Universal credit

dae14867

I could really do with some help on this please?
 In March 2020 I was working full time and my wife was self employed. On 24th March my wife ceased being self employed due to COVID.  I was then placed on furlough for 3 weeks and applied for universal credit which was paid at the end of April. The following month I returned to work and took a 10% reduction for one month but was not on furlough as such. I informed UC and said I don’t need to worry as they speak to my employer and HMRC and pay me and my wife accordingly. My wife went into jobseekers for a period of time and payment decreased. Jobseekers stopped and our UC went back up. The query I have is that my wages are pretty much the same as they were last March yet they are still paying around £1000 per month. We have regular phone interviews and I have asked them if I need to send them wage slips or anything but they say no. I have said we want to come off UC as I am working (although my wife isn’t) but they advise against it as we are a couple. I am worried that if they have made a mistake I will have to pay back loads of money. I feel trapped and unsure as to what to do. Your help would be much appreciated. 

Grumpy_chap

Did your wife totally cease self-employment, or does she intend to continue trading?
Did she qualify for SEISS?

dae14867

Hi Grumpy_chap
She suspended it. I am not sure what SEISS is? 

She is currently looking for paye work and UC are helping her with that. 

Spoonie_Turtle

If you look at your UC statement you will see how they've worked it out.  If you're unsure you can either post a breakdown of it here (if you would like) or check here https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/how-much-youll-get/  to see if it makes sense to you, and whether they've worked it out properly.  Hopefully it will reassure you that you're getting your correct entitlement - or if not, you'll know to alert them to get it corrected asap

calcotti

Your monthly UC statement which you can look at on your UC journal shows your maximum UC entitlement and what has been deducted from that to arrive at the amount payable. It is therefore easy for you to check whether your wages have been taken into account.

Without knowing your circumstances and how much you are earning it is impossible to form an opinion about whether or not a £1000 monthly payment is likely to be right or not. Do you have children on your claim? Does it include help with rent?

SEISS is the government coronavirus support scheme for the self-employed but not everyone would be eligible.

dae14867

Looking at the statement it does look as though the take home pay reported by my employer is wrong. With this in mind if I would have thought the payment I am getting is wrong. Is it now my responsibility to advise UC ? Will have to pay the incorrectly paid money back? Or should I just ‘sign off’ and hope they don’t pick it up? 

poppy12345

dae14867 said:

Looking at the statement it does look as though the take home pay reported by my employer is wrong. With this in mind if I would have thought the payment I am getting is wrong. Is it now my responsibility to advise UC ? Will have to pay the incorrectly paid money back? Or should I just ‘sign off’ and hope they don’t pick it up? 

You definitely don't want to just end your claim and hope they won't find out. You need to put a message onto your journal and if you have been overpaid then it will need to be repaid back. Without knowing the figures involved here it will be impossible to help further.

NedS

dae14867 said:

Looking at the statement it does look as though the take home pay reported by my employer is wrong. With this in mind if I would have thought the payment I am getting is wrong. Is it now my responsibility to advise UC ? Will have to pay the incorrectly paid money back? Or should I just ‘sign off’ and hope they don’t pick it up? 

It's your responsibility to inform UC if the payment is wrong, and yes you will have to pay it back. Better to sort it out now before is escalates.

calcotti

Something odd is happening if your employer is reporting your wages incorrectly. Bearing in mind DWP get their information via HMRC it means that the information they hold about you may also be wrong.