Help with new UC claim

Onthebrinkofdisaster

Hello

Wondering if some of you knowledgeable people can help me please....

I have worked for 20 years solidly. I left my job of 13 years in December  and started a new job at the beginning of January. Unfortunately this new job didn’t work out and I left it at the end of January (bullying being told I wasn’t picking up the job quick enough etc). I have suffered with bad mental health for The last 10 years following a life changing tragedy and ongoing depression and anxiety. This all came to a head and  resulted me in having time off last summer. My doctor  has put me on various medications over this time and PTSD has been mentioned not only by the doctor but by a psychotherapist that I saw. I currently find myself unemployed but I’m looking for work. I have two children aged eight and six and a partner who works full time. I also have a mortgage and a lot of outgoings. I have been applying for a lot of jobs  recently and logging them under my work journal. I am finding it hard to get a job that will work around the children. I have my first meeting at the job centre on Friday with the view to claiming universal credit as I’m fast running out of savings. Since I have had the children I have only worked part time and I can only really feasibly work part time given my caring responsibilities outside of school and the fact that my mental health is not good at all. I just want an insight into what I can expect from the job centre  when I go there and whether trying to claim anything is going to be difficult. I need some income to survive but I can’t cope with intense hassle at the moment ☹️

Thank you 

Spoonie_Turtle

As your youngest child is aged 6, you would normally be expected to work / search for work for 25 hours per week, as it sounds like you are the primary carer with your partner working full time. However that can be adjusted if you wish to claim limited capability for work due to your health, for which you would need a fit note (sick note) from your GP and would have to undergo the work capability assessment. Your work coach has discretion to adjust this according to your personal circumstances anyway but having a fit note would make them more likely to exercise this discretion.

Your partner's income will be taken into account, and UC only pays housing costs towards rent - it can pay towards mortgage interest after a certain period of time claiming (though I'm fuzzy on the details and getting conflicting answers when I tried searching to confirm what I thought I knew).

In terms of what to expect at the appointment, be open and honest about your situation - all of it. You have to agree to a claimant commitment in order to receive whatever you're entitled to, so the commitments have to be things you personally can reasonably manage, otherwise if you don't fulfill your commitments you can be sanctioned. So it's really important to make sure they have a full picture of your situation so they can tailor it to your circumstances.

Have you used any online calculators to work out what your entitlement may be?

Onthebrinkofdisaster

Thank you. I am the children’s primary carer. My partner often works away a lot which doesn’t make things easy. I have had a look at some of the online calculators but them seem to vary quite a bit. I’m presuming I will get the £73 job seekers and maybe some child tax credit. To date this tax year I have earned about £10k so I don’t know if that skews payments going forward? 

Spoonie_Turtle

What you've already earned doesn't affect it, unless it's mounted up as savings (which clearly is not the case!)

UC is made up of elements, and yours will be a joint claim, so based on the information you've given:
Standard allowance for joint claimants over 25: £498.89
Child elements: £277.08 + £231.67
Your partner's earnings will be taken into account, so minus 63% of what they earn over £503 (your work allowance, as you have children and won't be paid anything for housing costs, at least to start with). Also any savings between £6000 and £16000 will result in a deduction, but as you say you're running out I'm assuming you're below that.
If you are awarded limited capacity for work-related activity (LCWRA) you'd also be entitled to an extra £336.20 from the fourth full assessment period after you start supplying fit notes - this is awarded if you are severely affected by your conditions, but if not then being awarded LCW without the extra money is still useful for not having so much required of you.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Calculating-Universal-Credit
https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Universal-Credit-Rates

The WCA can be quite a vast topic, the CAB website is quite user-friendly https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/claiming/getting-universal-credit-if-youre-sick-or-disabled/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/help-with-your-esa-claim/fill-in-form/ (assessment for ESA is exactly the same as UC)
and the criteria are here https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/ESA_criteria

^ When you look at the criteria, have this in mind: the UC50 form has an outlined box at the top of every page of questions about activities that say: “Only answer Yes to the following questions, if you can do the activity safely, to an acceptable standard, as often as you need to and in a reasonable length of time.” So all the descriptors that say 'cannot', that is what they mean. Cannot either do it safely (without risk to your health), or to an acceptable standard, or as often as you need to (repeatedly), or in a reasonable length of time.

https://wcainfo.net breaks it down a bit as well.

Sorry, this almost feels like an infodump. But you yourself know how your mental health impacts your ability to work so don't worry about the assessment yet, just concentrate on explaining your situation at the appointment. There will be time after that to think about the assessment, but for now just take it one step at a time.

Spoonie_Turtle

Actually, re: the joint claim, how often and for how long is your partner away? Are they living away, or just staying in hotels for short stints?

poppy12345

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Your partner's income will be taken into account, and UC only pays housing costs towards rent - it can pay towards mortgage interest after a certain period of time claiming (though I'm fuzzy on the details and getting conflicting answers when I tried searching to confirm what I thought I knew).

When claiming UC you need to have 9 consecutive assessment period with no earned income before you can claim for SMI

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Support-for-mortgage-interest-Universal-Credit

calcotti

Spoonie_Turtle said:.

Your partner's income will be taken into account, and UC only pays housing costs towards rent - it can pay towards mortgage interest after a certain period of time claiming (though I'm fuzzy on the details and getting conflicting answers when I tried searching to confirm what I thought I knew).

UC will never provide help towards a mortgage. It is possible to apply for Support for Mortgage Interest. However this is not a benefit, it is a loan on which interest is charged. It is also only available after 9 months on UC and subject to other qualifying conditions https://www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest

Apart from this nothing to add to the excellent advice spoonie has given.

Onthebrinkofdisaster

Thank you all so much. I’m not too bothered about the help for mortgage as fortunately my mortgage is quite small and manageable out of my partners income. I just need some income to survive day to day and pay some bills and things for the children. I’ve never been out of work but I’ve just fallen on hard times I guess. You never know what your health might throw at you. I desperately want to work though I have three interviews line up before next Monday. My partners income is decreasing year on year (dying industry) I know last year he earned just over £29k and I think it will be less this year 👎🏻 

Onthebrinkofdisaster

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Actually, re: the joint claim, how often and for how long is your partner away? Are they living away, or just staying in hotels for short stints?

It’s only short stints in hotels x

Alice_Holt

I probably missing something here, but why not claim New Style ESA  (or New Style JSA) on the basis of your NI contributions in the last 2 tax years?
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-employment-and-support-allowance

Have you checked if there is a UC entitlement with your partner working full time?
UC will take into account all household income - it will be a joint claim. 
https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

I don't understand your comments " have had a look at some of the online calculators but them seem to vary quite a bit. I’m presuming I will get the £73 job seekers and maybe some child tax credit."  in relation to UC.

If you are already claiming Child Tax Credits - then claiming UC will immediately end your Tax Credits claim.
Jobseekers Allowance is different to UC.

Have you currently got a Child Tax Credits claim?

Have you actually claimed UC yet?

Spoonie_Turtle

Oh yikes, at 29k with the elements I mentioned above I don't think you'd be entitled to anything under UC (and as you are capable of and actively applying for jobs it's very unlikely you'd be awarded the LCWRA element on top if you were to go through the WCA). With your partner just doing stints away you would definitely have to have a joint claim* so his income would be deducted, and even with the work allowance and deducted at 63% I don't think there would be anything left for UC to pay. Unless I've got completely muddled. 
Although, it occurs to me that it's based on net pay, so if his take-home pay was under £2100 per month there might be a tiny entitlement still, but may well not be worth your time and effort to claim it, especially if you have to go to appointments often.

[*The reason I asked is because some types of absences are considered to be not living together as a couple (a very grey area in the legislation), but short stints away for work definitely still count as living together.]

(And thank you to poppy and calcotti for clarifying the SMI )

I assumed you'd already started a claim because you said about having an appointment, but now Alice Holt's comment has got me thinking - are you sure it's Universal Credit and not JSA? In which case, ignore everything I've said except to tell the work coach all about your circumstances and see what they say!