Universal credit payment seems wrong

calcotti

Houndog6105 wrote: »

....when I mentioned the carers element she said it takes time for them to update things at there end and when they are informed from DWP that I'm on carers allowance they will update at there end

So I said we'll hang on a minute you know I'm on carers allowance as you have deducted it from my award this month

That's ridiculous. As long as they know you are a carer (providing 35 hours care for someone on a qualifying benefit) they should include the carer element. You don't have to be in receipt of Carer's Allowance to get the carer element.

Nonetheless it may be simpler just to wait a little longer to see if they do update your award - just make sure it is backdated to all relevant assessment periods.

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Houndog6105

Thanks calcotti

They have within the last hour updated our payment and have included a months carer element about £156 I think

And they said we are owed £55 from the month of Jan - march.

Obviously it's not a huge amount but every little helps at the minute for us as with us both not working now we have had a huge drop in income and my wife's disabled now and I'm here with our one year old and my wife to look after.

It's just been a massive change of circumstances for us in these last 3 months. I think I shall give the council a call next. Thanks again to all that messaged

calcotti

Houndog6105 wrote: »

And they said we are owed £55 from the month of Jan - march.

That seems very low. If you were already a carer throughout that time you would expect to have £156 added to each of the relevant assessment periods (Jan to Feb and Feb to March) so that would be £312 (assuming they have already deducted the Carer's Allowance itself in their previous calculations). If they haven't done so I would ask them too explain how they have arrived at £55.

Houndog6105

No they hadn't included carers allowance on jan-feb only march

We didn't start getting PIP and carers allowance till the 2nd Feb even though my wife left hospital in December they started her PIP from 2nd of Feb and they said that means carers allowance can only be backdated to when PIP started

Do they go off that date?

calcotti

I believe they should include carer element for the assessment period that includes 2nd February and all later period. Obviously Carer’s Allowance needs to be taken into account too.

Just to check, was your wife in hospital continuously from the date sh3 started the PIP claim until 2nd February.

Houndog6105

Hi calcotti

She was in hospital November and December and she came home end of December

PIP and carers allowance kicked in the 2nd Feb

This is the letter I received today in my journal regarding the UC carers element

Hello,
We've decided your entitled to UC of £55.21 from 15 Jan - 14 Mar. This is because carers element not taken into account.

We have already paid you UC of £1155.48 from 15 Jan - 14 Mar

We owe you £55.21.
This is the amount left after taking away the universal credit we have already paid you

We will pay you £55.21 into your bank account

Does that sound correct to you?

Houndog6105

And I should add that for this month's payment they have added full carers element of £156

Houndog6105

They pay us on the 21st of each month and the dates they use to calculate payment is our earnings from the 15th Feb -14th March

calcotti

Thinking about it the 2nd Feb start date for PIP makes sense if the accident happened at the beginning of November because there is a 3 month qualifying period for PIP.

If I have understood you correctly you now have the £156 included in the payment for 15th Feb to 15th March. The £55.21 therefore must come from the 15th January to 15th Feb assessment period. I can’t see how this has been arrived at - without seeing the breakdown it’s impossible to say whether it is correct. Did the payment you had in February include deduction for Carer’s Allowance and, if so, how much?

Houndog6105

Yes they deducted £101.44 carers allowance for the February payment which was for the 14 Jan - 15 Feb

We received £306 UC last month but that was based on my wife receiving full income because her employer paid her full pay for the first three months on sick

So hence why the UC award was only £300 received