What change in circumstance will trigger a move to Universal credit? Worried & want to prepare.

[HarvestFestival]

Hi,

Single parent to school age child. Just found out i'm expecting a second, unplanned child with the father of my first child. He doesn't want to reconcile & this baby won't change his mind. Gutted, but it's done now & I can't change it

I claim CTC & WTC but no other benefits. I am self employed but also do some freelance work on an employed basis which will be coming to an end once i'm 15 weeks pregnant. I will remain self employed & will still be entitled to WTC & CTC based on my predicted income. I also plan to get back in to another area of self employment, with the hope of earning enough to come off WTC & CTC in the next couple of years.

My question are -

Will my baby (due late in the year) mean I am moved from tax credits to UC? Is a second baby a change in circumstance that triggers this?

Secondly, if I inform tax credits that i'm no longer employed, but am still self employed, and that my income will still more or less stay the same, is this going to trigger a move to UC? Is it classed as a change in circumstance?

I'm so worried about UC & just want to prepare as best as I can with the goal to eventually not need it at all.

Look up where you live here
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571711/universal-credit-transition-rollout-schedule-phase-4-to-6-2017-to-2018.pdf

If your area will not be a full digital area by the time you report either change you will stay on tax credits.

Here
www.welfare-benefits-unit.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/What-triggers-a-claim-for-Universal-Credit-in-a-full-service-area.pdf
Will tell you which change of circumstances mean you will switch to UC if you are in a full service area.

Thank you so much for those links. Excuse my ignorance but can I just check i'm correct - on the first link it says my Council name & local job centre under June 2018. Does that mean any changes reported before then will mean I stay on tax credits? Also on the second link it only mentions having a first child, nothing about a second child. I'm assuming adding a second child to an existing claim is not going to be the same as starting a brand new claim? Therefore i'll stay on TC's for the foresseable?

*forseeable

Yes any changes at all reported before June 2018 will mean you stay on tax credits, even those listed in the second link.
Yes as you already have a child having a second one wouldn't trigger a UC claim
anyway even after June.
You will be mirgrated to UC sometime between June 2018 and 2020. I would excpect it to be within the the later end of date range, as people with children are a more complicated claim then single people.
No guarantees though after June 2018( unless you had a third child in which case it would be November 2018 at the earliest for all areas).

The second document is quite frightening . A severely disabled person living on their own can lose £41-61 per week and there is no transitional protection because they will be considered a 'natural migration' and it is only 'managed migration' that qualifies for transitional protection.

Yes under income support there is a disability premium if you are severely disabled and live alone. This will stop all together under UC.
Also the premium for disabled children who do not have care needs at night but have significant day needs will be halved.

Thank you so much for your help. Any idea if dropping my employment (but remaining self employed and still earning more or less the same) would be classed as a need to start a new claim? I'm assuming it wouldn't.

What scary times we live in...

No prob , No I don't think it would cause you to start a new claim.
Yes very scary, I hope you won't need to rely on TC/UC for too long.

Sorry to jump on this thread. I've not looked too much into Universal Credit. Would if affect myself, i receive working and child tax credit?

I think if your new area goes to UC after you move, you will stay on CTC, so then you will transition to UC as a managed transition when the area moves over, so will get protection.

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/councils-could-have-to-pick-up-the-pieces-after-scrapping-of-severe-disability-premium/

Everyone will be moved to UC eventually, but for now it is only single people with new claims, not people with children or existing claims.

That's not true it depends where you live.