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Original poster

Universal credit - please help someone x

37 replies

shazzz1xx · 06/08/2021 14:57

My and my partner get UC… no one of us work and have a 2 year old… however my partner has just been offered a job but it’s different hours every week.. so this week he’s been in 40hours but next week he will only be needed 16hours, but the week after he might be needed 30 hours.. how would this work, would UC be on the ball and pay me what they should every month still as I don’t want to get behind on my rent also the weeks he only does 16 hours will UC automatically know and give us that extra for that week

Thankyou x

OP posts:
Original poster
shazzz1xx · 06/08/2021 17:13

anyone 🥺 x

OP posts:
ShitShop · 06/08/2021 17:16

UC is allegedly shit in these situations. From what I’ve heard on here (not first hand experience) they will cancel your claim every time he works more hours than they’ve allowed for in your claim. and you’ll have to resubmit it and wait 5 weeks for a new one. This also applies where people are paid weekly and their payday falls 5 times within a UC month.

The system is not fit for purpose. Unless it’s had a massive overhaul in the last year.

ShitShop · 06/08/2021 17:18

FWIW he’s probably better off working fewer hours on a more regular basis than being flexible and confusing the claim. But I’d speak to someone at UC or citizens advice for more up to date knowledge, as I say this is just what I read on here and it’s put me off changing jobs and potentially earning a lot more, for this exact reason. Flowers

dancemom · 06/08/2021 17:35

That's not correct. UC receive Real Time Information from HMRC regarding your partners employment and hours and your UC award will be assessed each month based on the hours worked in the previous assessment period. The claim will only stop if your partner earns an amount taking you over of the qualifying limit. If your partners income decreases again the next month UC will automatically be awarded again. Lots of people are on zero hour or varied hours contracts on UC and it's designed to accommodate that.

Babyroobs · 06/08/2021 18:02

The amount of UC you get will depend on what wages his employer reports to HMRC in your monthly assessment period. The payment you receive seven days after the last day of your assessment period will reflect the earnings reported. You will get a work allowance as you have a child, so if you claim rent element the first £293 of his wages is disregarded before earnings reduce your total UC and if you have a mortgage or dont claim rent costs then it's £513.
UC is very good in that it will just adjust itself if his earnings are variable.

Babyroobs · 06/08/2021 18:03

@ShitShop

FWIW he’s probably better off working fewer hours on a more regular basis than being flexible and confusing the claim. But I’d speak to someone at UC or citizens advice for more up to date knowledge, as I say this is just what I read on here and it’s put me off changing jobs and potentially earning a lot more, for this exact reason. Flowers
Odd comment. The more you earn the better off you are as you keep 37p of each pond of UC.
Babyroobs · 06/08/2021 18:04

@ShitShop

UC is allegedly shit in these situations. From what I’ve heard on here (not first hand experience) they will cancel your claim every time he works more hours than they’ve allowed for in your claim. and you’ll have to resubmit it and wait 5 weeks for a new one. This also applies where people are paid weekly and their payday falls 5 times within a UC month.

The system is not fit for purpose. Unless it’s had a massive overhaul in the last year.

Completely untrue. Even if the claim did stop , people can do a rapid reclaim and keep the same assessment period dates.
Babyroobs · 06/08/2021 18:08

I am assuming you rent and the way to calculate what you will receive is as follows.
Take whatever net earnings ( after tax,national insurance etc) your partner earns in your UC monthly assessment period.
Take away £293 work allowance then multiply by 0.63. This figure is the deduction form your total UC.
So if your UC total is £1500 per month ( rent , couples and child element) and your partner earns £1000 in the month, then the deduction would be £1000- £293 x 0.63 = £445.41.
£1500 - £445.41 means you will get £1054.59 UC and then your partners wages as well.
You will be much better off by him working.

VaguelyInteresting · 06/08/2021 18:14

UC receive information from HMRC in real time. My earnings from 2 different jobs vary month to month, so my UC adjusts accordingly.

You can work it out for yourself using the calculator here:
www.uceplus.co.uk/

They also have a Facebook group which offers help and advice

Original poster
shazzz1xx · 06/08/2021 21:11

Awww Thankyou all I appreciate you taking time to reply… I do sort of understand it all I am just worried about uc payment been wrong as that’s the money I will be using for my rent etc
Thankyou x

OP posts:
Original poster
shazzz1xx · 06/08/2021 21:14

What happens bout the week in hand as he didn’t get paid today for this week as it’s week in hand :(

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 06/08/2021 22:03

@shazzz1xx

What happens bout the week in hand as he didn’t get paid today for this week as it’s week in hand :(
Whatever earnings are paid in your Uc assessment period will count for the payment day seven days after the end of your assessment period. It will depend on your assessment period dates - everyone's are different.
carben · 06/08/2021 22:22

Your Assessment Period (AP) dates are fixed. Track the wages on a calendar so you can work out how much will be taken into account for each AP. The UC you get, along with the wages will then have to last until your next payday. You can't rely on the UC covering your rent because it may have to be part wages / part UC to cover the full rent. Treat the wages and the UC as the household budget. As wages go up UC will go down maybe to Nil and as wages go down UC will increase but not to a point of replacing wages. You should always be better off financially by working - that's the whole point of UC.

Original poster
shazzz1xx · 06/08/2021 22:23

Babyroobs Thankyou so much for replying to me.. I’m just totally thick never been in this situation.. so my UC is paid every month on the 21st if that helps
X

OP posts:
Original poster
shazzz1xx · 06/08/2021 22:26

Would my housing payment get stopped ?

Universal credit - please help someone x
OP posts:
Babyroobs · 06/08/2021 22:29

@shazzz1xx

Would my housing payment get stopped ?
Deductions for earnings reduce the whole award ( all your elements added together ), so you will always still get your rent element and that makes up part of your award, but earnings reduce the whole award.
Babyroobs · 06/08/2021 22:34

So your total award is £1529.45 and that will always stay the same ( well as long as you stay on LCWRA ). Then they look at earnings in your monthly assessment period, take away £293 work allowance from earnings figure then x 0.63. This figure is the deduction for the £1529.45.
So if your partner earned £1000, there would be £445.41 taken off the £1529.45, so you still get £1084.04 UC and wages of £1000, making you over £550 a month better off by him working.

Original poster
shazzz1xx · 06/08/2021 23:00

Aww that’s brilliant babyroobs.. would they accept my partner working 16 hours most weeks as someone told me if you’re a couple they won’t accept anything less that 24 hours per week
Thanks x

OP posts:
ShitShop · 06/08/2021 23:03

Ah well it’s good to hear that the UC system has caught up with the way lots of people are working these days. The last time I looked into it things were very different. Hope you get it sorted OP

Original poster
shazzz1xx · 07/08/2021 17:24

@Babyroobs x

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 07/08/2021 18:19

@shazzz1xx

Aww that’s brilliant babyroobs.. would they accept my partner working 16 hours most weeks as someone told me if you’re a couple they won’t accept anything less that 24 hours per week Thanks x
24 hours is the required couples hours for working tax credits, so not relevant to UC. Ideally they would want your partner to be earning 35 x nmw per week so will probably keep encouraging him to look for more hours. In reality I'm not sure how much they enforce this , I guess it depends on the work coach.
Original poster
shazzz1xx · 07/08/2021 21:09

Thankyou @Babyroobs x

OP posts:
Original poster
shazzz1xx · 11/08/2021 19:06

@Babyroobs sorry but can I ask if we put 16 hours in the change of circumstances as he will never work under 16 hrs a week but like last week can work 52hours in a week
Today they asked us to update change of circumstances so we just put 16hours a week as the other options were zero hour contract etc don’t want to lose any money x

OP posts:
Original poster
shazzz1xx · 11/08/2021 19:08

Also if he started mid assessment and had to work week in hand what happens there ? So tick with all this stuff 😌🤔 x

OP posts:
gogohm · 11/08/2021 19:15

Put in the minimum, it will adjust automatically if he earns more. What I strong advise (I do debt counselling and benefit help) is having a second bank account and transferring the money into it when he earns over 16 hours because your benefits are in arrears, if he earns £1200 this month but only £500 in month 2 the benefits will be lower in month 2 adjusted from the higher month 1 earnings. Too many of my clients have gotten into debt because they spent the extra money in month 1 (wages plus uc based on the previous non working month)