Migration to UC, can someone look at my figures please?

Spoonie_Turtle

kazzyb123 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

The MIF for UC won't apply for the first 12 months.

When it does apply, it is assumed the self-employed earnings are a certain amount or more.  So if your partner earns more, his actual earnings will be used to calculate the UC payment for that month.  If he earns less, then the MIF amount will be used to calculate the UC payment for the month.

So for a really simplified example to demonstrate (none of these numbers are based on any real-life amounts):
If the MIF is £1000 for the month, and your maximum possible UC is £1700

If your partner earned £1200, the deduction from UC would be based on the actual earnings
If your partner earned £900, then the deduction from UC would be based on £1000 because that's the assumed minimum.

So the claim doesn't stop, it just means if you earn below the MIF you don't get the full 'top-up' from UC.

More info here
https://www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/welfare-benefits/universal-credit-mental-health-guide/help-with-your-universal-credit-claim/how-to-claim-universal-credit-when-self-employed/
https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/universal-credit/guidance/entitlement-to-uc/self-employment/minimum-income-floor/

However, the MIF does not apply to certain types of people - you don't mention PIP but if you do claim it and your partner provides 35hrs of care in a week (including mental/emotional support) then he would be exempt from the MIF.


Your concerns about fluctuating income are unfortunately well-founded; Tax Credits seems to generally work really well for self-employed people, whereas Universal Credit works better for employed people with fluctuating income.  It is certainly not ideal for self-employed people, but the best thing to do is fully understand how it works so you're prepared for it.

Saying that, with the 12 months' transitional protection, it may well be that the difficulties of UC don't actually start to affect you until not far off when you may no longer have been entitled to Tax Credits anyway, as you mention anticipating they would end.

Thanks so much for the reply, I do also get PIP and my partner has to do everything around the house, meal prep etc but not personal care such as washing, would that count as caring for me? If it does the it’s easily 35 hours a week.

Yep, anything extra that he wouldn't be doing if you were not disabled.  Just to check does your PIP include the daily living component?  If so, when the time comes to claim UC you should report your health condition, your ESA Support Group status will carry over (but you should send a journal message explicitly telling them you're already in the SG), and your partner should report caring for you.  That way after the initial appointments to set up your claim and verify ID, neither of you should need to attend any further appointments, and your partner's earnings will be calculated based on what he actually earns because the MIF cannot apply to him as a carer.