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Working and on Universal Credit? Check you're getting the right amount of UC

MSE_Rosie
Posts: 40 MSE Staff

If you work and claim universal credit, you could be one of thousands who may be getting paid the wrong amount each month due to flaws with the automated universal credit system. It's more likely to affect you if you're paid weekly or irregularly, our new guide explains what the issue is, how to check if you're affected – and how to get back what you're owed if you've been underpaid.
Please let us know your experiences, and any feedback you have.
And if you haven’t already, join the forum to leave a comment.
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Comments
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Although errors do undoubtedly occur I'm not convinced this is correct.This is because DWP uses the date it receives the earnings info to decide which assessment period it applies to – NOT the date you actually got paid.My understanding is that UC uses the payment date reported by the employer.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.5
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And the article seems to be about people whose earnings are reported without a National Insurance number so I suspect a tiny minority.0
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calcotti said:Although errors do undoubtedly occur I'm not convinced this is correct.This is because DWP uses the date it receives the earnings info to decide which assessment period it applies to – NOT the date you actually got paid.My understanding is that UC uses the payment date reported by the employer.
Thanks for your comments!
We looked at a range of government guidance and spoke to both HMRC and DWP. In most cases it is the date that DWP receive the information that's used - because it's an automatic system, and a lot of the time it does work in real time (if employers submit the right information at the right time).
Generally manual adjustments are only made for those who are paid monthly, and find that a bank holiday or shorter month mean that they get two payments in one assessment period.1 -
Dazed_and_C0nfused said:And the article seems to be about people whose earnings are reported without a National Insurance number so I suspect a tiny minority.
Hi Dazed & Confused,
You're right, as a proportion of employees across the UK, earnings info submitted without a National Insurance Number tends to be quite low - roughly 1%. This amounts to approx. 20,000 of working UC claimants each month.
However, there's a much higher likelihood that employers of low pay, and casual workers submit earnings information without NINO, and also those starting a new job are particularly at risk - with HMRC confirming that circa 1 in 15 of earnings info for new starters reported to the RTI system without an NINO.
While the problem might not affect millions - it's more widespread than one might expect, and can have a huge financial impact on those impacted.
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calcotti said:Although errors do undoubtedly occur I'm not convinced this is correct.This is because DWP uses the date it receives the earnings info to decide which assessment period it applies to – NOT the date you actually got paid.My understanding is that UC uses the payment date reported by the employer.
One thing that i'm not sure is correct in the article is the MR route. I think there is something in the regulations that you have to ask for a decision to be issued where it is an earnings dispute before submitting a MR but i'd need to check the Regs.1 -
MSE_Rosie said:Generally manual adjustments are only made for those who are paid monthly, and find that a bank holiday or shorter month mean that they get two payments in one assessment period.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.0
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Icequeen1 said:calcotti said:Although errors do undoubtedly occur I'm not convinced this is correct.This is because DWP uses the date it receives the earnings info to decide which assessment period it applies to – NOT the date you actually got paid.My understanding is that UC uses the payment date reported by the employer.Is this only an issue if the employer is late - although even then I thought employer was supposed to report the regular pay day.
https://www.gov.uk/running-payroll/reporting-to-hmrc
https://www.gov.uk/running-payroll/fps-after-paydayInformation I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.0 -
calcotti said:Icequeen1 said:calcotti said:Although errors do undoubtedly occur I'm not convinced this is correct.This is because DWP uses the date it receives the earnings info to decide which assessment period it applies to – NOT the date you actually got paid.My understanding is that UC uses the payment date reported by the employer.Is this only an issue if the employer is late - although even then I thought employer was supposed to report the regular pay day.
https://www.gov.uk/running-payroll/reporting-to-hmrc
https://www.gov.uk/running-payroll/fps-after-payday
But the UC RTE system gets data from the HMRC system a few times a day and it is the date that they get the data that is used for UC. Which is why i explained above that an employer can report on time but late in the evening and it doesn't go to UC until the next day.
Late submissions are a problem even if the pay date is correct on them because it isn't the paydate that triggers which assessment period it falls into. So if it is reported late, it goes to DWP late which means it is in a later assessment period no matter the pay date
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Dora and her husband should have checked their payment statement, I don’t believe they didn’t realise they had been paid an extra £2000. They knew and thought they may get away with it.1
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Found this useful (but inconclusive in part)
https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/universal-credit/guidance/entitlement-to-uc/rti-and-universal-credit/
Guidance hereSaysThe calculation of a claimant's earned income for an assessment period is based on the actual date and amount reported as paid by the employer.Also information hereIcequeen1 said:One thing that i'm not sure is correct in the article is the MR route. I think there is something in the regulations that you have to ask for a decision to be issued where it is an earnings dispute before submitting a MR but i'd need to check the Regs.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.1
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