Universal Credit

Dep17

There are two of us living at our address.  We are not a couple, we are flat mates.  Both of us are self employed and both of us lost all our contracts on the same two dates, 16th and 17th March.  Two different fields of work.  We both applied for Universal Credit independently one day after the other.  I have now received my first Universal Credit payment which was very welcome however, my flat mate has not received anything and has been told he shall not receive anything this month which seems unfair.
He gets paid roughly two months after the work is done.  Therefore he was paid £1085 for work he completed in January, having to live through January, February and March waiting for the money.  He received his payment at the beginning of April and because of this he has not been paid by Universal Credit.  He wrote to Universal Credit to explain that the money was for work done in January and Universal Credit replied that Universal Credit is based on when the money is received, not when the work is done.  This seems grossly unfair to me.   The payment he received in April for his January work is used to pay the debts he incurred between when he worked and when he received his payment.
Any advice?  We are both self employed and have never had to resort to government handouts.  We are not sure how to navigate the system but for two people who have paid in to the system, we feel we should now be able to receive from the system.  Both of us suffer from seasonal fluctuations and therefore we budget accordingly.  Both of us, in completely different sectors, as I have said before were entering our busy time with a lot of work in March, the very time that Coronavirus then put the dampers on our work and we both lost all our contracts.

poppy12345

Unfortunately, that is how UC is worked out. Earnings reduce the amount of UC you receive in the month they are received and sadly there's nothing that can be done about it.

UC isn't the best benefit for those that are self employed and even more so when the minimum income floor starts back up again.

[Deleted User]

 That's how universal credit works. Income you receive during the assessment period is what is used to asses your UC. Doesn't matter that it was for work carried out months earlier. 

Dep17

Thank you Poppy and Shel.  At least now we know.  We also did not know until the other day that there was such a thing as Jobseekers Allowance which we have both applied for.  Cross fingers.

poppy12345

You will not be able to claim New style JSA because you are self employed. Even if you could claim it, it would be deducted £1 for £1 from your UC entitlement.

Jeremy535897

"The payment he received in April for his January work is used to pay the debts he incurred between when he worked and when he received his payment.
Any advice?"
As posters above have pointed out, UC looks at income on a cash basis, but expenses are dealt with on a cash basis too. Has he entered the income without he expenses he used it to pay?

calcotti

Jeremy535897 said:

"The payment he received in April for his January work is used to pay the debts he incurred between when he worked and when he received his payment.
Any advice?"
As posters above have pointed out, UC looks at income on a cash basis, but expenses are dealt with on a cash basis too. Has he entered the income without he expenses he used it to pay?

As Jeremy says he should have reported both the income he received and any payments he made during the Assessment Period. The difference between the income and outgoings is what is used as earnings to calculate UC payable for that period.
If he didn't understand that and didn't report the expenditure he may be able to get DWP to recalculate entitlement if he updates the information and explains things.

ffc58

Dep17 said:

There are two of us living at our address.  We are not a couple, we are flat mates.  Both of us are self employed and both of us lost all our contracts on the same two dates, 16th and 17th March.  Two different fields of work.  We both applied for Universal Credit independently one day after the other.  I have now received my first Universal Credit payment which was very welcome however, my flat mate has not received anything and has been told he shall not receive anything this month which seems unfair.
He gets paid roughly two months after the work is done.  Therefore he was paid £1085 for work he completed in January, having to live through January, February and March waiting for the money.  He received his payment at the beginning of April and because of this he has not been paid by Universal Credit.  He wrote to Universal Credit to explain that the money was for work done in January and Universal Credit replied that Universal Credit is based on when the money is received, not when the work is done.  This seems grossly unfair to me.   The payment he received in April for his January work is used to pay the debts he incurred between when he worked and when he received his payment.
Any advice?  We are both self employed and have never had to resort to government handouts.  We are not sure how to navigate the system but for two people who have paid in to the system, we feel we should now be able to receive from the system.  Both of us suffer from seasonal fluctuations and therefore we budget accordingly.  Both of us, in completely different sectors, as I have said before were entering our busy time with a lot of work in March, the very time that Coronavirus then put the dampers on our work and we both lost all our contracts.

Hello , Do you qualify for SEISS or are you knewly self employed  meaning 19/20 tax year.