Who isn’t migrating Tax Credits to UC ?

[treedragon]

Received a letter about migrating from Tax Credits to Universal Credit.

A deep dive into seems to show that a huge chunk will be taken due to savings over £16k. It also seems like a lot of hassle trundling into Job Centres.

I have decided not to bother with moving so do the TCs just stop?

Interested to learn who else has decided not to bother??

@thisfilmisboring

I would set the limit at possibly £80,000 or maybe £100,000. These were figures banded about for social care in the future. Given a house deposit now is £40,000 it would need to be more than that to scoop up those working to save for a home.

I have savings as I had to sell my house when I divorced a few years ago but I have applied for UC anyway and will see what I get in February. No idea what I will be entitled to but it wasn’t difficult to apply and I have already had UC staff ring me to clarify a couple of things.

You can be assessed as having limited capability for work meaning you can get extra money on your Uc claim. It is a ' feature' of UC which acknowledges that disabled people can be limited in what hours they can work and tops them up further ( if awarded Limited capability for work and work related activity after assessment ) and can also give them a work allowance which they wouldn't otherwise get if they have no kids on your claim. It can boost the Uc of disabled people a lot. It is not a contradiction at all. You clearly haven't bothered to research how you could maximise your Uc claim when you switch but it would definitely be worth you being assessed. You don't hand in sick notes for TC because it's a completely different benefit which has never included or been about capability for work. The LCW / LCWRA element of UC recognizes that yes some disabled people are able to work but not full time, it not all or nothing. Also if you don't hand in sick notes you may find that your work coach pushes you to look for more hours. just receiving PIP won't exempt you.

Sorry, realised after I’d posted it may not have been clear.
I was asking the OP.

Couldn’t agree more with you.

@Babyroobs

I have extra money for being a disabled worker now under TC. They never asked for sick notes nor did an assessment??? If you get that under TC it should be automatically carried over under this Protection scheme. I work less hours due to a health condition. That has always been the case and hasn't changed and wouldn't change under UC. People shouldn't need an assessment or medical or whatever it is if they already have that certification under TCs.

Well on UC that won't be carried over, you will need to hand in sick notes and wait to be assessed. Being in receipt of PIP will get you nothing extra on UC or exempt a work coach from asking you to look for full time work. There is no adult disability element on UC ( this may change in the future with new proposals ). that amount you currently get may be carried over for now under TP but will gradually be eroded as Uc rises. Different benefit, different rules.

@Babyroobs

Another reason not to bother with UC then. Having to go to some stupid medical assessment. So no I have no experience of the benefit but it's hardly sounding good is it.

So The Transitional Protection is a load of rubbish then. We have established that under Transitional Protection:

You are penalised for any savings you have over £16k
If you are a disabled worker under TCs this is not transitioned over.

What else is in the "Protection" fine print?

So what exactly is transitioned across?

It's just utter madness. You have to trouble your GP to cobble together a sick note to hand into UC while you are still working. So that would mean I would have to go sick from my job if it says I am incapable of work on the sick note. The whole point of a sick note is to certify being unfit for work due to medical reasons. If I got one of those I'd be uninsured and a H&S risk at my job!

To be honest I haven't really though about the disabled element of tax credits but yes as you say I assume the amount is protected initially.
However yes you would still need to submit sick notes to UC.
The transitioning I believe just relates to amounts of money.
Disabled child elements still exist on Uc but not adult ones but amounts are different depending on rates of DLA.
Being on an adult disability benefit only automatically can get you the LCWRA element of Uc if you are a pensioner and on Uc as part of a mixed age couple. For working aged disabled people you would need to go through the work capability assessment I'm afraid.
I do understand it's hard when people have been on one system for many years and it changes. I'm just trying to give you information on how to maximize your Uc claim if you do switch to it.

No you ask your GP to issue a sick note saying that you are limited in the type of work you can do and / or hours you can work. They should do this.

@Babyroobs

It would be very onerous in administration for the DWP??? Tax Office??? to process a UC for me. By the time I have been dragged through the mill of medical assessments I wouldn't be entitled to it anyway once a year came up due to to much savings.

Lord knows how much all this is costing in administration with Medicals, Work Coaches, Computer Systems. Tax Credits seemed much more streamlined. You just applied and got on with life.

UC seems like a very clunky system, incompatible with working people with homes, lives and definitely not fit for purpose for the self employed. That's another think. My work is self employed too. So there's all the hassle of handing in figures each month. Now it is all just once a year.

You maybe never had to pay back an overpayment of TC then.

@WithACatLikeTread

Once I did yes. It was easy enough. Just wrote them a cheque and sent it in the post. No different to paying the annual tax bill to be honest.

We work. It isn't a issue for us. UC is aimed at those who work especially. You are better off if you work on UC. We get a higher work allowance than renters because we have no rent. Give it a bloody chance.

Lucky you. We had to pay it in installments over months.

Yes we did over 3 years ( many years ago ) such was the huge overpayment !

Your monthly money will count as income. That will be deducted at £0.55 in the £1 after any work allowance (£379 if you rent, £631 if you don't). Your child's DLA doesn't count as income and it isn't yours, so it doesn't count as capital. Anything you you receive in income (either wages, benefits in your name, or other), that you haven't spent at the end of the assessment period in which you receive it, becomes capital. Gifts from friends, family, charitable organisations, etc., don't count as income but will count as capital if not spent.

We had an overpayment on TC. We barely could save anything so it's still being paid off years later. On UC it works better for us.

I wasn't going to bother applying for UC was only getting £20 a month TC and entitledto said I wouldn't get anything. Single parent
and 1DD (with autism but not significant enough for financial help).

Applied on the day before the deadline very simple to do. Turns out TC were under paying so got a payment of £500 from them and then £110 a month transitional payment after deductions, so technically my earnings wipe out the potential UC but it says I will continue receiving the £110 until I have a change in circumstances not the 12 months I was expecting so I'll see if that is true next year. savings of £7000 in a LISA so I can't withdraw without a penalty so about £17 is deducted.

Do you have to get a certain amount of UC to be entitled to the free dental care, eye test etc?

It is dependent upon earnings during your assessment period. The amount you can earn whilst still being entitled to free care is higher if you have kids than if you are a single person. Unless it has changed it is £935 if you have kids and £435 if you don't.

I am on tax credits and I haven't got the migration letter yet. I don't plan to claim UC when the letter comes through, I will just manage without it. I'm employed by my own limited company which would be viewed as self-employment by UC, plus my capital is in various forms not just savings so it all sounds like a lot of admin to claim just for the transitional year. I will keep claiming tax credits for as long as I'm able to (I'm surprised I haven't got a letter already).

I'm not switching but I won't be judged by anyone for 'not needing TC in the first place'

I have claimed them for 20 years, they got us through the early days and helped with childcare costs etc. When we first claimed and for many years afterwards we did absolutely relied on them. Now though our circumstances have changed dramatically, a couple of the balls we were juggling have been put down and we are not in the same place at all.

People have e a very basic method of judgement when it comes to benefits but what they miss is that of if I choose not to claim even though I might have an entitlement, that's not a bad thing, in the eyes of the self appointed benefit police- sadly it's only ever 'you didn't need it in the first place' - well we did and we are very grateful to have been given such help. So don't condemn me for not moving to UC

@Babyroobs "No idea how people manage to save when having an income low enough to claim WTC but well done and yes probably no point applying although you would get the TP on the savings for 12 months."

It's really not that difficult to imagine is it? My MIL died, my DH got a small inheritance. DH is a sole trader on a small wage, I work part time on minimum wage. We are a frugal family in a housing association flat who manage to save a small amount each month in the hopes of one day getting out of this awful place.

Agree. We only get a small amount of TC now but used to get much more when times were much harder for us. Very grateful for it too. We won't be better off on UC so won't be switching. We're calculated to get less than £2 a week so there's no point.