Universal credit

[Ducksinarow1987]

I'm due to leave abusive relationship and move into my own flat in three weeks. I tried to start my claim for UC but it said I can't because date at the property is in the future, yet I hear it takes 5 weeks for it to be processed and I'll be bankrupt by then! Is there anything I can do?

They usually give you an advance on your first payment which you then pay back over a period of time by deductions from your monthly payment. Do you have any children?

Yes I have one child. Do you mean they put the money in straight away?

You can apply now for UC and then add in your rental costs on the day they become applicable. Or like a pp wait till the day you get keys apply and ask for an advance.

Yes money goes by in quickly. I think it was 3 days. Repayable in 6 equal monthly instalments deducted from your UC.

Ah ok, I'll wait for the keys and ask for an advance. Does the 'asking for an advance' aspect just come under the same application?

You would submit your claim to UC. Once your ID, child’s identity, housing etc has been verified then you can request an advance. You can request one once your ID has been done but if your child’s or housing hasn’t then you won’t be offered the full amount. The majority of the time you can do this directly in your UC account. It is repayable up to 24 months.

Once they've calculated your monthly amount, they'll offer an advance, usually about the same as the calculated award. You can take up to 2 years to pay it back now. Ours was offered within 2 days of DH's identity checks clearing.

They said that they need proof my child is at school? What kind of evidence would they need?

Thankyou so much for the help x

They won’t need proof your child is at school but they will check if you receive Child Benefit for the child or if someone else has used them on their own claim. 9/10 you won’t need to provide any ID docs yourself for your child, it’s done internally

Set the UC claim up now with the address you live at now and when u move u can easily change it on your uc journal
thats what I would do

Not the journal, it’s through ‘report a change’ -> Where you live and what it costs.

I'm not sure I'd do that. The advance you're offered will be based on the rate that is calculated for your first payment. If you set it up now, it won't have the rent figure included in the advance.

I think you have to weigh up which is going to help you more. Would 3 extra weeks at the rate without rent and the lower advance outweigh the higher advance? It might be worth running the scenarios through EntitledTo.

Don’t think you meant to tag my post Lougle, I was just correcting the post above mine about using the journal.

Nope, just a glitch 😊

Hi everyone, what documents will I need in preparation of my claim?

I didn’t need any. There was an ID confirmation but it was just a case of putting in data. NI number, address, bank details, names of children. Its the government they know everything.