A thread for positive UC stories? Let's start one.

[HereForAdvice2019]

After so many horror stories I must admit I was worried. We were lucky dp works changed his pay to the last Fri of every month so there will be no '2 payments in an assessment period' he is on a set salary to the penny every month
Any over time they will give in time off. So in that respect we were lucky as its an independent business
On TC we didn't get much 1/4 of what we now get in UC. We couldn't apply For HB only via UC. So after much research we bit the bullet and went for it

Yes the application process was a PITA. We couldn't get it to recognise us online so had to take our ID.
So far any questions on our journal have been answered almost immediately.

And our online e calculator was almost spot on (-£33 pm )

I'd just like to say please Make Sure you research, go to Citizens advice, do the calculations etc before hand. And hopefully you'll be lucky too.

thought it be nice to have some positive stories rather than horror ones all the time

Oh and so we weren't left in financial difficulties. We applied the day after outr 4 week normal. TC payment. The 5 week wait then wasn't too bad as would normally of waited 4 weeks for TC..
Maybe try to stock up cupboards a bit extra before hand if possible?

I think it’s just you, glad it’s positive for you but that’s sadly not the norm.

I've had terminally ill clients recently who've had to battle to have the correct elements added then had their claims stopped etc. I think there has to be an easier way !

I'm on UC and no complaints

I can't see what is positive about a system that means you would be worried about earning overtime? Surely that keeps people trapped?

'hopefully you'll be lucky'

You're either entitled to it, or not, it's not a lottery. Although how it's works, I spose it kinda is...

I only know one person whose had a good experience with UC, she switched when I signed on as we checked and she would be about £100 better off than the benefits she had previously. We signed up at the same time, had our appointments on the same day but mine somehow went wrong (no explanation from the job centre) and it took 10 weeks for me to get paid. By which time my savings were decimated. Meant I had to return to my abusive relationship which I had fought so hard to leave. I won't be relying on benefits again, I reckon it will take 5 years before I'll have enough saved to get out and stay out.

Glad it worked for you OP. But when you see how many have ended their lives because of this system, I can't see much positive about it.

Most people don't have bosses who will change pay dates, let you take overtime in lieu rather than for payment. People are trying to survive on zero hour contracts and each time their hours change their benefit gets even more messed up. Until someone took the DWP to court, disabled people were losing £50 a week as soon as they changed to UC, and they weren't changing by choice.

I don't doubt your intentions are good, but one positive report does not fix a fundamentally broken system.

AFAIK overtime in lieu isn't legal if it takes you under minimum wage. So your husband may still need to be careful about how much overtime he does, or he will be putting the company at risk.

It's great that your husband's employer has been so helpful, but it seems like he is now effectively trapped in this job? What happens if the company makes him redundant or he feels he wants to change his job for another reason? Are there prospects for him to increase his wages in the future?

Although it's great that things have worked out in the short term, this doesn't seem like universal credit working as intended to me, and it doesn't seem like a good long-term outcome.