Universal Credit Review

[ConfusedandMoreConfusedd]

Hi everyone!

I’ve had the message about having a UC review and just wanted to know what was everyone’s experience like?

I’ve submitted everything and nothing to hide but this is making me feel so anxious for some reason!

It terrified me but it was all very straight forward. They’ll ask you about various bits of income and expenditure. I got asked “what is Very that you paid £x to on date”. If you’ve done nothing wrong it’s nothing to worry about.

Glad it’s not just me who feels terrified! For no reason! 😂

My only concern is on the last day of one of my APs it looks like we have 6.5k in the bank but we were both paid from work a week prior to this and larger bills like rent hadn’t come out yet! Just hoping that doesn’t cause any issues!

It doesn’t as that money is (presumably) spent over the next month. I worried about this too but if you’re spending it it doesn’t matter.

Oh definitely spent! I manage to put away a small amount of money for a rainy day when there’s an issue with the cars or big bills come out but definitely not saving 6k!

my understanding is that the UCR agent should calculate my capital as

money in accounts on last day of AP - income made from work in this AP = capital

Mine made me really anxious too, even though I knew I was doing nothing wrong.
Be prepared for stupid questions though.

When I had mine she asked me to confirm that my rent was £x and paid to Bob Jones. The next question was "on 1/8 you paid £x to Bob Jones, what was that for?"
Erm...

I’ll make a conscious effort to not allow my eye roll to come across in my tone of voice 😂😂

anxiously waiting for this phone call to be scheduled!

There are rules about when income becomes capital that counts towards the £6k/£16k limits. Just both being paid in same month isn't an issue.

Also, whatever applies covers the whole AP; in effect what matters is your cash in bank at the end.

Yes I’ve looked into this and hopefully they work it out like I do!

6.5k in the bank at the end of AP but in the AP we were paid 3.5k so overall capital is 3k

It won't. Genuinely you need not worry.

Thank you! I’ve been waiting almost 2 weeks for a call to be scheduled and have seen people have document review and call done in a week or so, just making me feel like I’ve done something wrong!

They can question individual purchases or cash withdrawals and demand to know exactly what they were for?! But why?

People can spend their benefits on whatever they want surely? It would only be suss if tons of money was moving in and out or you blatantly had more than £16k?

I’m honestly happy for them to question it, they honestly won’t find a lot.

I definitely don’t have loads of savings either, just have a bit of rainy day money for the car and bills but as I said earlier it looks like I have more than 6k but we don’t with our 3.5k income from work the week before!

I was really so worried about mine as I thought I’d gone over the 6k at one point. I was then panicking as I’d heard if there is a discrepancy they will then ask to look back at your whole claim and I’d really convinced myself I’d done something wrong! It was absolutely fine in the end. They don’t take into account your monthly income in the savings calculation, as long as you don’t have loads left at the end of each month. I was so stressed about it but it was fine in the end, so don’t worry!

I was over 6k at the end of my assessment but that was mostly spent the following week! My monthly income takes it waayyy down so hoping I get a good reviewer who’s aware of the processes

That's all good. I'm just thinking generally why would they need to ask it? I just think it seems a bit intrusive tbh. I've not had one yet so don't know how much they delve into your everyday spending.

I’ll keep this updated when I eventually get my
call!

I understand questioning my spending if I was sending thousands every month but if they question my £100 at Tesco’s it’ll feel quite intrusive!

They're just trying to pay their bills too.

The same could be said for a lot of professions. Just know that every person working in UCR is on minimum wage and most will also be on UC. The DWP outsource it all to a private company. They don't get all the civil service perks, just a shit ton of work, deadline pressure, and threatened with the sack if deadlines aren't met, whilst being abused over the phone everyday. All the for the massive sum of £12.21per hour. I guess putting up with all that shit does make me a cunt!

It IS intrusive, and a lot of the questions are bloody stupid. We get marked on performance; if we don't ask certain questions, even if they're not relevant, we get marked down and put on a warning.

Yeah. It's not like anyone on benefits could afford to spend thousands a month on anything other than day to day expenses. But even if they did it's their own choice. You don't get your boss questioning and wanting receipts on how you spent your wages!

Do you work for the review team?

You earn 6.5k and need UC.
Is that really how much you have coming in and are able to claim UC? I’m staggered.

Only in this AP with a bonus from work. Knew there would be someone a tad judgy not knowing the financial circumstances

Also, my earnings wasn’t 6.5k. If you read it was 3.5