Received managed migration form from universal credit , need help .

kerryallc71

Hi , a few weeks ago we received an managed migration form , we have been on child tax credits for many years now and in April next year when my oldest daughter reaches 20 so it stops fully . we have 2 children in full time education ( college ) and my daughter that turns 20 in April she is currently on pip , high rate care & mobility . we have to put in a claim before the 29th of January 2024 for universal credit . 

my husband works full time and he pays in to a pension . his pension payments he makes comes out of his net wages (after tax & NI) . 

my questions are , what happens to child tax payments as soon as we put in a claim ? , will our payments stop while the claim is going ahead ? and how long does it usually take from putting in a claim to it all being completed . 

also I tried the calculators from turn2us and entitledto and both are totally different and the turn2us one won't calculate properly because we have the managed migration letter . so not sure at all what we may be getting when we do finally migrate over to universal credit . 

Thankyou for any help in advance , very much appreciated .

poppy12345

Once you claim UC your Tax Credits will stop and you will not receive any further payments. If you claim by the date on the letter then if you’re worse off on UC then you’ll be entitled to Transitional Protection to make sure you’re not any worse off.

Once you submit your claim then your first payment will be 1 month and 7 days later. 

As your eldest daughter claims daily living PIP then you can claim carer element of UC for looking after her, assuming that you do so for at least 35 hours per week. This will increase your maximum entitlement by £185.86/month. 

kerryallc71

How do I get an estimate of what we may get ? . 

I'm on carers allowance - £76.75 per wk 
husbands wage ( before tax & NI ) and before his pension payment - £2'242.66 gross ( per month )
after tax & ni and pension payment of £94.31 - £1'788.79 net  
my oldest daughter ( high rate care pip & high mobility ) 
2 children still In full time education .

kerryallc71

I forgot to mention my husband works 40 hours per week . 

ElwoodBlues

Tell the benefits calculator that you don't have a managed migration letter. Then it'll show your normal UC entitlement for your circumstances. If it's less than you currently get under TC then in theory transitional protection will make up the difference. 

UC is paid monthly, in arrears (week after the qualifying months end), tax credits paid weekly in advance. So there will be about a 5 week gap between payments during transition. But you can ask for an advance from your UC payments, which is then repaid by deductions from future payments over a duration of your choice.

poppy12345

UC is based on earnings received each assessment period. Where as Tax credits is based on the previous year’s income. 

As you have children on your claim you will be entitled to the work allowance. This means that a certain amount of earnings received each month will be ignored before the 55% deductions apply. If you claim for help with the rent it will be £379/month, if you don’t it will be £631/month. 

The Carers allowance will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. You need to make sure that you report being her carer when you claim and the carers element will be included in your claim. 

I don’t know if any of the benefits calculators will
include any Transitional Protection. 

I do know that because your daughter will be 20 in April that you won’t be entitled to any child element for her. For UC the child element ends in the September after their 19th birthday. However the TP will make sure you’re not any worse off. 

Icequeen1

poppy12345 said:

UC is based on earnings received each assessment period. Where as Tax credits is based on the previous year’s income. 

As you have children on your claim you will be entitled to the work allowance. This means that a certain amount of earnings received each month will be ignored before the 55% deductions apply. If you claim for help with the rent it will be £379/month, if you don’t it will be £631/month. 

The Carers allowance will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. You need to make sure that you report being her carer when you claim and the carers element will be included in your claim. 

I don’t know if any of the benefits calculators will
include any Transitional Protection. 

I do know that because your daughter will be 20 in April that you won’t be entitled to any child element for her. For UC the child element ends in the September after their 19th birthday. However the TP will make sure you’re not any worse off. 

I thought i read somewhere that people with older children like this were not being migrated but I can't find a source right now. 

On your last point poppy - i'm not sure TP will help for that particular issue because the notional UC figure assumes the same number of children as on the tax credit claim whereas the actual UC claim will only have 1 child. I don't think TP will therefore cover any shortfall from having 1 less child on the claim. 

Yamor

Yes, DWP have said they will not migrate anyone who has a 19-year-old on their Child Tax Credit award. You could try and get the migration notice cancelled, but it'll probably be very difficult.

If you do claim UC, then DWP will calculate the transitional element on the basis that your 19-year-old will be on the UC award (as Icequeen1 says), however, there is a very strong argument that this would be legally incorrect, and you should appeal it if relevant.

If you do manage to get the transitional element calculated correctly, then you may actually be better off in the long run, as the transitional element will continue even after your child turns 20.

Just to add: it would be worth getting proper advice on all this.

peteuk

Out of interest - I’ve noted that a change in circumstances may lead to a loss of TP, ignoring the facts above would a 19 yr old loosing child status lead to a change in circumstances review?  Given that it can be foreseen.   

kerryallc71

Just done a bit of searching , I was not aware that when a child is 19 and on the 1st of September they will no longer be on the universal credit claim . 

When the lady rang the other week from tax credits/universal credit to ask about if my two daughters were both still in full education and their hours in , college she never mentioned the age. 

child benefit and tax credits both run up until they are both 20 years old . 

Yamor

peteuk said:

Out of interest - I’ve noted that a change in circumstances may lead to a loss of TP, ignoring the facts above would a 19 yr old loosing child status lead to a change in circumstances review?  Given that it can be foreseen.   

Only certain changes of circumstances can lead to TP ending:
1. a break in the UC claim of more than 3 months (or less if the reason for the break was not due to earnings)
2. earnings reduce to below the AET for at least 3 months, where earnings were over that level at the start of the UC claim
3. a change from a joint claim to a single claim or vice versa

Other changes (including a child coming off the claim) would not affect the TP.