Benefits help

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Hi! Was just wondering if anyone knows if topping up with Universal Credit is a thing? Never had to do it as during any months short of cash since going on maternity leave I’ve found something to sell to cover the shortfall, however this only lasts for so long before you run out of valuable knick-knacks!

I’ve been on maternity pay since September, hoping to get back to doing a day or two of work a week working around my partner and parents for childcare. Had a panic as all bar about £270 of bills has gone out for this month, but even with the maternity pay I get paid twice (14th and 28th I think) going to struggle to cover everything as have some unexpected expenses coming up.

Trying to use the entitledto website but we my partner’s wage varies month on month - I’m not quite sure what figures to put in, and if it’s more than the number I put in on some months (he gets extra for certain hours worked) if it would cause any issues. I know UC are finicky as my partner didn’t claim anything he was entitled to through Covid until the last month he was eligible when we got it all sorted, and then as the world opened back up he was made to pay back the pittance he had received so hoping to avoid that! (Paying back £5 a month and will be for a while even though he only got £300 of help).

Also feeling like a bit of a failure as partner works ridiculously long hard hours but we are still struggling to cover everything as it seems like all our bills have skyrocketed and car repairs last month don’t help things.

Can UC help in this situation or is it more faff than it’s worth? Does anyone else do this to help a bit with cost of living? I know that when I go back to bits of work I’ll have to declare that. Just in a flap trying to work out where we can save a few quid this month and struggling to without compromising on us eating enough or heating the house well enough with a small baby.

any help appreciated!

Whether you’ll be entitled depends on your partners income as well as your maternity pay, I know my friend was in a similar position last year when on mat leave as she was only entitled to SMP and because this is also government money, the SMP amount you get is deducted from any UC you may have been entitled to so she wasn’t entitled to anything at all.

Also if it’s for this month you’d not get any UC through in time now, it’s typically about 6 weeks from first applying to getting your first payment (at the moment) but obviously worth looking at if you think you may be eligible for future.

Unfortunately UC is set up in such a way that you are rarely going to be entitled to anything if you are on maternity leave with a working partner because they don’t want to pay you SMP & also UC! Ridiculous when SMP is as low as it is.

The key to whether you're eligible or not is likely to be your housing type. If you pay rent then UC will pay you a Housing Costs Element. If you've a mortgage then you get nowt except perhaps a loan.

Fluctuating wages should not be an issue as UC can see employer's payroll and the monthly payment reflects exactly what is paid.

Maternity Pay is a bit odd. If you get SMP from your employer it's treated as earnings so while UC will be tapered for it you're still better off. By contrast, if you get Maternity Allowance from DWP UC is reduced £/£.

You can still get UC if you have a mortgage. You get to keep more of your wage before deductions as well.

There is no direct help with mortgage costs in the sense of extra money in the monthly payment as there is for rent. You're right that a claimant with no Housing Costs gets a higher Work Allowance.

I realise (now!!) that what I said was open to a different interpretation.

Oh I know. Only a loan you have to repay. Quite happy to pay a rich landlords mortgage though. 😁🙄🙄

No worries.

It is worth claiming UC, even if you get only a few pounds. UC recipients get more of the random cost of living payments for example.

Did Entitled To say you would be entitled to some UC? You can put in your partner's lowest and highest wages into the calculator to see what each figure gives you.

It's not difficult to apply. You and your partner would apply separately and then generate a linking code to join your claims. You will both need an ID appointment at the jobcentre to verify your identities, take baby's birth certificate and tenancy agreement.

You would wait 1 month and a week for a payment.

If you go back to work you can claim up to 85% of childcare back.

They have stopped.

There are always vote winning extras.

My father made my Gran apply for some kind of topup of just a few pounds, and within weeks they were giving out butter and beef tokens for claimants.
In my area, you have to be a benefit claimant to even get your children any kind of dental review for example