Should I claim universal credit?

[blubellsarebells]

Ive just had my renewal letter for tax credits and my payment has gone down to £80 a week.
Some of the reduction is due to over payment as i earned more last year.
Also Im not getting child care element anymore until I can go back to work, my son to childminder.
Currently on furlough earning £188 a week.
I don't claim housing benefit as with my normal wages i wasnt entitled and the small amount I was entitled to before became a massive faff with my wages changing weekly.
My son is 10 years old.
My earnings last year were 17k but im in hospitality so cant see me getting up to that level for a while, Im currently looking for temp work around when my son can go to his dads.
Calculator says I will be much better off on universal credit.
Just worried about how difficult it is to apply for and if I will be forced to look for work or sanctioned with things being the way they are at the moment.
Im hoping someone wise can advise me and put my mind to rest, thank you

It's not difficult to apply for. Due to the age of your son you would be encourages to look for work paying 25 x nmw so you are a bit below that but realistically they rarely do much about it and particularly at the moment when it will be very hard to find work or increase hours they will do very little.

Also Uc may work out better for you if earnings are variable as Uc would automatically adjust each month wheras on tax credits because it is calculated over the year people end up with horrendous overpayments.

Thank you, i do usually work around 30 hours a week but currently on furlough and losing tips which make up a big chunk of my wage.
I seem to have overpayments every year with tax credits. Very annoying.
Thanks for your help I will start my claim later on today.

Please be sure that you will he better off in the long term on UC rather than text credits as once you switch you can't move back.

Also the UC standard allowance has been increased during Covid 19 but may well go down again (it has gone up by £20 a week for over 25s). Please bear that in mind when doing your calculations.

UC is easy to apply for online.
They ring you if they want to ask you anything
You can het an advance if needed too.
They will have such a back log at the moment, they wont be doing interviews, forcing you to look for work as the situation is right now

Its gone up £80 a month. As UC is paid monthly ....

Apply. Whats the worse that can happen

Thank you, im not worried about them forcing me to look for work, technically im still employed and hoping I can go back to my old job before too long.
Im not really sure what I think the worst that can happen is, im rubbish at doing admin and talking on the phone so there's anxiety about that.
Im more worried about when furlough pay stops and being left with only 82 a week tax credits to live on.
I think because of the housing element which i dont claim at the moment i will be better off on universal.
Plus they pay more towards childcare when it's needed again than tax credits.