UNIVERSAL CREDIT AND CARERS

Alice_Holt

CuriousCarer said:

We have run through the calculator for each of us and, it seems, could be ~£1,100 a month better off which just seems too good to be true, so I am convinced I must have done something wrong.

     That £1,100 does seem too high, to me.
     Just to check -  have you run a joint claim with all your details included.  Or have you run two individual claims?
    UC components:
    Basic couple rate  £594
   Carers addition      £163
   Less your CA        (£291)

   You have not said if you are renting (and are not claiming HB) or have children, so I have not itemised these UC additions.
   https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Universal-Credit-Rates

CuriousCarer

Rubyroobs said:

Did the calculation take into consideration deductions for your partners earnings and that your carers allowance will be deducted pound for pound from your Uc entitlement ? You will however get a carers element added onto your Uc claim. If oyu have no dependent children on your claim and your wife is not awarded LCWRA which she may not be then you won't get a work allowance on your claim ( this is an amount that is disregarded before deductions for wages happen.)

It should have, we did enter it and it did appear to!

It's possible she would be awarded LCWRA as she would find it difficult to find work should she lose this job, but I'm not sure how her already being in work will affect that decision.

Thank you for your help! 

CuriousCarer

poppy12345 said:

CuriousCarer said:

We have run through the calculator for each of us and, it seems, could be ~£1,100 a month better off which just seems too good to be true, so I am convinced I must have done something wrong.

Do you own or rent your home? Any dependant children?

We are private renters and, sadly, have no kids yet

CuriousCarer

calcotti said:

CuriousCarer said: We have run through the calculator for each of us and, it seems, could be ~£1,100 a month better off which just seems too good to be true, so I am convinced I must have done something wrong.

I suggest you run the calculation on at least two calculators to see if you get the same answer.

Could you kindly recommend any? I have tried two or three but they all appear to be different "skins" for the one found through the .Gov site

poppy12345

CuriousCarer said:

poppy12345 said:

CuriousCarer said:

We have run through the calculator for each of us and, it seems, could be ~£1,100 a month better off which just seems too good to be true, so I am convinced I must have done something wrong.

Do you own or rent your home? Any dependant children?

We are private renters and, sadly, have no kids yet

This means you'll be entitled to the 1 bedroom rate of local housing allowance for your area, the standard element for couples and the carers element. Your Carers allowance will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. Your partners earnings will see a deduction of 63% in your UC entitlement because you won't have the work allowance. If she's awarded LCW then you'll have the work allowance of £292 per month, which means she can earn that amount of money before the deductions apply.

CuriousCarer

"CuriousCarer said:

We have run through the calculator for each of us and, it seems, could be ~£1,100 a month better off which just seems too good to be true, so I am convinced I must have done something wrong.

     That £1,100 does seem too high, to me.
     Just to check -  have you run a joint claim with all your details included.  Or have you run two individual claims?
    UC components:
    Basic couple rate  £594
   Carers addition      £163
   Less your CA        (£291)

   You have not said if you are renting (and are not claiming HB) or have children, so I have not itemised these UC additions.

Thank you for your input, appreciate it! 
We actually ran the calculator two ways: Once with me as the "primary" and her as the "partner" and once with the opposite. Each time should have been a joint-claim calculation, as far as I can tell. Each version came out with vastly different sums so I assumed that we were being told what each person is entitled to, rather than what the couple would be entitled to.

For instance the calculator says that I, after Carer's deductions, will get £925.66 PM whereas my partner's calculation says £399.78 PM.
This should be after Carer's/wages deductions based on my understanding of the calculator. This leads me to think that what we would get is ~ £1,300 but that just does not seem right. 
It is more likely that we would get the £399 for a joint claim, is that right?

CuriousCarer

poppy12345 said:

CuriousCarer said:

poppy12345 said:

CuriousCarer said:

We have run through the calculator for each of us and, it seems, could be ~£1,100 a month better off which just seems too good to be true, so I am convinced I must have done something wrong.

Do you own or rent your home? Any dependant children?

We are private renters and, sadly, have no kids yet

This means you'll be entitled to the 1 bedroom rate of local housing allowance for your area, the standard element for couples and the carers element. Your Carers allowance will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. Your partners earnings will see a deduction of 63% in your UC entitlement because you won't have the work allowance. If she's awarded LCW then you'll have the work allowance of £292 per month, which means she can earn that amount of money before the deductions apply.

Thanks for the help!
With Carer's allowance, PIP and £1,080PM wages between two people, assuming no LCW, which figure sounds more likely:

£399
~£1,300
£925

Thanks so much! 

Rubyroobs

There is no entitlement to any Uc once deductions for earnings and carers allowance have been taken off.

Rubyroobs

Rubyroobs said:

There is no entitlement to any Uc once deductions for earnings and carers allowance have been taken off.

Sorry I forgot to add in your rent so ignore comment above.

CuriousCarer

Rubyroobs said:

There is no entitlement to any Uc once deductions for earnings and carers allowance have been taken off.

Thank you for that. It is so strange that the calculator is saying differently though. It tells each of us quite large, and different, sums.