Universal credit

[Singlemum57]

So background. I have a mortgaged property, work and have a toddler. My ex recently left us. I only work part time so my salary doesn’t cover the bills for the house and childcare. So I applied for universal credit. I’ve been awarded less than £100 from universal credit. Which doesn’t really help as it still leaves a significant shortfall.
I’ve now found out I lose my tax free childcare (where the government top up what you put in) because I receive universal credit. So I’m now essentially back to a no matter position.
I’ve applied applied for council tax support. But I don’t think there’s anything else I can do? I can’t afford the fees with selling my house but essentially can no longer afford to live here

You claim your child car cost back in arrears. So if you spent say 1000 in child care costs you would get up to 850 back the following payment. But you have to let them know what you've spent, add the invoice, payment from your bank.

I've found this fairly straightforward but they will reject it if not done correctly

I have no option to up my hours, my boss has already confirmed this. And I’m struggling to downsize because I can’t even cover things like the moving costs

Do you just add the invoice as a journal entry to universal credit?

You can't have a lodger in the house when you've got children! They haven't been police checked they could be anybody

I know it’s hard but what are the alternatives? What do you want to happen? Perhaps you could release equity from the house? But that’s not ideal for long term. If you downsize you’ll get the equity which will cover the moving costs. It’s crap I know but you can’t expect UC to maintain the standard of living you had as a couple.

Start looking for a full time job if your current job has no more hours.

Is your UC statement correct ? Is your child definitely on there? Could you claim childcare costs through UC instead?
Child maintenance is disregarded for UC.

You need to pursue your ex for what he owes, find a full time (or at least more hours) job and speak to your UC assessor/ job coach to clarify your entitlement.

@Singlemum57 there is a childcare section on the UC homepage. You add details of the childcare provider on there, they must be ofsted registered. You then upload the invoice and have to upload the invoice every month.

Also re moving, I was in a similar boat. You can move cheaply. The solicitors have to be paid some fees upfront but not all. I have sold or given away most stuff so we will just have a small van on the day. It’s about 2K all together which I have had to find/ save for.
Let us know if you need any help, a lot of us have been through it.
If you can’t work more hours at present (doing it all on your own is exhausting!) then don’t. Can you speak to your bank re; mortgage.
And yes, your ex must pay!!

You don't get a childcare element with UC the way you did with tax credits- as in, you would calculate what your childcare costs were per annum and get paid the childcare element in advance based on that.

However, with UC you should get up to 85% of your childcare costs back after you have declared them in real time.

OP, there are extensive notes on how it works on the UC site when you log in, and you should read them (not throwing shade, it took me a while to get round to it myself).

Are you claiming back your childcare through UC? How much do you take home from work per month?

Yeah that's what I meant, didn't word it right

Stuff here on how UC works if you have childcare costs:

https://www.kidsplanetdaynurseries.co.uk/news-and-events/universal-credit-childcare-funding/

Spousal maintenance counts. CMS doesn’t.

It does sound like you need to look for a full time job if you can't up your hours at your current job.

You need to be renting and one or more people in your household being classified as disabled to bring in the big bucks.

@BeGentleMentor
Thats really helpful to the OP isn’t it?
OP have you pursued CMS from your ex?

You should get 85% of your childcare paid. I’ve always found it very simple to claim and never had a claim rejected. Just upload the invoice making sure it shows the dates, contact details of childcare and child name and upload proof you paid it.

Go minimalist, sell everything you can, you can look for cheap replacements on FB or Gumtree once you're in a new place. Aim to move things yourself or with friends by car, if it won't fit in a car, sell it. Or look at the cost of hiring a self driven van, that could be cheaper than trying to replace fridge freezer and washing machine.

There's two council tax discounts, solo occupancy which gives 25% off if there's only one adult in the household and council tax reduction which is income based, apply for both. The worst that can happen is they say no.

Get a second job (or a different full time one) if you're only part time and your boss won't increase hours.

Claim child maintenance from your ex. And childcare payments from UC.

Then you just title the payment in the account child maintenance? Rather than having 2 separate payments into your account?