Universal credit is a nightmare!

nomad2017

sure will do... this issue is unacceptable. Imagine if I spent this amount thinking it belongs to me.. I don't understand how they can try a new system and not test it before..

nomad2017

seriously i'd like to keep this overpayment as a lesson for them.. I didn't make the decision to have this money and they paid me knowing I do not have the right to have this money... but I am not an as***le I will pay them back. If only they could provide me with an account number to wire the money but it seems this simple request is too hard for them

freezspirit

https://www.gov.uk/benefit-overpayments

gives information and contact details

london2018_2

Yes, you will be required to pay back all over payments, whether it was a mistake on their part or not. The idea that you assume you can "keep it as a lesson to them" is pure wishful thinking. They clearly made mistakes because your information may have been insufficient, or someone may have been new at the centre. If you do not repay the amount, they take you to court and you may even be sent to jail on fraud charges.

Although 19,000 may seem a low income in France it would not qualify you for any support at all in Britain. Britain actually has the lowest paid welfare system in all of Western Europe and also the most difficult one to access. I looked up some figures: Spain actually pay their citizens more than the UK at the absolute lowest £337 (non-contributory unemployment support) to £1,152 /month for the average worker (median income is below that amount). The minimum salary in Spain is £384 per month. State pension in Spain is the minimum amount of €636.10 for a single person. In the UK, a far more expensive economy, the state pension is £163 per week (£654 /mo).

In the UK the minimum income is estimated at £1,187 /month but benefits only pay around £250-£308 /month. To cover anything above that they need to top up - if they qualify or are able to.

British benefit system is not as generous and widely accessible as the media wants people to believe.

FBaby

seriously i'd like to keep this overpayment as a lesson for them..

If there is a lesson to be learned, it's that you should never assume that any governmental body is going to care about you as an individual and take any responsibility for your welfare. You are only a number to them and it is your responsibility to do your research to find out whether what is happening to you is right. They give you money, they shouldn't have, they take it back, that's how the system work and if you'd taken time looking into it first instead of just trying to get easy extra money, you would have understood that and not bothered to apply in the first place.

So lesson learned, pay what you owe, and next time, do your homework before thinking you're on a good thing.