Universal credit paying significantly less than tax credits - is this right?

FBaby

£880 after bills is really not that bad at all and more than what many people not entitled to any benefits are left with to make ends meet. I understand it is a shock to have to do with £300 less a month, but it is not an unreasonable amount of disposable income. How much needs to go directly towards your eldest's disability?

Alice_Holt

The child disability element of Child Tax Credits does not exist under UC.
The disabled as severely financially disadvantaged by UC.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/corporate/11-sept--final--report-rebalancing-universal-credit.pdf

If your partner had two years previous tax years NI contributions, he may have been able to claim New Style JSA (the old contribution-based JSA) which does not come under the UC umbrella (and retain HB & Tax Credits). You may have been given incorrect advice by both the DWP helpline & your LA. There is a lot of disinformation given out by official outlets about UC, because training is very poor and UC (and alternatives) hugely complicated.

If your partner had sufficient NI contributions in 2014/15 & 2015/16:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-jobseekers-allowance
- then you may wish to pursue this further.

seahorseboogie

Well they have assessed (in detail) that £75 a week, which is his DLA, is needed towards his disability and I would say this is not even enough., but it's a very welcome amount. He will be severely disadvantaged. His one specialist extra curricular activity a week costs £30 alone.

Alice, that information is gold - he has been working solidly for the last five years (one year gap for a foundation uni course) so I shall look into that. Would it mean we have to pay back the universal credit though? Thank you so much.

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow

Can your husband take a second job? Or when the baby is born, you take a job to fit around your husbands work hours so that he can look after the children while you work? That's what parents used to do before Tax Credits were invented and they wanted more money

Before tax credits were invented people got the money via the tax system, the more children you had the less tax you paid. People forget this. So tax credits have always been around they were just called something else.

[Deleted User]

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow wrote: »

Can your husband take a second job? Or when the baby is born, you take a job to fit around your husbands work hours so that he can look after the children while you work? That's what parents used to do before Tax Credits were invented and they wanted more money

Before tax credits were invented people got the money via the tax system, the more children you had the less tax you paid. People forget this. So tax credits have always been around they were just called something else.

Plus there was such a thing as"family income supplement" which topped up low wages as recently as 1998 (Known as FIZZ"

WillowCat

Alice_Holt wrote: »

The child disability element of Child Tax Credits does not exist under UC.
The disabled as severely financially disadvantaged by UC.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/corporate/11-sept--final--report-rebalancing-universal-credit.pdf

Have the disabled child elements been removed then?

There are also two disabled child additions.

Disabled child addition of £126.11 per month for each child or qualifying young person that is in receipt of DLA or PIP; or
Severely disabled child addition of £372.30 per month if your child or qualifying young person gets the highest rate of the care component of DLA, the enhanced rate for daily living of PIP, or is registered blind.

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Universal-Credit/Additional-Elements-of-Universal-Credit

sammyjammy

seahorseboogie wrote: »

It really seems as if the whole move to universal credit is just a disguised form of taking money from the poor and disabled. I'm disgusted. I was all for it thinking it was just the same benefits in a different format to encourage people to work. You're doing a brilliant job helping people escape it.

You are right it was supposed to be Welfare reform rather than money saving, then they changed their minds, that's why IDS resigned.