Universal Credit and 4 weekly pay

Forestgump

That post above is about me! Suzyg is my mum.
I am stuck in a bit of a date glitch which was obviously overlooked when UC was first set up.
I am paid calendar monthly and not 4 weekly so I should receive the exact amount of UC payments each month (if my circumstances don't change), however I don't receive the same each month because the DWP failed to take into account that some months do not contain 29, 30, or 31 days each month.
I am very unfortunate because my Assessment Period runs from the 31st to the 30th every month. If I had claimed just a couple days later this anomaly would have never occurred

Ames

How would the month with no UC affect add ons like free prescriptions/dental care etc? Does it mean that everyone on four weekly pay needs to apply for a low income certificate from the NHS just in case they get ill that week?

Does having to re-apply after the month with no UC trigger the six week wait again?

If the OP comes back, perhaps they could run their figures through one of the online calculators to see how much the yearly figure for UC is affected, comparing their four weekly pay with the same yearly pay done monthly.

Even if you don't look at the money, just the reapplying every year is a major flaw.

Blueday

Ames wrote: »

If the OP comes back, perhaps they could run their figures through one of the online calculators to see how much the yearly figure for UC is affected, comparing their four weekly pay with the same yearly pay done monthly.

Without running the figures through a calculator I can see that the OP will no worse off by being paid 4 weekly providing they earn more than their work allowance.

If some UC is payable in the month with two pay slips then the amount of UC paid over the year will be exactly the same as it would be if the OP was paid each calendar month.

and

If no UC is payable in the extra month, then the total UC paid will be more over the course of the year.

nextyeartina

Never thought of that. I will run the figures through now x


I've just run my wages through entitledto both 4 weekly and monthly. I'll be £1.25 worse off per month with a 4 weekly pay pattern. I'm stumped!!

System

i get paid weekly. Thats going to be an issue with UC surely? dreading the changeover

Forestgump

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments-payment-cycles

KaleyCuoco

I am in a similar boat.
I’ve looked into reapplying via my online account but it doesn’t give me this option?

Basically I got paid twice in my universal credit period (by one bloody day)
So UC have calculated that my wage for the following month is actually twice what I earn.

So the expected UC credit payment I was expecting (it being January just after Xmas) was a tiny amount.

I am so worried?!

All I’m reading is reapplying (which I am unsure how to do via the online account)
Or I’m basically just gonna have to suck it up and budget?
The problem is my NEXT pay is within the new universal credit timescale, so in my head (although I could be way out)
It looks to my that because o got paid a DAY early, I’m loosing a whole months UC??
☹️

calcotti

If you are made monthly so that you get 12 wage payments in a year it follows that if you have ended up with two wage payments within an assessment period there will eventually be a month in which you have no wage payments in the assessment period.

Unfortunately you cannot do anything to alter this and will have to budget around what you have received/ will receive.

If you project your assessment period forward with you likely pay dates you should be able to work out when things are likely to ‘correct’ themselves. Unfortunately if your normal pay day is just after your assessment period start date this problem is likely to occur again but there is no mechanism within UC to change the assessment period once the claim has started.

Nes93

I am about to apply for universal credit as I have a change in circumstances, I get paid on the 28th every month unless the 28th is a Sunday I will then get it on the Friday, I went to citizens advice they told me to apply from the 8th to the 16th in order for this assessment period not to effect my pay, just wondering if anyone thinks this is correct as they could not explain to me why I should apply between these dates ? I noticed some people saying if the applied on the 2nd then it would not cause them any issues.

calcotti

Nes93 wrote: »

I am about to apply for universal credit as I have a change in circumstances, I get paid on the 28th every month unless the 28th is a Sunday I will then get it on the Friday, I went to citizens advice they told me to apply from the 8th to the 16th in order for this assessment period not to effect my pay, just wondering if anyone thinks this is correct as they could not explain to me why I should apply between these dates ? I noticed some people saying if the applied on the 2nd then it would not cause them any issues.

I think waiting until the 8th is an excessive delay. Generally you are likely to be paid early due to bank holidays and or weekends rather than late so applying just after your normal pay day makes sense. If you want a bit of slack it seems unlikely that you would be paid more than say 3/4 days late so applying on 4th would be fine.

Incidentally I assume you will be paid monthly even though this original thread is about 4 weekly pay cycles which present a different problem.

As an aside, it may not matter in the future. A recent court case has determined that the DWP are interpreting the UC regulations incorrectly by taking wages into account when they are received rather than when they are earned. How that is going to be resolved in a practical sense remains to be seen because doing it differently is going to be a major problem for DWP - but the judge said administrative convenience is not a reason for misapplying the regulations.