Universal credit worried!

[ChocIsNotSweet]

I'm really concerned after reading something on mumsnet about uc. I have 20k locked in an isa which I can't access for 5 years. If I have to change to uc does that mean I won't qualify for child/ working tax credits. There's no way I would survive on wages alone for me and my 3 Dc. I'm so worried I thought for some reason child tax credits were not part of uc.

Yes I am afraid it means you will not be able to claim any UC if you have over 16k.

Oh wow ok. Now I feel sick

Have a look into transitional protection. If you don't have changes that mean you need a new claim you could be ok?

When you say the 20k is locked away do you actually mean that there is a financial penalty for accessing it before the 4 year period is up?

^^5 year period

Yes I will be charged to access my money in the isa. I will therefore have a fair bit less than 20k and that will not last me very long as my rent is very high.

Even if you did access your savings and spend them to reduce under 6k then they would consider this deprivation of capital.

Do you have a current tax credits claim for all 3 of your children? How old are they?

My children are all under 5 and all receive child tax credits. I cannot believe this will stop. We will not be able to afford to live off the money I have!

Does anyone know when this is happening for existing tax credits claimants I can't find it online ?

Ok breathe it will be ok. As you have an existing claim you will have something called transitional protection. You need to look into this. So you can remain on tax credits until there is a change in your circumstances after Universal credit has been rolled out in your area.

What are your other circumstances, are you in rented accomodation and how many hours do you work a week?

Previous posts are correct op. I have just done some training on UC. You will not be forced to migrate to Universal credit immediately, they are expecting natural migration as people's circumstances change, so if you significantly change working hours, move house, lose a job, require sickness benefits have another child anything that would trigger a new claim would mean a new application under UC. For the time being your current WTC/ CTC claim will be honoured, there is no guarantee about how long this will last of course. It is going to affect millions and many people are unaware of the impact it is going to have. There are very high expectations placed on the claimants of UC but the timeframes for processing and payments are very long this is going to have a big impact.

Look on the Citizens Advice website for more information about Universal Credit, and links to the Gov.uk site. Make an appt to see a CAB Adviser if you want more local advice.

if people have warning of being migrated, it will allow people time to release their £20k of savings. I don't see the problem. How much notice do you need to give? I'm sure you can access ISA's if you need to you might just lose some interest.

And op, once your savings fall below £16k then you would start to get UC again. When it drops to £6k, you will get UC as if you had no savings as the first £6k isn't counted.

Babyroobs do you still have that link about what uc claimants will be expected to do in terms of work/increasing hours etc with ages of children? As op's dc are young she may be interested in this if it will mean entering into a claimant agreement.

Sorry Leather - It wasn't me who linked before. I think though , if children are under 5 there is no need for one parent to look for work until youngest is school age.. I think the rules are different for lone parents though, I think only if the youngest child is under 3.

Sorry I thought it was as I know we have been on a few UC threads together. It sounds as if op already has a job so hopefully she will be able to stay in it.

£16k plus no uc at all
£6-16 entitlement will be reduced (towards the top end it will be fairly significant)
Under £6k no impact

Big mouth

If one of your children ages out of tax credits would that trigger a new claim?

I had to do a brand new claim and it was a tax credit claim they didn't say I needed to move onto uc

It depends where you live at the moment as the roll out of UC is still ongoing - some areas are still operating under old system you can check with the map here

A child aging out of tax credits is a change of circumstances but I can't say for sure when that will trigger a need to transfer into a UC claim for families already on tax credits. it will depend on where You are and the timetable for migration, You have to report changes so I suppose the tax credits helpline should know!?!

No posion girl, that's because your area obviously hasn't rolled over to UC yet. So it's business as normal until then

So, in my area it's already been made clear that from September 2018, all NEW claims will be dealt with under the UC arrangements.

Until UC has been rolled out in your area, changes will not mean you move to the UC arrangement because it hasn't been rolled out yet.
As soon as rolled out, the UC dominates.