UC plus work benefits

White2484

Firstly let me apologise if this question has been asked before.

My company have a scheme where they can take a monthly amount from our monthly wage and pay onto a store card. If I was to do that then my net income would be less for the UC to be calculated. So that would mean my overall UC would increase.

Is this ok to do? Would UC look into this then hit me with an overpayment in the future? I just worry as I was hit with a big overpayment on tax credits prior. Any advice would be appreciated.

Alice_Holt

"Notional earned income
The regulations also include provision for ‘notional earned income’ – this is where a claimant has deprived themselves of earned income, or whose employer has arranged for them to be deprived, for the purposes of securing entitlement to UC or an increased amount of UC. Where this is the case, the person will be treated as having the earned income."

https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/universal-credit/guidance/entitlement-to-uc/what-is-income-for-uc/

Also look carefully at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/767105/admh3.pdf

NedS

You may also find that on the RTI feed the store card deduction has been excluded so has not reduced your net income as reported to UC.

Either way, as Alice correctly points out this would not be allowed for UC purposes and if not correctly reported could lead to an overpayment that you would have to pay back.

White2484

Thank you! I’ll ring them tomorrow to declare it or ask what are the next steps.