Universal Credit change in Calculations?

Trevwil

Can anybody shed any light on the below message I just received in my Universal Credit Journal online. It gives no information as to what calculation changes they are and I cannot find anything online. 

Your monthly payments may change 

Monday 4 September 2023 at 2:56pm

The amount of Universal Credit you get may change within the next 2 months.

This is because we are correcting the calculation we do to work out payments for people like you, who are 'gainfully self-employed' and have a partner who also has earnings. Most people in this situation will find that their payment goes down.

We are not able to tell you right now if, or by how much, your payments might change. This is because your monthly payment is affected by the amount you and your partner earn each month.

Your monthly statement shows how we work out your payment. If you have any questions about your Universal Credit payment, leave a message in your journal or speak to your work coach.

eggenstein

Trevwil said:

Can anybody shed any light on the below message I just received in my Universal Credit Journal online. It gives no information as to what calculation changes they are and I cannot find anything online. 

Your monthly payments may change 

Monday 4 September 2023 at 2:56pm

The amount of Universal Credit you get may change within the next 2 months.

This is because we are correcting the calculation we do to work out payments for people like you, who are 'gainfully self-employed' and have a partner who also has earnings. Most people in this situation will find that their payment goes down.

We are not able to tell you right now if, or by how much, your payments might change. This is because your monthly payment is affected by the amount you and your partner earn each month.

Your monthly statement shows how we work out your payment. If you have any questions about your Universal Credit payment, leave a message in your journal or speak to your work coach.

Yep, I've had the same too. What a stupid message!?

I've messaged them asking what's changing.

Livinfatorynightmare

Trevwil said:

Can anybody shed any light on the below message I just received in my Universal Credit Journal online. It gives no information as to what calculation changes they are and I cannot find anything online. 

Your monthly payments may change 

Monday 4 September 2023 at 2:56pm

The amount of Universal Credit you get may change within the next 2 months.

This is because we are correcting the calculation we do to work out payments for people like you, who are 'gainfully self-employed' and have a partner who also has earnings. Most people in this situation will find that their payment goes down.

We are not able to tell you right now if, or by how much, your payments might change. This is because your monthly payment is affected by the amount you and your partner earn each month.

Your monthly statement shows how we work out your payment. If you have any questions about your Universal Credit payment, leave a message in your journal or speak to your work coach.

OK. Brace yourself. 

So I got my statement through on Saturday. Self employed, partner working a wage. 

It was £400 less. 

This is now because they calculate your minimum income floor AND your partners earnings this is how your take home pay. Fie example if your mif is 750 and your partner earnts 1000 - you're now calculated on a take home pay of 1500. 

I'll have to shut my business off the back of this,  4 years down the drain, never recovered to pre covid. Never will now.

Rubyroobs

Livinfatorynightmare said:

Trevwil said:

Can anybody shed any light on the below message I just received in my Universal Credit Journal online. It gives no information as to what calculation changes they are and I cannot find anything online. 

Your monthly payments may change 

Monday 4 September 2023 at 2:56pm

The amount of Universal Credit you get may change within the next 2 months.

This is because we are correcting the calculation we do to work out payments for people like you, who are 'gainfully self-employed' and have a partner who also has earnings. Most people in this situation will find that their payment goes down.

We are not able to tell you right now if, or by how much, your payments might change. This is because your monthly payment is affected by the amount you and your partner earn each month.

Your monthly statement shows how we work out your payment. If you have any questions about your Universal Credit payment, leave a message in your journal or speak to your work coach.

OK. Brace yourself. 

So I got my statement through on Saturday. Self employed, partner working a wage. 

It was £400 less. 

This is now because they calculate your minimum income floor AND your partners earnings this is how your take home pay. Fie example if your mif is 750 and your partner earnts 1000 - you're now calculated on a take home pay of 1500. 

I'll have to shut my business off the back of this,  4 years down the drain, never recovered to pre covid. Never will now.

Isn't it just that the earnings thresholds for both of a couple have raised ? Therefore minimum income floor has gone up ?

Livinfatorynightmare

Rubyroobs said:

Livinfatorynightmare said:

Trevwil said:

Can anybody shed any light on the below message I just received in my Universal Credit Journal online. It gives no information as to what calculation changes they are and I cannot find anything online. 

Your monthly payments may change 

Monday 4 September 2023 at 2:56pm

The amount of Universal Credit you get may change within the next 2 months.

This is because we are correcting the calculation we do to work out payments for people like you, who are 'gainfully self-employed' and have a partner who also has earnings. Most people in this situation will find that their payment goes down.

We are not able to tell you right now if, or by how much, your payments might change. This is because your monthly payment is affected by the amount you and your partner earn each month.

Your monthly statement shows how we work out your payment. If you have any questions about your Universal Credit payment, leave a message in your journal or speak to your work coach.

OK. Brace yourself. 

So I got my statement through on Saturday. Self employed, partner working a wage. 

It was £400 less. 

This is now because they calculate your minimum income floor AND your partners earnings this is how your take home pay. Fie example if your mif is 750 and your partner earnts 1000 - you're now calculated on a take home pay of 1500. 

I'll have to shut my business off the back of this,  4 years down the drain, never recovered to pre covid. Never will now.

Isn't it just that the earnings thresholds for both of a couple have raised ? Therefore minimum income floor has gone up ?

No. That has happened as well. 

If your partner earned, for example 500 before and your MIF was 500. Your take home pay was 500. With the new calculations its now 1000. Regardless of actual SE income. 

Best way I can put it.

Spoonie_Turtle

Livinfatorynightmare said:

Trevwil said:

Can anybody shed any light on the below message I just received in my Universal Credit Journal online. It gives no information as to what calculation changes they are and I cannot find anything online. 

Your monthly payments may change 

Monday 4 September 2023 at 2:56pm

The amount of Universal Credit you get may change within the next 2 months.

This is because we are correcting the calculation we do to work out payments for people like you, who are 'gainfully self-employed' and have a partner who also has earnings. Most people in this situation will find that their payment goes down.

We are not able to tell you right now if, or by how much, your payments might change. This is because your monthly payment is affected by the amount you and your partner earn each month.

Your monthly statement shows how we work out your payment. If you have any questions about your Universal Credit payment, leave a message in your journal or speak to your work coach.

OK. Brace yourself. 

So I got my statement through on Saturday. Self employed, partner working a wage. 

It was £400 less. 

This is now because they calculate your minimum income floor AND your partners earnings this is how your take home pay. Fie example if your mif is 750 and your partner earnts 1000 - you're now calculated on a take home pay of 1500. 

I'll have to shut my business off the back of this,  4 years down the drain, never recovered to pre covid. Never will now.

How long have you been claiming UC?

What you describe is how I understood the MIF to work in a couples claim anyway, although I could have been wrong.

Livinfatorynightmare

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Livinfatorynightmare said:

Trevwil said:

Can anybody shed any light on the below message I just received in my Universal Credit Journal online. It gives no information as to what calculation changes they are and I cannot find anything online. 

Your monthly payments may change 

Monday 4 September 2023 at 2:56pm

The amount of Universal Credit you get may change within the next 2 months.

This is because we are correcting the calculation we do to work out payments for people like you, who are 'gainfully self-employed' and have a partner who also has earnings. Most people in this situation will find that their payment goes down.

We are not able to tell you right now if, or by how much, your payments might change. This is because your monthly payment is affected by the amount you and your partner earn each month.

Your monthly statement shows how we work out your payment. If you have any questions about your Universal Credit payment, leave a message in your journal or speak to your work coach.

OK. Brace yourself. 

So I got my statement through on Saturday. Self employed, partner working a wage. 

It was £400 less. 

This is now because they calculate your minimum income floor AND your partners earnings this is how your take home pay. Fie example if your mif is 750 and your partner earnts 1000 - you're now calculated on a take home pay of 1500. 

I'll have to shut my business off the back of this,  4 years down the drain, never recovered to pre covid. Never will now.

How long have you been claiming UC?

What you describe is how I understood the MIF to work in a couples claim anyway, although I could have been wrong.

Four. And it's not.  Though If you were always meeting MIF after P and L you won't noticed a difference. 

Trevwil

Yes it appears they now add the minimum income floor to my partners salary, before they added my income to my partners salary. This is a huge difference! The minimum income floor has been in pace for several years so why all of a sudden the change. This will affect a lot of people. It now means we don’t have a claim for Universal Credit at all!

Livinfatorynightmare

Trevwil said:

Yes it appears they now add the minimum income floor to my partners salary, before they added my income to my partners salary. This is a huge difference! The minimum income floor has been in pace for several years so why all of a sudden the change. This will affect a lot of people. It now means we don’t have a claim for Universal Credit at all!

Yeah that's a better way of putting it. The MIF was always the highest figure. Now its in addition. 

Wild.

NedS

This month UC rolled out a bug fix to fix an ongoing error in the way UC is calculated for couples where one is self-employed and the other has PAYE earnings. For the last 10 years the system has not been calculating deductions for earnings correctly and that has now been fixed. The UC system was previously doing weird things, often either randomly ignoring the MIF or PAYE earnings, so earnings were not being fully taken into account.

The journal message is being sent to all claimants who may potentially be affected.

Livinfatorynightmare

NedS said:

This month UC rolled out a bug fix to fix an ongoing error in the way UC is calculated for couples where one is self-employed and the other has PAYE earnings. For the last 10 years the system has not been calculating deductions for earnings correctly and that has now been fixed. The UC system was previously doing weird things, often either randomly ignoring the MIF or PAYE earnings, so earnings were not being fully taken into account.

The journal message is being sent to all claimants who may potentially be affected.

"A ten year bug" in other words the system was set up like that, and now they want to change it.

There was never anything "weird" about it, if the MIF was a higher figure than your partners paye income, that would be the figure used. If the PAYE was higher that was the figure. 

And now the change (which I happen to somewhat agree with) is being rolled out instantly. Zero warning. 

Tell you a great "bug" when partners on PAYE get paid 13 times a year. In their double month they now get income figures of two payments and the inflated MIF. Whopeee