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments

Thanks for this. I would apply but my council requires I apply through my child school which is absolutely horrendous.

I do this stuff for a living; I so sad I have the UC Regs bookmarked!!

What do you mean by the earnings limit?

What is a 'max amount'? There is a concept of Max UC but that is the amount of money the law says a claimant needs to live on. With rent and kids in the mix that could easily be £2500.

£812 is fairly close to the sum of the elements a single person with no kids and no housing costs can get. But to get that you'd need to be incapable of work which clearly dies not apply to the OP.

How does that work if you've not got children?

Or it just imaginative use of resources with the school as a hub.

Your housing association rent is £1500!

Not disbelieving you, just very high isn't it!

Hope you get things sorted

If you do this for a living it s very worrying you don't know what the pp was explaining. The figures she quoted were the limits for being able to claim a budgeting advance which was very clear, it was nothing to do with the uc payment rates.

Got it now.

I knew we were either at cross purposes or the poster was way off beam.

Yes, I'm in north London in a new build. It's inline with the going HB full sum. So basically they know HB will cover a portion for most people. It's scandalous isn't it :(

Yes it is.

We've just been lucky enough to get a 3 bed ha place and it's £560 a month.

We were paying £11000pm privately before that and it crippled us.

Shocked that any ha charges that much, even if it is in London.