Universal credit so many questions

[StayAGhost]

Hi
My husband and I have recently separated. He is living elsewhere and not paying me anything
I work 26 hours and using the calculator will be able to claim universal credit
Will I literally be able to submit a claim and definitely get what the calculator states? Is there any show stoppers I need to know about?
I have 3 DC, and quickly running out of money
Ta

The calculators are pretty accurate, in my experience the minimum you'll get is around £1200 a month with rent / children etc. If you need childcare you get up to 80% but I'm not sure what the threshold is for that. It can take a while though so you really should put in a claim straight away. Also worth noting you can cancel the claim at any time if you change your mind.

Separately from UC, have you applied for CMS?

I'm same as you. Work.25 hours a week.. single parent..get 1k a month u.c..

Thanks for this reassurance. I'm really worried I won't be eligible for some random reason.

Fingers crossed

With CMS Husband is on SSP ATM, so doubt I'll get anything

Sorry to hear that OP, and sorry too that you're worrying about UC.

Apply asap. In the meantime I assume you've told the council he's moved out so that you can get the single adult council tax discount, and also applied for anything else you might be eligible for?

You'll be eligible don't worry op. Everyones basically eligible as it's all benefits in one now so even if you only qualify for some housing benefit you'll still be on u.c. As it goes on earnings, if you earn too much then you won't receive anything (it's quite a lot though) but on 25 hours you will. I'm in the same boat pretty much and it's terrifying but we can do it 🙂

Apply for council tax support with your local council too, OP. It’s separate from UC and single persons discount. You may not qualify for help, but doesn’t hurt to apply.

Please do not listen to other posters saying how much they get ! The amount a person gets is completely dependent upon their individual situation - their rent/ the local housing allowance for their area/ how many bedrooms they can have/ the number of children they have and their ages, whether kids have disabilities etc.

If your application is successful you can get an advance to tide you over as it usually takes 4-5 weeks for your first payment. You then pay that back over 10 or 12 months (can’t remember which it is now!).
Also make sure that your application date, which will become your payment date isn’t close to your salary pay day. If it is close and with weekends/bank holidays you could fall foul of it looking like you’ve had 2 pay days in one month. That would mean no UC the following month as they’d class you as earning over the threshold so if you can leave at least a week between your salary being paid and your application.

Hope that makes sense!

When you have been claiming 6 months you can claim an interest free budget loan, about £800 if you have children, they take it back over 11 months from your benefits, useful for school uniform or Christmas. Don't forget to claim your £150 warm homes discount next autumn & if you own your house you can claim for a new more efficient boiler & insulation, think your boiler has to be at least 8 years old.

Try child tax credit first

@BlissfullyIgnorant tax credits no longer exist for new claims. If you don’t know how benefits work best not to give advice.

@StayAGhost Universal Credit. Apply online now. Do you rent or mortgage? If rent is he paying anything? If not you’ll need to pop a note in journal to say he isn’t paying anything to his share of rent and you are liable for all of it. Ask for an untidy tenancy decision

Apply for Council Tax support AND single person discount.

Also as you have 3DC look at WaterSure with your water company if you qualify for UC.

Thank you so much everyone. This is entirely new territory for me, and with the recent split my head is a mess I'm afraid!
I'll work thru all the suggestions and ideas. Thanks biscuits about the pay day thing. I'll read it a few more times so I can understand.
Mortgaged properly so no help with rent

Similar to you mortgage,kids etc. Honestly just apply process was easy and online as you work 26 hours you'll go in light touch group. Nightmare stories are really for those who can't / won't work. I'd claim via CMS as well. When you apply you can tick a box for council tax reduction too.

Womaninatightspot thanks for the reassurance. It's the stories you hear that have worried me. I really won't be able to attend interviews at short notice (unless I'm already not working!)
Also without the UC I genuinely don't know how I'll manage. I've not got enough equity in house to downsize and my credit rating (previously very high) has plummeted whilst I've tried to juggle bills set up for two wages

Thanks so much everyone, I've been given more helpful advice from this thread than hours reading the websites

It really is helpful getting "insider information " from real life

Also womaninatight spot, great username! That's me exactly 🤦‍♀️

And and apply today, the clock will then start on the process. For most people in regular low paid work uc does work well, please don't worry.

Do not hesitate, claim UC today online. Also, once you've done UC application, apply for Child Maintenance. You might get very little initially as exh is on ssp but you'll be in the system and as his pay changes so will your payments.

Please don't stress too much about the claim date! Even if you get paid early/late because of a weekend/bank holiday/Christmas this shouldn't be a problem. Companies have been told NOT to report in a way that could cause this and UC have been told NOT to penalise because of this. So if your usual payday is the 30th of each month but you get paid Dec 20th because of Xmas it is still reported to HMRC as 30th and passed on to UC as such.

The bigger issue is if you're paid weekly as then you will have a couple of months in the year when you will have 5 paydays in one assessment period. So far not much has been done about that but it is supposedly being sorted (could still take years though!)

Source: Partner is a UC work coach AND we claim

@StayAGhost

Thank you so much everyone. This is entirely new territory for me, and with the recent split my head is a mess I'm afraid! I'll work thru all the suggestions and ideas. Thanks biscuits about the pay day thing. I'll read it a few more times so I can understand. Mortgaged properly so no help with rent

yes you won't get a rent element but if you have a mortgage, you will get a higher work allowance on UC which means the first £553 of your earnings each month are completely disregarded before any deductions for wages occur. It really isn't a bad benefit.

Thanks again everyone
I think my biggest worries around UC are around
A) not been eligible ( although looking at the calculations I should be)
B) getting sanctions. I not going to be able to manage if they sanction me
I've never been in this position and feel really vulnerable to just not understanding the systems and how they work

PP with a job coach partner. What will the job coach expect me to do? I've heard where claimants have to go for totally unsuitable jobs and attend interviews at very short notice

My youngest is 13 so don't want to leave him to do work overnight and my work are really awkward about late notice time off.

@StayAGhost

Thanks again everyone I think my biggest worries around UC are around A) not been eligible ( although looking at the calculations I should be) B) getting sanctions. I not going to be able to manage if they sanction me I've never been in this position and feel really vulnerable to just not understanding the systems and how they work

PP with a job coach partner. What will the job coach expect me to do? I've heard where claimants have to go for totally unsuitable jobs and attend interviews at very short notice

My youngest is 13 so don't want to leave him to do work overnight and my work are really awkward about late notice time off.

There is no reason why you would be sanctioned at all - that is for people who do not meet their work commitments. They may ask you to look for work earning 30 x nmw but realistically you will be fine working 26 hours, especially if earning more per hour than nmw. If you let me know your net earnings and how frequently you are paid, I will do a calculation for you if that puts your mind at rest. Or you can do your own calculation as follows. Your total UC before deductions for wages will be £1162.80. this is made up of a standard single element for yourself and 3 childrens elements assuming all your kids are still in education. Then you take your net wages, take away the £553 work allowance and then multiply by0.55. This figure is the deduction from the £1162.80. As previous posters have said if you are paid weekly then there will be some months where four pay days fall in your monthly UC assessment period and some where five do. On a four payday month your Uc will be higher and on a five week month slightly lower.

Sorry I should have said the £1162.80 minus the figure for deductions is the amount of UC you will be paid monthly. So you have your wages then your UC, then child benefit, then child maintenance ( if you get it ) to live off.

Thank you
It's the expectation of working full time that's the thing
Im more than happy to do that, but will need UC with no sanctions in the meantime
Ironically im on significantly more than NMW, just not enough to live on (with 3 DC) and one wage

@StayAGhost

Thank you It's the expectation of working full time that's the thing Im more than happy to do that, but will need UC with no sanctions in the meantime Ironically im on significantly more than NMW, just not enough to live on (with 3 DC) and one wage

I honestly think it's very unlikely they will push you to work full time, especially if earning more than nmw per hour anyway.