Claiming Universal Credit ???

Fast_Muchly

Hi 
      We use to be on Tax Credits , Our child is 23 now and long gone . We receive no reward now but still have a slight over payment to address around £400 .

I work self employed only making a Net income of around £10500 a year .

My wife now earns around £26000 a year on top ( gross ) , but she has recently gone on long term sick im afraid . I rang the tax credit team to say i ought to be registering the change of income but if we now get paid something and then my wife returns to work in 2 months time lets say , we wil lthen go over the threshold and end up next year back in over payments again .This system is ridiculous as we need help now and then not to get punished later next year its stupid how this works .

The lady on the phone then explained we might be better off on Universal credit as it works month by month and you dont end up in arrears .Which al lsounded fan dabby dozy and i whooped a joy of glee lol . 

But having gone to the gov calcualtors and filled them in honestly as my wifes income and she isnt working off sick and only getting statutory sick pay £481 a month on her last packet . The calculation at the end say we should receive nothing as our income exceeds what we should be able to get by on ???? . How can this be so if all we get is  her sick pay and self employent surely if this works on a month to month basis we should get a top up to help us out .Then when my wife returns to work if she does we do not owe any money back .

Can someone point out where im missing something . I should add i havent completed the formal process of applying yet only for myself my wife is yet to do so , but once we do i cant go back to tax credits . 

Thanks 

Alan 

Rubyroobs

If your tax credits claim has ended then you would need to claim universal credit. Whether you receive anything from UC will depend on your overall situation, such as whether you have rent to pay etc. Universal credit is calculated on a monthly basis so less chance of overpayments like with tax credits. Universal credit can be complex for the self employed though so you would need to read up on this before applying.

poppy12345

UC is based on earnings received each month. As you have no dependant children then you'll be entitled to £587.82/month. If you won't be claiming for help with any rent then that figure will be your maximum UC entitlement before the 55% deductions apply. With your joint earnings each month then your UC will reduce to zero.

If you have savings/capital of more than £16,000 you're excluded from claiming.

She can report her health condition and send in fit notes from her employer which will start the work capability assessment process off. If found to have LCWRA then you'll be entitled to an extra £390.06/month from the 4th month of your claim. https://www.gov.uk/health-conditions-disability-universal-credit

If she's found to have either LCW or LCWRA you will also be entitled to the work allowance which means a certain amount of earnings will be ignored before the 55% deductions apply.  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-work-allowances/universal-credit-work-allowances

As you're self employed you will need to report your earnings and expenses on the last day of your assessment period.

She can also look at claiming PIP (assuming you're not living in Scotland) whether there's any entitlement will depend on how her conditions affect her. It's not means tested either so other income/savings/capital will not affect the amount she maybe entitled to. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/

freesha

How can you need UC if you have an income of £36k with no dependents?

poppy12345

freesha said:

How can you need UC if you have an income of £36k with no dependents?

Because they no longer earn that amount as mentioned here.

Fast_Muchly said:

My wife now earns around £26000 a year on top ( gross ) , but she has recently gone on long term sick im afraid .