UC advice

[Mumofcatsanddogs]

Hi all. Long time lurker, first time poster.

4 weeks ago I ended the relationship with the father of my children. To put it simply he is a narcissist and I have suffered many unhappy years with him and I've finally had enough.

We have 3 DC's, all primary age and the youngest is just a few months old. I am currently on SMP and while off he was the main breadwinner for the family. Since we've split he has agreed to £150 a week towards the children which I'm grateful for and is in line with what CM has suggested he should pay via their online calculator.

Trouble is even with this I can't make ends meet, not even close to make ends meet. I have applied for UC and am awaiting a decision. I did the online calculator which gave me an estimate amount that I may be able to claim, does anyone know if these calculators are correct?

I've had to borrow money from family to pay bills this month and if I don't receive the estimate amount of UC I won't be able to pay them back as promised.

I was due to be off work for a good few months yet but I will of course be going back sooner now in order to make ends meet.

Any advice from those who have a similar experience is welcome.

They are not always correct. You would get single standard element, only 2 childrens elements as you won't get anything for the third and if you rent you will get rent element. SMP is treated as earnings so you'll get a work allowance meaning a proportion of earnings is disregarded before deductions for earnings take place. Child maintenance doesn't affect UC so nothing will be deducted for that. I guess many have to go back to work asap and if so you will get a childcare element also . there is a cap on this but they are meant to be making it more generous. It's hard to do a calculation without knowing exact details. you could perhaps try CAB or similar who would do an accurate calculation for you or one of the facebook UC sites where admin will do you a calculation.

Also if you are not paying rent then the first £631 of earnings/ smp is disregarded before deduction happen so if you are just on basic smp it's likely most of that is disregarded altogether.

I was in your position a year and a half ago and found UC really straightforward. Calculators tend to be correct. Once your youngest goes to nursery / childcare you will also be able to claim back some of the costs. It might be worth asking for an advance which is then deducted off your Uc in equal payments over the next six months.

Thank you both, I had considered the advance but then thought if I was going back to work I may lose UC all together and worried about paying it back.

I have had to give notice to return to work and will be back as soon as possible so in my mind this hopefully is only a temporary measure as I should (only just) be a me to survive on my salary, however I'm aware I may still be able to claim UC.

I've never had to claim anything before, I know I'm very fortunate. I've used the calculators suggested on the Gov website and should hear back next week how much I'm entitled to, if anything. I'm praying they are accurate or close to those figures as I'm a ball of anxiety worrying about supporting us all and paying family back etc.

I know things will get better it's just pretty scary right now.

I thought it was £557 or is going up in April as well?

Currently £573 and going up to £631 in April.