claiming UC when married?

Gavin78

Hi,


My wife has put a claim in for UC having lost her job in June.


We get a little bit of tax credits around £14 a week plus child benefit as we have a 5 year but we were never on UC.



So she is going so sign on we have done the form filling in online and created the post office account you have to do to go through all the checks etc



I work fulltime however the last bit it says the only thing left for her to do is call for an interview, however the bits I had to fill in also state I have to call for an interview?


I can understand the wife doing it but I work already so whats the interview for on my part?

tomtom256

It's a joint claim, so both of you have to provide ID etc, it's means tested benefit.

Your claim to tax credit's will also stop.

Gavin78

What about the interview do I need to attend one as well as is stated or is this just something that is on both forms and only one e.g my wife will attend an interview seen as it's not a joint claim because we are both unemployed.


As for tax credits how will this work now will it be looked at again for UC or will we need to start again and fill a new form in to claim?

calcotti

Gavin78 wrote: »

What about the interview do I need to attend one as well as is stated or is this just something that is on both forms and only one e.g my wife will attend an interview seen as it's not a joint claim because we are both unemployed.


As for tax credits how will this work now will it be looked at again for UC or will we need to start again and fill a new form in to claim?

Yes you have to attend an interview too. You are both UC claimants. It is a joint claim. Your Tax Credits will stop completely. They are replaced by UC and the claim for UC should automatically end the Tax Credits claim.

The amount of UC be calculated based on your joint income and savings.

Gavin78

Just looked up what they do in an interview sounds like a right ball ache and I need to find time off work to interview wish I hadn't bothered filling the online forms in now

Rubyroobs

Gavin78 wrote: »

Just looked up what they do in an interview sounds like a right ball ache and I need to find time off work to interview wish I hadn't bothered filling the online forms in now

Some job centres are open on Saturday morning so that may be an option ? The ID interview is very straightforward or sometimes you can verify online after making the Uc application. Alternatively your wife could look into claiming a contributions based benefit like new style JSA if she has paid sufficient NI contributions over the past few years. I guess it depends how much you might receive from Uc.

konark

Did you check if you'd be better off on UC?

WhenIam64

Online checks here

https://www.betteroffcalculator.co.uk/#/login

and

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/better-off-calculator/

New style JSA is the way forward if she has the contributions but AFAIK you'd have to cancel the UC claim first

https://www.gov.uk/how-to-claim-new-style-jsa

calcotti

WhenIam64 wrote: »

New style JSA is the way forward if she has the contributions but AFAIK you'd have to cancel the UC claim first

You can claim New Style JSA and UC at the same time but the JSA is taken into account as income when working out the UC entitlement.

OP, there will probably be two JobCentre appointments, one to check your identity and one to agree your claimant commitment. Both quite short but, for some reason, DWP don’t appear to do them at the same time from what I have heard.

Gavin78

Thanks for the replies.


Wife claimed contribution based JSA for 6 months last year which ended start of December. 6 months being the maximum you can claim when married.



She had a job that was full time from January but temporary for 6 months with a view to going permanent but that didn't work out due to funding.


She was thinking of doing agency work while looking for a permanent job and thought signing upto UC was simple but it's a bit of a mess around for something she might not be able to claim for anyway.


I also checked my postcode and the gov website says we are in a UC area so can't claim new style JSA anyway



I'm going to call them on Monday

poppy12345

Gavin78 wrote: »

thought signing upto UC was simple but it's a bit of a mess around for something she might not be able to claim for anyway.

You have to claim UC as a couple so she won't be able to claim it by herself. Have you put your details through the benefit calculator as advised? you may not be entitled to anything.