Does this Universal Credit amount sound wrong?

[FryingPanWithJam]

Total amount in UC is £2421.40 a month

Income is £1950 a month, Partner. I’m unemployed as a carer, I get carers allowance

Two kids on higher rates of DLA

Rent is £930

I really, really worry about being overpaid! I wasn’t even aware I could claim it until someone mentioned it at a support group. I am really shocked

Looks in right ball park to me using a professional checking tool.

The higher rate care of DLA means you're entitled to the severe disability amount and it's a huge difference.

Lower & middle rate get £156.11
Higher rate £487.58

Op- looks right to me.

We were overpaid the first month because our pay period often causes it to mess up as DP gets paid once a month on the last Friday of the month. But sometimes that means it shows he's earned 2 wages in one month so entitled to nothing and it's a faff to sort. On the first month he'd already been paid the day before the pay period so it showed him as having no money paid in. They paid us a much bigger amount, almost double, but then they wanted to claw it back at a rate of £77 per month (the most they can take is about a quarter of the basic rate you get, and we're also paying back the overpaid tax credits- also their error).y point is if you do have to pay back it's not like Tax Credits and they have a maximum amount you can repay per month so try not to panic.

@UpsyDaisysarmpit that sounds really bloody stressful!

Can I please ask, is this likely to happen to my partner? I ask because he gets paid on the 28th of every month, so no last Fridays etc but sometimes pay day might fall on 26th if there’s a weekend on the 28th

When does your assessment period run? It's usually from the day of the month you first put in a claim. If it's something like 15th-15th, you'll be fine, if it's 27th-27th, it could be problematic.

Exactly this! It's dependant on when you applied and I have asked - it cannot be changed!
Our pay period is 27th to 26th, so when DO got paid on the 26th of July he got paid twice in one period. And then you have to wait until that pay period each time to raise a dispute in the journal and get one pay packet moved over. It really is a bloody pain.

You haven't taken the deduction off the figure though? That takes it down to £1500? Or is that because you also get sone rent paid? About £600 towards rent.

Yeah, I did. That’s after the deduction. Without dedication it is like £3400

Wow. I mean if you’re entitled to it then you are so you’re not wrong in claiming it, but I am absolutely stunned a household can receive that much. More than twice the average salary.

@Blueybanditbingochilli Why? Most people aren't providing round the clock care and support for severely disabled children, in addition to the extortionate expense that comes with it

You’re right, they’re not, but it does seem incredibly high and I suppose it could be dismaying to working people who have non disposable cash at all.

If your Partner also cares for your Children, you should ensure this is put down. You can each claim Carers Element as long as it's for different people (i.e. you put down caring for one child, he puts down caring for the other).

Carers Element of UC isn't subject to an Earnings Threshold etc like Carers Allowance.

My reckoning (using rough / rounded down figures):

Standard Allowance 617,
Child Element (x2) 621
Disabled Child Element (x2) 975
Carers Element (x2) 396
Housing Element (for private, equivalent to 3 bed LHA rate - possibly 4 if extra bedroom needed for overnight Carer / for social, equivalent to rent + eligible service charges)

Add that together... then...

Minus Carers Allowance (x1) -355

Minus Wages (1950 - 404 x 0.55) -851

And what's left should be your UC Award.

Carers Allowance / DLA / Child Benefit continues as normal alongside.

That's what it's for and why it seems like a high amount. You have a lot of extra expenses and because you provide care, it means you can't work so compensates for that.

MN likes to think that everyone on benefits is living on a pittance, which even £5k pm income for a family would seem like from the perspective of MN big jobs and household incomes of £2/300k pa, but if you're renting and have disabled DC, the allowances look high to people on average incomes.

You know what's more dismaying than realising your neighbours have more money than you? Knowing your children will need life long care and at some point you will be dead and nobody will be there to provide it. Every parent of disabled kids I know would give up that disabled living allowance money to go back in time and have a healthy typical child and be able to work full time as well.

You know what's more dismaying than realising your neighbours have more money than you? Knowing your children will need life long care and at some point you will be dead and nobody will be there to provide it. Every parent of disabled kids I know would give up that disabled living allowance money to go back in time and have a healthy typical child and be able to work full time as well.

^All of this :(

This doesn't show all the details. You need to log into your UC online journal, go to payments and click on the last month, the screenshot the whole thing including all the elements and deductions.

You should get:
Standard element (couple's rate)
Child element x 2 (exact amount depends whether your oldest child was born before or after 6 April 2017)
Severely disabled child element x 2 (this amount is high and rightly so)
Housing element (whether or not this covers all your rent depends whether you're in private or social housing, and on your bedroom entitlement)
Carer's element x 2 (if you and your partner both care for both children, you can claim Carer's element for 1 child each)

And then there will be deductions for your carer's allowance (deducted £ for £) and your partner's salary (if he earns £1950 they'll deduct about £850).

It's explained in detail at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/on-universal-credit/check-how-much-universal-credit-youll-get/. If you would like to get it checked for peace of mind, contact your local Citizens Advice.

@Blueybanditbingochilli

Wow. I mean if you’re entitled to it then you are so you’re not wrong in claiming it, but I am absolutely stunned a household can receive that much. More than twice the average salary.

OP I get that it must be challenging. But your UC top up is what someone earns FT in a decent job. So probably salary of £35k. That's in addition to the £1900 your DH earns. It's always discussed on here that everyone on UC is struggling to make ends meet. I imagine there are other benefits for some on UC like pupil premium (which enables support for things like school trips) & free prescriptions etc. So I think that people on modest salaries are likely to be a bit surprised. Not all of us on here earn in excess of £50k.

@converseandjeans which bit of the concept of bringing up two profoundly disabled children being both very hard work and extremely costly passes you by?

That’s a separate issue. I’m not for one moment saying having a disabled child is some kind of lucrative career option, it must be bloody hard and I don’t underestimate that. But (uncomfortable as it is), some of the amounts received seem very very high considering essentially it’s for an individual to support their family, while people who pay towards that amount get to retain hardly any of it for their own family.

I earn a third of that UC top up, and I work 40 hours a week and pay for childcare.

It's not a race to the bottom. Stop.

No but it is a matter of economics. If it wasn’t, this would be easy - everyone could have what they wished.

I agree with this. I am in awe of people who care for disabled children/partners but aside from that, I know a significant number of people who live very comfortably on UC with more disposable income than those who work full time who get no support. Seems very unfair to me

Thank you for sharing. I worked FT whilst raising my child alone and was worse off financially than those on benefits (had to pay childcare etc). And I wasn't on a mega salary

Spot on