UC

[rimx]

Hello,

I hope everyone is well

I am just looking for some help.
I am currently unemployed looking after my son. I am pregnant with my second.

My husband is self employed and earns roughly £1000-£1200 a week.

He has to pay car insurance around £400 a month which includes business insurance also. He travels roughly 70-90 miles a week.

Does car insurance be part of a business expense for universal credit. It's my first time applying for UC. I am currently my mothers carer and do get Carers Allowance

Thanks for all you help and advise.

Riim

Was there a typo and do you mean that your DH gets 1000-1200 per month? I'm not sure you're going to get UC with an income of £1000-£1200 per week.

@Lougle

Yes most definitely a typo!

Apologies x

Does he need business insurance if he's only doing 70 miles? He can claim for the proportion that is used for the business.

he'd have to declare organised accounts every month to uc.

If he's only earning 250 per week though he's not gainfully employed as it's not even hitting minimum wage.

You claim mileage at 45p a mile which comes off your income as an expense. When you report each month they ask you for income and expenditure and you'll be able to put how many miles you've done that month.

Is the £400 a month car insurance a typo too?

Hey everyone,

Thank you for your replies.

He works as a delivery driver and therefore requires delivery insurance.

He is only 23 years of age so I don't think his age is helpful to him lowering his premiums.
£400 is correct with normal and business insurance.

Is it worth a shot speaking with uc?

Is the £400 a month insurance counted as a business expense

Thanks
Rim

The 400 insurance will be deducted from his earnings I imagine as it’s an outgoing from his business but this would be done through his books and he would have accounts to prove this, if he’s earning 1200 pw I doubt he will be anywhere near the Uc threshold

At those earnings I don't believe he'd meet the criteria for being gainfully self employed (regardless of if you used the insurance as a business expense), he isn't earning enough. This means UC will treat him as if he's earning the minimum income floor even though he isn't, so he won't get any extra UC by deducting the business insurance anyway.

If found not gainfully self employed, he will also have weekly work search appointments and be expected to apply for jobs or increase his earnings through self employment.

@JonjoMonjo21

He earn £100-1200 a month apologise for the confusion

£1000-£1200

Apologies again. I'm feeding my picky two year old at the same time

His minimum income floor will be 35x£10.42 per week. So approximately £1580 per month. That means that UC will treat him as if he earned that much before calculating the UC. He would be better to get a PAYE delivery job. Your Carers Allowance would be deducted entirely from your claim as well, but you would get a small additional allowance if you are providing 35 hours or more of care for your mother.

@Lougle

Just to get some clarification. Partner needs to be earning atleast £1582 a month before we can qualify for uc?

And if he was still doing a delivery job would the £400 a month of car insurance which includes business insurance be classed As a business expense.

Thank you
X

Yes this is exactly what I was trying to say in a much more succinct manner.

UC will treat him as if he's earning £1,580 so whether you include his business mileage to his actual earnings is irrelevant, they will treat him as earning NMW. Or if not found to be gainfully employed they can insist he attends whatever the equivalent of job seeker appointments are.

No it means they will treat him as earning £1580 even if he isn't. So whether you report his earnings as £1000-1200 per month or £600-800 by including the insurance doesn't matter. They will calculate your UC each month based on £1580 because that's what he would be earning at national minimum wage as an employed person. Because he's self employed they see it as he either is treated as earning the same as minimum wage or that his self employment isn't earning enough and he needs to look for work.

No, you can still claim universal credit. However, it will impact your claim.

An example:

No minimum income floor:
Your DH earns £1000. He's allowed to earn £379 before deductions. So UC treat his income as £621 and reduce your award by £341.55 because of his income.

Minimum income floor:
Your DH earns £1000. UC treat him as though he earns £1580. He's allowed to earn £379 before deductions. So UC treat his income as £1201 and reduce your award by £660.55

Then, as I said, you will have a further £333 ish deducted because you get carer's allowance. So your award will be reduced by £1000 ish.

Okay

Thank you all for your help

Make sure you have the Carer Element added to your award OP - it is an extra £390.06 per month. It doesn't get deducted. It won't necessarily get automatically added.

@platypuspart

Thank you so much x
I'm very new to uc so all advise is welcomed

X

It's £185.86 per month.

Was about to say this-I currently claim it.also there's a really helpful page on Facebook called Universal Credit Survival.Admins can work out accurate wage

@ColourMeBlue
I'll definitely have a look at that. Thanks you!!

Incorrect. You are quoting the figure for LCWRA. The Carer Element of UC is just over £185 per month.