UC surplus

Needhelpsos

Hi. I’m really looking for some help as I’m having an absolute meltdown here 😢 this is maybe a bit to read so bear with me. 

It’s probably important to note I work full time but I’m a single parent to two preschool age children and my childcare costs are insanely high and that’s why I’m eligible for uc. 

In February my assessment period didn’t take into account any of my salary (assessment period ran until 26th and I get paid 27th). Somebody from dwp called me and I explained this to them and they just said ok cool we will override. In March I got two salaries plus my annual bonus so I wasn’t expecting any uc because my bonus would pay for childcare and the car issues I’ve been having. 

In April as expected I got nothing but I have just noticed I now have surplus earnings of £1700. This is obviously because of two salaries and a bonus but I genuinely thought I would have been ok because of the 2.5k buffer they have until it hit me it’s my February wage too. 

So I guess I’m wondering if the 2.5k buffer is also taken into account in may? Or is this additional so I’ll need to pay the full £1700 back before I get any help again? Can I complain they should have taken my February wage in February? If they had I wouldn’t be in this position. 

Genuinely my bonus just went straight into childcare and fixing my car. Not receiving my uc (for 4 and a bit months if 2.5k buffer doesn’t exist) will genuinely cripple me and I am losing sleep at night. I’ll need to quit my job because I won’t be able to pay for childcare. Please help! 

missile

Without any figures it is difficult to advise.
Unless you have a very well paid job, you are possibly financially better off not working?
Is there an opportunity to work p/t or from home?

huckster

When surplus rolls over to next assessment period, they ignore first £2500 of surplus when calculating award.

Needhelpsos

huckster said:

When surplus rolls over to next assessment period, they ignore first £2500 of surplus when calculating award.

Thank you. My surplus’s is £1700 does this mean I will essentially just get a normal payment?

NedS

It tells you what the surplus is in your journal. If it says there is a surplus of £1700, then that amount will be added to any earnings you have in the current assessment period and used when calculating your next UC payment, which will be reduced due to earnings (because you will have at least £1700 of earnings).

Icequeen1

Needhelpsos said:

Hi. I’m really looking for some help as I’m having an absolute meltdown here 😢 this is maybe a bit to read so bear with me. 

It’s probably important to note I work full time but I’m a single parent to two preschool age children and my childcare costs are insanely high and that’s why I’m eligible for uc. 

In February my assessment period didn’t take into account any of my salary (assessment period ran until 26th and I get paid 27th). Somebody from dwp called me and I explained this to them and they just said ok cool we will override. In March I got two salaries plus my annual bonus so I wasn’t expecting any uc because my bonus would pay for childcare and the car issues I’ve been having. 

In April as expected I got nothing but I have just noticed I now have surplus earnings of £1700. This is obviously because of two salaries and a bonus but I genuinely thought I would have been ok because of the 2.5k buffer they have until it hit me it’s my February wage too. 

So I guess I’m wondering if the 2.5k buffer is also taken into account in may? Or is this additional so I’ll need to pay the full £1700 back before I get any help again? Can I complain they should have taken my February wage in February? If they had I wouldn’t be in this position. 

Genuinely my bonus just went straight into childcare and fixing my car. Not receiving my uc (for 4 and a bit months if 2.5k buffer doesn’t exist) will genuinely cripple me and I am losing sleep at night. I’ll need to quit my job because I won’t be able to pay for childcare. Please help! 

DWP have the power to move the March payment into February but it may be too late to do that now. In any event, if they did that then you would have an overpayment because presumably you received maximum UC in Feb as they didn't take into account any income. So you either have the surplus issue or an overpayment to deal with. The 2.5k buffer relates to when the surplus is created, once it is created then it will be treated as earned income in the later assessment periods. The bonus was always going to have some clawback on it as for each £1 of earned income, you lose 55p off your UC. It is still worth speaking to the DWP to see if they can reallocate the payment, but as I say you will have a substantial overpayment for February.