Could I claim universal credit?

[dreamerkr]

I have no idea how this works as will be obvious haha. I live with my husband who is self employed and he came from abroad on spouse visa. He doesn’t have indefinite leave just yet, he will do after a year. I’m a British citizen so I’m guessing that I will be able to claim UC but not my husband? I’m unemployed and taking care of my 2 month old DC at home, I just finished studying a few months back. I know lots of other factors come into this too, but the main question is would I be able to claim UC? I’m aware that I have to link my info with my husbands, but surely I will be able to get it as I’m a British citizen? So sorry if I don’t make any sense. Oh and DH is paid around £2500 a month if that’s taken into account.

If working you have to earn £18600 per year.
You are except from that if in receipt of carers allowance, pip or dla.

*exempt

And who pays for this while you are "saving up for a house". Oh yes, us. Taxpayers. Have some respect woman.

It would make no difference at all because you still get the higher work allowance whether you have a mortgage or live with family. Even if they had a mortgage they would not likely get any UC unless either op's partner becomes eligible to claim public funds and therefore they get the couples element which is higher than single element, or his wages are less than 2.5 k a month.

So those of us who receive benefits aren't allowed to save for a house?
That's how you end up with a poverty trap. Poor people are allowed aspirations too, you know. Also, I bet her DH has to pay tax, despite not being eligible for any benefits.

I've received benefits in some form or other for the last 18 years. Next year (hopefully) we will finally be on two okay incomes and be able to buy a house the following year (having saved for a very, very long time for a currently around 7% deposit), moving to the other end of the country to do so.

The government actually encourages those on benefits to save, with the HMRC Help To Save offer which is only open to those who get working tax credits.

Only people on the old tax credits system can really save as if on UC you are penalized for anything over 6k in savings. Your monthly Uc amount is reduced for any savings over 6k and the whole claim would cease when savings hit 16k, so unless it's a cheap property that anyone is looking to buy, there's not much hope really !

No one has been able to make a new claim for tax credits for some years now.

We were asked about other members of family living in the house and their income.

This woman lives rent free with her husband who earns £2500 a month. She's "unemployed" so will be claiming whatever she can. She also gets child benefit. You want the taxpayer to pay for someone like this?? She says something to the effect that she doesn't need it. FFS.

Parents income is in no way taken into consideration as they are a seperate financial unit. On a UC claim you need to declare adult non dependents like adult children as that affects your rent element if they are over 21 but their income does not affect a claim.

That’s to do with housing costs. It does not affect your benefit claim, I used to live with my parents & my son. Their income was irrelevant.

I'm sure UC process will work out whether they are entitled to anything based on her husband's income. I've no idea what the upper limit is for their particular circumstances, but agree without rent to pay their joint income is likely over the limit. Depends I think too if OP is looking for work or not, there might be some support to help her with this if so 🤷‍♀️

There is nothing shameful or wrong in claiming benefits. If a claimant gives all their details accurately and updates them then they are perfectly responsible and respectable in my view. This sort of attitude stops many people claiming what they are entitled to.

The government will then look at whether they are eligible (things like immigration status, age and whether they have too much savings) and then how much they’re entitled to based on things like rent/children and income or savings.

If you disagree with the system that’s a political debate but not one for the individual level.

Good post. OP will probably also learn the the claims process what any Universal Credit award would consist of in their circumstances. So if her husband's self employed earnings fluctuate and drop below a certain level at any point she would be eligible to claim something. It might be that he needs to take out some kind of health insurance for any potential loss of earnings and a pension, both of which I imagine would reduce their net income for UC purposes.

@RagzRebooted I think that's one of the things which is wrong with the benefits system; if you have the means to buy a house then you shouldn't be entitled to claim means-tested benefits - it's effectively other people paying for you to have something which many of them never will.

The welfare system was set up intended to be a short term help for those who fell on hard times, not a long term financial plan for buying a house 🙄 Unless you're on lifetime benefits for disability or other illness, then no, I don't think you should be able to save tens of thousands of ££ off the backs of other people. The whole system is a bloody mess when some people can't get enough to feed their family, and others can save enough to buy a house 😢🤬😭

Totally agree but people on UC are penalised for any savings over 6k. It's only people on the old tax credits system that can save without being penalised. I suspect that's partly why the system changed as tax payers got fed up of it. However in the long run if people can own their own homes, that reduces UC paying out hundreds each month to claimants in rent element- which could potentially go on for20+ years even more. That rent element largely just goes into the pockets of buy to let landlords each month - paying off their mortgages and make the rich richer. These same landlords who have bene partly responsible for pushing up house prices way beyond the average person and excluding them from home ownership. I personally would rather taxes go towards helping people buy a house than paying off the mortgage of a greedy buy to let landlord. The whole way the housing market has been allowed to go in this coutry is beyond shameful.

With wages being so low that many working households are eligible to claim benefits, this is like saying cleaners and carers and TAs and shop workers aren't ever allowed to own a home.
Instead they should live in poverty with often more than 40% of their income going on rent (hence the eligibility for UC) for decades.
That scenario means decades of the taxpayer paying a landlord's mortgage, effectively. So the rich landowners can benefit from taxpayers money, but the low paid workers can't?
Do you want a load of retired people paying extortionate rents and claiming UC/pension credit to do so?

This whole 'poor people must not have anything more than subsistence level income' is short sighted.

People are blasted all the time on MN for having no savings. I choose to go without many things in order to save money for my family's future, with the intention that once day things will be better for us and our reliance on benefits will end.

Totally agree. So many mortgages paid from the public purse in housing benefit for rental properties.

I wish we could establish a system where basic secure housing is affordable for everyone on one full-time minimum wage, so families can afford to look after themselves. Should be a basic human right. 2nd income then pays for higher spec living and luxuries, or the time is used for caring for family members or volunteering or whatever floats your boat. No idea how we'd get there though.

You're living rent free, he learns 2k a month and you want financial aid from the government? What a cheek.

@RagzRebooted
"With wages being so low that many working households are eligible to claim benefits, this is like saying cleaners and carers and TAs and shop workers aren't ever allowed to own a home.
Instead they should live in poverty with often more than 40% of their income going on rent (hence the eligibility for UC) for decades.
That scenario means decades of the taxpayer paying a landlord's mortgage, effectively. So the rich landowners can benefit from taxpayers money, but the low paid workers can't?
Do you want a load of retired people paying extortionate rents and claiming UC/pension credit to do so?

This whole 'poor people must not have anything more than subsistence level income' is short sighted.

People are blasted all the time on MN for having no savings. I choose to go without many things in order to save money for my family's future, with the intention that once day things will be better for us and our reliance on benefits will end."

Plenty of working people who are pennies above the threshold don't get benefits which means they can't access lots of the other discounts or free things which those who are able to claim can. Plenty of BTL landlords don't have mortgages, and their property is their pension income. It's not a human right to own a home, so I'm really not sure why you think everyone should be able to, and plenty of people in the careers you mention do own a home because people make choices.

Plenty of working people who are pennies above the threshold don't get benefits which means they can't access lots of the other discounts or free things which those who are able to claim can.

I'm not sure that's the case any more. Certainly as far as Universal Credit is concerned, as it works on a taper. I thought that was the whole purpose of it?

Another depressing headline: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11578125/Tens-thousands-families-hit-effective-tax-rate-96-cent-year.html

So why are you trying to claim it?

I think a lot of people claim just because they can

Ridiculous article. Why on earth are people earning 50/60k even eligible for benefits in the first place?

It's really depressing! For those in the middle and those at the bottom - what is there to aspire to these days?

The article states getting UC at the highest level quoted relates to high rents and childcare costs (and isn’t typical). But either way, I can't help but feel more secure lower tier social housing and rental properties are the answer. We've created a never ending spiral of costs to the public purse - fewer can get on the ladder and rents paid for through housing benefit are hiked up because of the competition, which brings up the local housing allowance up. It's clearly unsustainable. Housing is too important and vital an issue to be left to market forces.

Perhaps child benefit should also be on a taper. Or a universal income considered.