UC - "Universal Con!"

11krage

As for the staff members saying they'd pay your work expenses. This sounds like the flexible support fund at the job centre. It's up to the work coach to check if you meet the requirements, and you shouldn't have been told until that interview whether you would get it or not.


As others have said, if you now have over 6k capital this needs to be reported on your account quickly.

jessejazza

11krage wrote: »

If you only received £318 earnings in that first AP, that's not enough to nil your UC if you're getting the 317.82 standard allowance. Guessing you either took out advances or had additional earnings or other income in that assessment period.

I did actually get more but I quoted £318 (meaning over £317.82) and I was given to understand that anything over £317.82 would nil UC - what value is it to nil UC?

jessejazza

calcotti wrote: »

If you claim both the JSA is taken into account as income for UC and your UC is reduced by the same amount. If your UC is less than £73.10 a week then you will get more on JSA. If your UC is more than this then there is no overall gain claiming both. JSA can only be paid for a maximum of 26 weeks.

Thanks.

I have actually now worked this out now. UC is £6.36 more but is 4 week assessment period instead of fortnightly. That is the difference BUT in terms of knowing where one is financially I would rather be on JSA. Council tax being what one needs to watch as I have been discussing with them this morning. If one is down as paying weekly then if one does not pay the full amount then a reminder letter is generated... but received two weeks out of date and then they allow a fortnight to pay (but further arrears have built up in that time).

On JSA I paid the reduced figure and if I did a couple of days agency work I then paid the additional £12.59 to bring it up to the full amount (benefit reduced for that fortnight. Thus keeping on top of the situation. Now all one can do is pay the full amount and then phone in e.g. for 2 Sep I pay £2.40, 9 Sep £3.30 - so know where I stand there and phone after to see what I owe.

That first month cost me £368.18. My assessment period is 17-16 so the same would happen if I started a job on the 16. Whereas with JSA one signed off the day before starting work.

For those who will only sign for a short period JSA is the better option by far (IMO). As for 26 week limit - house owners will be in real trouble if they are out of work for that long. They say one will get mortgage interest payments after 9 months - repossession proceedings will have started at about 6 months and with repayment mortgage the capital owed will still be adding to the arrears.

LilElvis

jessejazza wrote: »

For those who will only sign for a short period JSA is the better option by far (IMO). As for 26 week limit - house owners will be in real trouble if they are out of work for that long. They say one will get mortgage interest payments after 9 months - repossession proceedings will have started at about 6 months and with repayment mortgage the capital owed will still be adding to the arrears.

This is why it is generally accepted that people should have a realistic emergency fund - possibly also insurance products to cover against sickness/ redundancy if the employer provides limited sick pay or any redundancy payment is likely to be low. Mortgage lenders don't relish repossessions so requesting a payment holiday might well be viewed favourably. It's more than reasonable that the State limits assistance to the interest element of the mortgage - why should they provide a claimant with free capital?

11krage

jessejazza wrote: »

I did actually get more but I quoted £318 (meaning over £317.82) and I was given to understand that anything over £317.82 would nil UC - what value is it to nil UC?

Assuming it was solely earnings nilling your payment for that assessment period and not other money you received or deductions for something such as an agreed loan, by my calculations it would take at least 504.48 pounds to nil the standard allowance. This is because only 63% of the amount of the earnings is deducted from the UC amount. This is to ensure you get more money overall if you're in employment rather than on benefits.


You'll be able to see the breakdown of your statement by clicking payments on your home screen, then click whichever period you want to see a breakdown of. This will tell you the amount of earnings your employer reported in that period.

calcotti

jessejazza wrote: »

I have actually now worked this out now. UC is £6.36 more but is 4 week assessment period instead of fortnightly.

UC is not 4 weeks, it is monthly. Monthly UC of £317.82 is equivalent to £73.14/week (317.82 x 12 / 365 x 7).

calcotti

LilElvis wrote: »

It's more than reasonable that the State limits assistance to the interest element of the mortgage - why should they provide a claimant with free capital?

For information, mortgage interest help is no longer a benefit to pay the mortgage interest. What is now available, after 9 months, is the option to take an interest free loan from the government to cover the interest costs on the main mortgage. The government take a second charge on the property and the loan is repayable when the property is sold.

jessejazza

calcotti wrote: »

UC is not 4 weeks, it is monthly. Monthly UC of £317.82 is equivalent to £73.14/week (317.82 x 12 / 365 x 7).

I was doing a rough comparison but you are correct... 4p more per week

jessejazza

LilElvis wrote: »

This is why it is generally accepted that people should have a realistic emergency fund - possibly also insurance products to cover against sickness/ redundancy if the employer provides limited sick pay or any redundancy payment is likely to be low. Mortgage lenders don't relish repossessions so requesting a payment holiday might well be viewed favourably. It's more than reasonable that the State limits assistance to the interest element of the mortgage - why should they provide a claimant with free capital?

One should put money aside if one is earning enough. But employers in recent years have cut wages to the point that many folk haven't had arise in at least 10 years. Insurance products do not cover one for more than 6 months... that i have come across.

I only have my experience to go by and payment holidays will not be granted if one's credit rating is impacted. If one has an accident they cannot repossess you until you are fit and working again. 6 months arrears is the limit unless one can agree a payment plan... which I can't as i am out of work. If one had a serious road accident and out of action for a year the same would apply. Citizen's advice said that the arrears would be added onto the mortgage although I would be charged the extra interest... but probably depends on the lender. Neither can one change the mortgage terms until arrears is paid and in my case 12 payments made before they will consider a change in terms. A mortgage is a loan the same as any other... only mitigating circumstances is an accident or serious illness.

I wasn't suggesting that claimants should get free capital - all I said was that the interest element is outside the 6 months. When I broke my ankle all that happened was I was on ESA and the interest was taken from the amount I was paid and passed direct to the lender.

"Mortgage lenders don't relish repossessions" - depends on the mortgage. If one has a 10-20 % mortgage there is a real liklihood as they can drop the price for a quick sale. With a 90-100 % mortgage less likely as the gain is little.

jessejazza

11krage wrote: »

Assuming it was solely earnings nilling your payment for that assessment period and not other money you received or deductions for something such as an agreed loan, by my calculations it would take at least 504.48 pounds to nil the standard allowance. This is because only 63% of the amount of the earnings is deducted from the UC amount. This is to ensure you get more money overall if you're in employment rather than on benefits.
...

I hadn't seen that figure so i will have to read again. My amount was £1243.82. I was just quoting what I had been told. i signed on the Mon 17 Jun and got the money on 21 Jun - with JSA's 7 days waiting time there would not have been an impact. If there was then it would have only been one fortnight's payment lost as opposed to a calendar month. So it cost me £368.18 (including full council tax).