Lost temporary job due to Corona Virus lock-down - only got £18 for a MONTH of Universal Credit

poppy12345

calcotti said:

makara said: My point being - face-to-face meetings in a DWP office would possibly have ensured the staff could better cover all the possible scenarios and pitfalls to the person, and could perhaps suggest which benefit was better to them. 

There is now a warning on the UC claim page.

Finally, they've done it. This should have been done from the start. Thanks for the info.

makara

calcotti said:

Even in normal times by the time you had got to a face to face appointment I think the Stop Notice would already have been sent to Tax Credits. There is now a warning on the UC claim page.

Ah...I wasn't aware of a warning.  I'm guessing this has been a recent addition (I applied on March 27th, and don't remember seeing one).

calcotti

JessicaF_2 said: Plus the way earnings are treated has been challenged by CPAG in the Johnson case so it will be interesting to see where that goes. 

I think that was scheduled to be heard by one of the higher courts later in the year but I expect it had been further delayed.

poppy12345

makara said:

calcotti said:

Even in normal times by the time you had got to a face to face appointment I think the Stop Notice would already have been sent to Tax Credits. There is now a warning on the UC claim page.

Ah...I wasn't aware of a warning.  I'm guessing this has been a recent addition (I applied on March 27th, and don't remember seeing one).

Yes, it's a new addition.

calcotti

makara said:

calcotti said:

Even in normal times by the time you had got to a face to face appointment I think the Stop Notice would already have been sent to Tax Credits. There is now a warning on the UC claim page.

Ah...I wasn't aware of a warning.  I'm guessing this has been a recent addition (I applied on March 27th, and don't remember seeing one).

It has only gone up in the last couple of days. See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6138999/loss-of-tax-credits-due-to-claiming-uc#latest

makara

calcotti said:

It has only gone up in the last couple of days. See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6138999/loss-of-tax-credits-due-to-claiming-uc#latest

Thanks very much for this link...I'll bookmark it.

An update - I phoned the DWP line, and the guy did give the option of an "RTI Dispute" - but after further discussion, he suggested two things instead -

1)   Depending on whether I get paid weekly or monthly when I find a new job   - it may turn out that while losing out in the first month of my UC claim...I might gain in the final month of my UC claim (as suggested by the first responder "NedS" to my thread).

2)   To go ahead and apply for new-style JSA.  He said it's worth back-dating it, as the worst that can happen is the DWP refuse to do so - but if that happens I will be no worse off than I am now.  He added that there's no need for me to mention my on-going UC claim, because (as "poppy12345" said) they will just remove £1 from my UC claim for each £1 of JSA given.

There was no actual box to write why I was back-dating my claim to March 24th (when I lost my job) - although the application form did state this in regards to back-dating from today - 

"Only give an earlier date for a very good reason - for example a close relative died or you were given wrong advice"

I'll update on this thread as and when I hear back from them.

Thanks to all for your help, it's really appreciated.

calcotti

JessicaF_2 said:So to answer your question, if the employer puts the actual payment date and sends the submission to HMRC that same day (before 9pm) then yes it will go straight across to DWP that same day. If the employer sends the RTI info early, then it just stays at HMRC until the date in box 43 is reached and then it is transferred across to DWP. Or at least that is my understanding from what I have seen. 

Edited to add: that is why late payment submissions are problematic. Even if the actual payment date is put in the box, if it goes to HMRC after that date, it will get pulled through to DWP the next time the DWP system asks HMRC for any new data. The fact the actual payment date is in the box doesn't help. 

As a point of interest is the transfer of data from HMRC to DWP and the application of that data to a particular UC claim all automatic (computer to computer) or does it require human intervention?

tomtom256

Its automatic Calcotti. The feed comes in electronically for each claim on the assessment end day and then the statement gets auto-generated, if all is working.

calcotti

tomtom256 said:

Its automatic Calcotti. The feed comes in electronically for each claim on the assessment end day and then the statement gets auto-generated, if all is working.

Thanks tomtom

NedS

calcotti said:

JessicaF_2 said:So to answer your question, if the employer puts the actual payment date and sends the submission to HMRC that same day (before 9pm) then yes it will go straight across to DWP that same day. If the employer sends the RTI info early, then it just stays at HMRC until the date in box 43 is reached and then it is transferred across to DWP. Or at least that is my understanding from what I have seen. 

Edited to add: that is why late payment submissions are problematic. Even if the actual payment date is put in the box, if it goes to HMRC after that date, it will get pulled through to DWP the next time the DWP system asks HMRC for any new data. The fact the actual payment date is in the box doesn't help. 

That's really helpful and clearly explained. Thanks for doing that.
I guess claimant has the option of raising dispute if they have been disadvantaged because employer did a late return (which of course they are not supposed to do).
Highlights the importance of the employer understanding the significance of the different boxes (which in many cases they probably don't).

The claimant can raise a dispute but it will more than likely be declined as the policy has been followed so there is nothing to dispute. I raised one the other day on the insistence of a customer where the employer was clearly at fault and reported earnings a month late and the RTI team sent it back refusing to look at it. In fairness, the claimant only raised the issue a month later when in the subsequent AP two lots of earnings were considered - they apparently didn't notice the month before no earnings were taken into consideration and they'd received over £400 more UC than normal. If the claimant had raised the issue at the time - hey, my UC is higher than normal, you didn't take into account my earnings this month - then the claimant could have self reported the earnings and they could have been taken into account in the AP in which they were received as opposed to the AP in which the employer reported them. So the correct route is to self report missing earnings if the employer reports late, not to raise an RTI dispute after the fact.