Paying back an advance if uc claim closed

poppy12345

scootw1 wrote: »

One question I do have if anyone can help. When wages are taken into account and money deducted from uc does this just come off the 317.82 you receive or do you lose part of the housing element as well as its all in one payment now? If I don't lose the housing element then that may be mamageable, tight but manageable.

It's deducted from the total amount, not just the standard allowance.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Earnings-taper-Universal-Credit

scootw1

Let me see if I am calculating this correctly.

If I get 900 pounds this month then I would lose 900 x 0.63 from uc?

So 900 x 0.63 = 567

I lose 14 % of housing element due to bedroom tax of 402 so get

345.72 of housing element.

Plus standard allowance of 317.82 = 663 approx.

Minus the 567 I would lose. So that leaves 96 pounds to pay towards rent. So because I started the claim before my wages come in I would now have just 996 to pay the rent for two months and leave me with just under 600 pounds to live on for 8 weeks including the advance I had. And that's for all bills as well.

Are my calculations correct or have I misunderstood something?

I thought you were supposed to be better off on uc? Under the old system I would have Jsa and housing benefit from the time I finished work. Now I wouldn't get anything for two months? Something doesn't seem right to me.

Would I still lose part of the housing element if it is paid direct to landlord?

huckster

Yes, if you have earnings counted in an assessment period and there is no work allowance applicable, then you simply multiply net earnings by .63 and deduct from the standard allowance + housing (+ other elements such as children if applicable). In your example this means a UC payment of £96.54.

So if you claimed before your employers reported your last wages, then yes you could be affected in the way you indicate.

But if you have £900 wages, plus the small UC payment affected by earnings and an advance you said you had, then you have money towards covering rent and basic living costs. Not easy to make sudden adjustments, but asking your Bank to cancel existing Direct Debits and standing orders will hopefully stop Bank charges. And you let companies know of revised circumstances and delay in being able to make payments. Also get in touch with Council to make a claim for Council Tax reduction.

To answer your question, yes you would still be in the same position, if housing paid to landlord. The landlord would get the £96 and you would owe the landlord the difference. You might not currently be eligible for payment to landlord anyway, unless you met the criteria for this.

scootw1

What a totally messed up system this is. Two months before getting any benefits. Utterly disgusted by it.

scootw1

Let me ask about the assssmemt period. If the assessment period goes back to what it was in my closed claim, does that mean that if I did a new claim today that the date it was going to be paid out would go back to what it was originally, i.e. Not have the five week wait?

calcotti

scootw1 wrote: »

Let me ask about the assssmemt period. If the assessment period goes back to what it was in my closed claim, does that mean that if I did a new claim today that the date it was going to be paid out would go back to what it was originally, i.e. Not have the five week wait?

Yes, that’s what should happen - although depending on exact timing I guess there might be a processing delay.

My understanding is that if, for example, your assessment period was 14th to 13th of the month with payment on the 20th then if you made a claim on say the 6th of the month that would trigger an assessment period backdated to the 14th of the previous month and ending in the following 13th with the first payment date being the 20th, just two weeks after the claim date (subject to there being a payment entitlement).

All of this is new(ish) and we are still learning how it works and it does seem that what the rules and guidance say is not always the same as what is actually happening.

scootw1

I'm going to see if I can talk to someone in the job centre about this today as it seems so unfair to have to wait until 19th may for any benefit at all. Surely I shouldn't have to start cancelling direct debits and asking to postpone payments just because of the timing of my claim? It's utterly ridiculous.

calcotti

scootw1 wrote: »

I'm going to see if I can talk to someone in the job centre about this today as it seems so unfair to have to wait until 19th may for any benefit at all. Surely I shouldn't have to start cancelling direct debits and asking to postpone payments just because of the timing of my claim? It's utterly ridiculous.

Why do you think you will be waiting until 19th May?

Frogletina

scootw1 wrote: »

I'm going to see if I can talk to someone in the job centre about this today as it seems so unfair to have to wait until 19th may for any benefit at all. Surely I shouldn't have to start cancelling direct debits and asking to postpone payments just because of the timing of my claim? It's utterly ridiculous.

Exactly what happened to my son. Also, because of the earnings in the first assessment period he was not eligible to any reduction in his council tax. He has cancelled his tv licence, his water insurance (luckily he had it when he needed to make a claim), everything on direct debit he could cancel, or amend he has - and fortunately his council tax was over 10 months, so he'd paid up to March.

Previous years he cancelled his mortgage cover when he was off sick the first time a few years ago, which was sadly the wrong decision, as he went on to have a heart attack, and the cover would have paid his mortage off!

Now he is having to rely on me to pay his mortgage or he would be homeless, as the bank won't allow him to take another payment holiday as he did that when he was on sick pay a couple of years ago.

When UC was first touted it said that the move to monthly payments would put claimants on the same footing as if they were working. This is clearly not the case in practice - how many workers could last almost two months on one pay packet?

frogletina

scootw1

calcotti wrote: »

Why do you think you will be waiting until 19th May?

I would have had about 96 in April so not a full payment with housing until May. Turns out I didn't need to claim uc after all. I could claim Jsa, didnt know I could.