Is this correct about claiming Universal Credit?

[Iwantthesunsobad]

My partner of 20+ years and i about the separate and i’ll be staying in the house with our 4 children ages ranger from 6-16
I only work 12 hours a week in a school and just been told by Citizens Advice that DWP will be calling me as soon as i apply to tell me i can only claim if i can work at least 35 hours a week?? Is this correct? I don’t know how i’m going to do that as you can’t just decide you wanted more hours.
Im panicking now as i don’t know if can survive paying the mortgage on my own if i can’t claim UC.

Thank you @Lemonade2011 that’s reassuring. We deliver local papers (with my 11) year old as he can’t do it on his own so not sure that counts as he gets some of the earnings from that too

@Iwantthesunsobad there's a lot of nonsense on here.

I strongly advise you to call the Help to Claim service on 0800 144 8 444 and have a conversation with them.

There is no reason why you cannot claim Universal Credit now based on part time work of 12 hours for which I'd guestimate you gross monthly pay as around £650 - but less if term time only.

You'll need to have a conversation with your Job Coach about what exactly you could do to increase earnings but that should accommodate looking after your children around school hours.

Hours per week are not even, for most things, how UC works. It's more about multiples of the National Living Wage. Not getting it unless you work 35 hours is nonsense on stilts territory.

Thanks so much @Bromptotoo. Appreciate you simplifying it a bit for me. I will call them to discuss. I do work term time so it’s less than that. it’s actually £500 net
Partner will be moving to his dads for now while we figure things out.
Hopefully him and I can some sort of a workable schedule and perhaps i can do a night shift at the weekend.
Thanks again for your reassuring words.

Of course you can claim but they will pressure you to work more hours. You can't claim for mortgage help unless it is for an loan but I wouldn't do that unless in a emergency. You do however get to keep more of your wage before they deduct it.

https://www.frolo.com/blog/a-guide-to-universal-credit-for-single-parents

Thank you @Boomer55
Interesting that the article talks about 16 hours rather than a set amount.

As long as you earn over the AET they leave you alone. For a single parent it is about £890. It doesn't go on hours.

She only needs to meet the AET for a single parent and then she is in the light touch group. It doesn't matter about the hours, just what she earns.

Considering your DH is a high earner do you not have savings? If so I'd be more worried about that than the hours

He is an ex DH.

@IVFmumoftwo actually she refers to him as 'her partner' not ex anything. Not that there's any point to your post.

Heaven forbid anybody should have to work more than 12 hours a week. Your high earning partner should be paying to make up the shortfall not the overburdened tax payers.

Well there is because if they are separated then UC won't take into account his savings just hers. It does say they are separating if you read the post.

@IVFmumoftwo I asked if she had savings, not her partner/ex DH/whatever you deem acceptable. What is your problem? It's a perfectly reasonable question as OP may not realise the savings rules on UC and knowing about them before they split any assets could be useful. Is that ok with you??

Thank you @IVFmumoftwo i’ll bear that in mind X