When is the best time to apply for UC?

[Pisces90]

I will need to move onto UC this year. Still on legacy benefits.

Can any that is on it recommend the best time to apply?

Some say it's better to leave it until you are forced but i would quite like to get it out the way.

Any advice would be great thanks!

P.S. I know there will be a mountain of other threads on this subject but it's hard going through them all looking for specific advice.

Ah flirtygirl since you're such an expert perhaps you should be doing my job, we've certainly had a lot more benefit enquiries lately, I'm sure you could advise everyone much better than I can 🙄

Should have also said;

We are a married couple with 2 children. I’m disabled and in receipt of the £360 ESA equivalent and we also get the £160 carers element, we’re exempt from the benefit cap.

@AnotherEmma is it really classed as a change in circumstances when my child turns 5? Going off the UC commitment that was posted i would have to have been looking for work since she was 3/4 anyway.

There is a conflicting opinion between a few posters which is why i made the thread in the first place. It's all a bit confusing and i don't know what to do for the best.

@flirtygirl I assumed if i got a job now i would be moved onto UC? So are you saying if i got one i would still be eligible for legacy benefits?

"is it really classed as a change in circumstances when my child turns 5? Going off the UC commitment that was posted i would have to have been looking for work since she was 3/4 anyway."

You haven't been claiming UC since she was 3 so it's irrelevant. You've been claiming income support which has different rules. Your income support will stop when she turns 5. That's a change in circumstances. You could continue to claim tax credits and housing benefit but you won't be able to replace the income support. Your options are to get a job immediately or claim universal credit.

There are conflicting opinions but this is not a matter of opinion, it's not a debate. Benefit rules and calculations are what they are.

I have professional knowledge and experience of this area, but I am of course just posting on the internet. If you want full confidence in the advice you'll have to go through the proper channels and contact citizens advice. Good luck getting through though, we're inundated atm! In my office we are getting through emails but not managing to answer all the calls. You could try your local office or the National help to claim service (there's a helpline and web chat).

@AnotherEmma thanks so much for taking the time to offer advice.

You're welcome

Can I just ask @AnotherEmma, I am a full time working, single parent on working and child tax credits. I stopped claiming HB after inheriting a sum that took me over the savings threshold but that's now dwindled so I'm thinking of claiming again and this will mean a move over to UC.
My adult DD is living with me atm as uni closed.
2 other children under 16
I will get a TC payment on 31st but wage not until 9th April.
Is there a better or worse time to apply or given the current surge does it not matter anymore?

Hi Purple! Have you done a calculation using a tool like Entitledto or Turn2Us?
I assume that you will be better off on UC, if you will get the housing element, but it's worth double checking.
In your case I would advise you to claim ASAP, this is because you presumably have some savings left to tide you over for the 5 week wait. You do also have the option to request an advance payment.
If no savings I would suggest waiting until 31st March when your tax credits are in the bank, as the tax credits will obviously stop when you claim UC.
Be warned, there's a huge number of new claims atm clogging up the system! You can apply online but may struggle to do things like verify your identity online or get through on the phone. You can leave a message in your UC account to request a callback.

@AnotherEmma I’m really sorry to ask more questions of you but I’m wondering if you’d possibly know (as none of the calculators work if you’re a student!)

I’m a student atm, get child tax and child benefit, but don’t claim income support etc despite having a child under 5. I get a student bursary of £209 every fortnight, it’s not SAAS or any type of student loan. Really struggling financially atm as I pay half my childcare fees. Just wondering if it’s worth it claiming UC or if I should avoid? Don’t want to end up in a worse position on it and definitely don’t want to claim if it’s going to affect my finances when I get a student loan in September

Buzzing
You should stay on tax credits. It's much more generous for student parents because more student grants/loans are disregarded under tax credits than under UC.
We have a big handbook on students and benefits but it's in the office and I'm WFH so I can't look stuff up sadly.
But I am 99% sure you should stay on tax credits.

PS Are you getting all the grants and help with childcare that you're entitled to?
www.gingerbread.org.uk/information/education/finances-single-parent-students/
Child maintenance?

@AnotherEmma thanks, don’t get tax credits for my youngest due to the third child limit (me and ex had both been working when we decided to have him, didn’t bank on separating and losing my job after!) I’m an NQ student so not entitled to grants/student loans atm as far as I know, once I’m into my HNC year and able to claim student loans finances will hopefully be a lot better though but will stick to tax credits and bursary atm.

Child maintenance has been put on hold atm as ex had been furloughed during this and isn’t sure when he’ll start receiving the 80% from his employers.

Thanks a lot for answering

Thanks @AnotherEmma I have done the entitledto calculation and would definitely be better off so I will apply asap and hope.

👍

Hello sorry another question @AnotherEmma
I claimed on Friday. Got all sorted on Monday! First payment will be 9th May.
On Tuesday my TC went into the bank.
Will I need to pay this back?

Hi purple, glad you're all sorted! Good timing with the tax credits payment What they will do is a final calculation of your tax credit award, it might be that you have been paid too much overall and will have to pay it back, but if that's the case you wouldn't have to pay it all immediately in one go. Often there is a small deduction made from UC payments to recover the tax credit overpayments. Make sure the tax credits office has accurate info about your income for April 2019 - April 2020. Check your payslips and add the info to your online tax credits account - or call them but I would guess longer wait times than usual atm.

Thank you so much. You are very helpful and much appreciated.

You're welcome

@AnotherEmma do you mind if I ask a question? I did start a separate post but no replies

Both myself and my husband have self employed earnings. My husband is ‘fully’ self employed and I work 22 hours PAYE and about 8 hours self employed.

It looks as though we are entitled to universal credit during the coronavirus as my husband cannot work. Having played around with a calculator it also looks like we might be entitled to this further on in the year when I go onto statutory maternity pay (hopefully he will be back at work by then!)

I have read all the government guidance on how to report self employed earnings as I will need to do this during the coronavirus and he will need to do this when he is back at work and I’m on mat leave. The ‘cash in’ and expenses out on a monthly basis makes sense to me but I am confused by the requirement to report tax and NI earnings on your self employed income on a monthly basis.

My husband has been self employed for 10 years and has only ever known what his tax and NI obligations are after submitting his self assessment eg once a year.

How are we meant to calculate tax and NI on a monthly basis in order to report to universal credit? I cannot seem to find any guidance on this at all despite crawling google!

My appointment for universal credit isn’t until 13th May (very long wait!) so I can’t ask them until then but wanted to get prepared in the meantime!

Hi! Is this helpful?
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/on-universal-credit/reporting-self-employed-earnings/
For tax and NI do you set aside some money for it each month - estimating the end of year tax/NI bill
based on previous tax year accounts?
If you're starting maternity leave this year and therefore reducing your earnings, it might be that you don't end up having to pay much tax.

PS Your husband might be eligible for this www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

Not sure where you are at with this as don't have time to read full thread but if you are going to apply for UC consider waiting until 06/04 as the new tax year uplifts don't apply until the beginning of the assessment period AFTER 06/04. So if you applied today you wouldn't get the new rates until your second assessment period.

I would be very cautious about applying for UC if you are on legacy benefits. Make sure you fully understand what is involved with claiming and the pitfalls and problems. You will need to engage a lot more with your claim and the DWP, and UC is much more unstable than legacy benefits; claims are sometimes closed automatically if you don't do something you need to do.

There may be work related requirements placed on you when there were none before.

If you earn make sure you don't apply for UC on or just before you are paid as this can cause significant problems with your payments and your claim.

Be particularly cautious claiming if you are self employed.

If you want to know any more on these points let me know.

Thanks Emma. Yes he will def be entitled to the self employment help scheme as he has 10 years of accounts. Last 3 years averaging about £22k.

His earnings are pretty stable eg last 3 years have been £24k, £24k and £20k ish so we would know roughly what his tax and NI for this year would be. Would it be ok to estimate the Tax and NI when reporting to universal credit then based on the assumption he will earn similar to last year?

Also what happens if when he does his tax return it’s slightly different as I guess it can never be completely accurate?! Especially with the uncertainty around when he can go back to work!

Sorry for all the questions we have never had to claim before so it’s all new to me!

"Would it be ok to estimate the Tax and NI when reporting to universal credit then based on the assumption he will earn similar to last year?"

Yes, except that he's not earning at the moment and may not earn again for months, so his earnings (and therefore tax and NI) will probably be lower in 2020-21. Not sure if money paid through the new SEISS will be taxable but I expect it will.

Tbh you don't really have to worry about this yet - when you first claim UC he won't have any earnings to declare. You can ask your work coach about it when you have the interview (which will be over the phone atm).

I have experience of benefit checks and advising people how to claim but not actually how to manage their claim once they are on UC, for that you will need to ask your work coach or maybe the citizens advice national help to claim service (but again that's usually for starting a new claim rather than managing it going forward)
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/claiming/helptoclaim/