Universal credit triggers

[Ginqueen20]

I’m posting for a friend who isn’t getting a straight answer when she directly asks the job centre. Basically she is on maternity leave but has worked out she won’t be able to afford to go back to her job once it’s over as childcare for all her children and travel is double what she earns, can she claim income support or is it only universal credit now? If she claims universal credit will it be seen as a fresh new claim under these circumstances or do they honour the amount of money she is currently receiving as I read something about ‘natural migration’? Thank you

No one can make a new claim for income support now. It would be Uc she needs to claim. It will be a new claim they will not honour what she already gets. It is only when managed migration happens that amounts will be protected. This will class as natural migration.

The amount she is getting now would be irrelevant anyway as it would be based on her working so it's not really possible to compare amounts anyway ?

Thanks for the info - regarding what she receives I worded wrongly I meant what she would get if it was ‘the old way’ or if she would automatically get the lower amount I’ve heard universal credit now give, but I assume it’ll be lower if it’s a new claim

If she’s not on tax credits now, the next yes it will be UC she has to claim

Even if she is on tax credits now she will need to switch to Uc unless she wants to manage on just child tax credits. If she is no longer working she will lose working tax credits ( if she received them) and can't make a new claim for anything. Has she considered that she will get help for childcare on tax credits ??

Thanks both she does get tax credits and help with childcare but after the baby comes she will need more hours covered which she can’t afford to make up the shortfall. I will pass on the info for her thanks

There is A group on fb she could join, they can work out thee full entitlement for uc each month to the pound. Sometimes its better to switch but it all depends on the persons circumstances. How many children, their ages, rent they pay, council or private tenant, in a couple, single over 25 etc. Wages per month.

Its called universal credit essentials. They have A very precise calculator that you can work it out yourself each month so you know what to expect payment wise. If you get stuck, they can help you and show you how to break it down so you're able to do it yourself.
There is A 5 week wait once application fit uc is submitted, however, there is an advance payment you can take to tide you over, which you pay back over the next 12 months. Say you can get advance of 1200, its 100 to pay back each month for a year. They will have a look at what your roughly entitled to and only give you an advance that is affordable anyway. So you're not going to be entitled to 500 for example and be given 1200 as An advance. Because obviously that would be unaffordable.

I can give you a rough idea what her entitlement would be if you know some of the basic information. Other than that, join the fb group i mentioned. you can't go wrong there