People already on UC

[hungrycater]

For people who were already on universal credit before corona virus, are u still getting paid on time?

That mentions that existing UC claimants will also get the extra £20 for this next year....will that apply to the legacy benefits too?

(Sorry I know that sounds really grabby, I’m on income support & CT credits, I am really struggling to make ends meet with the DC being home and sometimes having to buy more expensive ingredients as that’s all that’s been available, my electric and gas usage has also sky rocketed )

@Bringmewineandcake did u get paid as normal today?

Hi hungrycater
Sorry I forgot today was friday
Yes I got my UC payment today. No additional money, not that I was expecting any.

I put a claim in but I can't get through on the phone to go in and verify my identity, it says on my account that my claim will be stopped if I don't make an appointment but I don't know how I can do that if no one's answering my calls. I've left 3 messages in my journal but no response so far, any ideas anyone?

@Bringmewineandcake cool thanks

@Teacaketotty I would try Monday first thing at 8am. They not open Saturdays but they do open at 8 on a Monday

@DFAMA that last post was meant for u, I accidentally tagged someone else 🙈

Thanks @hungrycater I will definitely do that! This is all completely new to me and there are messages on there saying my claim will be closed if I don't make an appointment and then others saying I don't need to go to the jobcentre so its really confusing. I will keep trying to speak to someone and see what they say

@DFAMA also u may be asked to take photos of documents and upload them. That's what I had to do a while ago with my rent increase/new contract and usually I would go in for them to verify but they said to upload it instead

Keep checking your to do list on your account for things to do. Deffo ring At 8am tho as u prob won't be on hold too long

@dfama have you tried verifying your identity online through the link on your to-do list? That's the first point of call. Keep checking your to-do list and completing everything you can do. I can imagine the phone lines are really busy!

Yes I did that when I first applied and thats showing as completed but it still says I need to book an appointment to verify my ID in person but theres another message saying not to go to the jobcentre even if you have an appointment

I've put 3 messages in my journal asking what I need to do as I can't get through so I guess if they do end up cancelling my claim I have evidence to appeal to get it backdated but it is going to be really tight financially waiting another 5 weeks so I hope it doesn't come to that

Just to update in case there is anyone else on here panicking as I was, I finally managed to get through and book a phone appointment for next week, in the meantime my first payment which was not due until Tuesday has gone in already! Phew! I think the advice has changed now and they are telling people not to call as they will phone you if they need to but if anyone is worried about not getting replies on their online journal it is just because they are so busy at the moment but they are still paying out

DS got the increased standard allowance in his UC claim today. It's gone up from £251 to £342, which is pretty generous for him as he lives at home and we don't charge him board. His claim is quite straightforward as his earnings have stayed the same and he's been claiming since last year, so all his ID verification is sorted. His payments have always come on time, no delays.

That extra allowance will only be seen in full for people who do no paid work I’m presuming? Mind you now I think about it they’ve already deducted how much they can for my earnings so maybe I will see it in full?

I only applied last year and get deductions for an apparent tax credit over payment in 2017, plus massively inflated deduction for savings and earnings deductions. Last month I pushed for them to update my savings which had obviously gone down from when I applied so I’ll be interested to see what mysterious calculations they come up with.

I get my statement on the 19th and payment on 23rd.

Savings deductions are not mysterious.

You get £4.35 deducted for every £250 you have over
£6000.

So £7000 in savings would have £4.35 x 4 = £17.40 deducted monthly. £12,000 would have £4.35 x 24 = £104.40 deducted monthly.

DS works part-time, but he gets a work allowance in UC due to limited capability for work, so I think his earnings aren't taken into account. So he gets the full extra allowance.

Thanks carben. The mysterious part for me is how to keep the savings updated. Generally if you have savings when you start a claim there’s been a change of circumstances in your life (in my case partner moving out without warning and therefore suddenly solely responsible for bills and rent that were previously shared) and you are likely to be depleting those savings.

I just had an early statement and mine has significantly increased as not only has the personal allowance gone up but they’ve also adjusted the housing element so that they now take nearly all of my rent into consideration. The housing amount before wouldn’t have covered a one bed flat and I live in a small 2 bed house with my son.

It’s kind of criminal that they knew they had it set at such a low level that they knew to immediately have to increase it to stop people being evicted whilst furloughed.

Hopefully when the year is up they won’t have the political stomach to slash it again

That extra allowance will only be seen in full for people who do no paid work I’m presuming?

All the basic allowances for UC have gone up by £80. You get this if you are in work or not.

www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Universal-Credit-Rates

Also, any overpayments owed (for instance, from tax credits) have been put on hold until July so these won't be deducted from your UC amount.

www.gov.uk/benefit-overpayments

Thanks for that info. I noticed I hadn’t had a deduction and assumed I must have finished paying it off. I’ve been trying to find out how much I owed and how much was left for a while via notes on my journal. Finally had a reply this week telling me I have to phone to find out but I can imagine the waiting times and there will be people with far more pressing needs trying to get through so I decided to leave it.

Will put a note in my diary so I don’t get a shock in July.

Many things I’m not impressed by but I’m glad they’ve addressed how crazily close to the bone UC leaves people’s finances.

@TheHoneyBadger Debt Management are the only ones that can tell you the outstanding balance. Totally different section to DWP but did have much longer opening hours - although I'm assuming they will be on skeleton staffing with redeployment etc. so still may be quite hard to get through to.

Thanks.

Everyone's standard allowance is going up by about £83 a month for one year only due to Covoid. You have seen an increase in your rent because the local housing allowances have gone up from April.