How Universal Credit calculates losses for couples

Glass1970

Hello,
We've been trying without success to understand how Universal Credit is carrying forward our losses as a couple and would appreciate any explanation.
We've recently started with them. The first month we both made a small profit so had a small payment.
Next month my wife had to pay 6 months rent on her shop creating a loss of around -£2100. I myself made a tiny loss too resulting in the full £617 payment.
This month my wife made a small loss but I made about £740
I was assuming my profit would go towards her losses resulting in a loss carried forward of about -£1500.
However the system doesn't seem to have used her losses. Its taken my £740, less my tiny loss last month and just used that. It's still saying her full losses are carried forward.
Can someone explain this or give me a worked example of how it calculates losses for couples, the only examples I can find online are for individuals.
Many thanks!

Yamor

You've explained it very well yourself! You can't set off her losses against your profit, each of you is calculated individually.

So, her profit this month was nil, and previous losses will be carried forward, along with the additional small loss from this month.

You made a profit this month, which will be included in this month's UC calculation (after deducting the small loss carried forward from last month).

Glass1970

Ahh.... right!
I've got my spreadsheet working correctly now so I can follow it.
That's disappointing. We were thinking her loss would wipe out my profit for at least the next couple of months. Being treated individually she will probably never get to use her losses even though her business is now in the quiet season and probably won't make much money. My income alone will be used to calculate the payment and will likely result in very little payment, despite as a couple making big losses.
It never works out as you'd hope...
Thanks!

peteuk

Did you migrate from TC? If so what transition protection was applied. 
Also I take it your in the set up period afforded to UC claims - so not yet under MIF regulations.

Glass1970

Thanks peteuk,
No first time ever on benefits. Been on this planet 50+ years and never claimed a penny from the Gov... not a clue how all this works. Had some great help from Citizen's Advice which is walking us through the process. My wife's conditions are worsening due to her work meaning she's doing less (plus a big downturn in footfall in the town)
She's applied for ADP (Scottish version of PIP) I should get Carers Allowance too. All of this is in the pipeline but will take a few months until we get the first payments. We're surviving on what I can earn.
They started us on UC and this is the third month but the way it's been handled has been extremely poor for me. By month 2 UC asked to see every receipt and every invoice for the last 2 months for my business. I obliged delivering 750 pages onto my work coaches desk thinking she would never go through it. She did and then asked to see every postal label to verify all postal charges I was claiming were business related. I complained to her boss and she doesn't seem to be working there anymore. I'm giving them another chance but I'm wondering if the stress of all this is making me feel worse than just struggling for money right now. They have never asked for anything on my wife's side.
As I said we've never been here before having worked all our lives but it's just another example of how tough things have got. I'd really like to be able to put some heating on this winter, we just huddled into one room for the last two years but thankfully it's been quite mild.
By contrast my wife usually has a crowd of people in her shop, all on benefits, not buying anything just sitting around boasting how much they are getting. We know 3 people who have been on benefits all their lives and are "struggling" (their own words) to keep their account below £16k. It's funny they think we're the ones doing well running the shop... if only they knew!
Anyway, sorry... needed to off-load!
Now I understand how the losses are calculated we're not going to get as much from UC as I had hoped but anything is welcomed right now.
Sorry not a clue what MIF regulations are!

justwhat

UC is cash in cash out. So if you can stagger or manage bill payments. Hold back on bills that need paid if it is beneficial. Manage timing of stock purchases etc.   Pay bills early if you need to get the profit  down. Paying into a pension is also an expenditure/disregard.

UC is not good for the Self Employed. Familiarise  yourself with the all the rules regarding UC.
 

ader42

I didn’t realise UC carried forward losses at all, how long do they do this is it just for the following month or until the loss is used up? 

NedS

ader42 said:

I didn’t realise UC carried forward losses at all, how long do they do this is it just for the following month or until the loss is used up? 

Losses are carried forward until they have been fully offset by profits. However, after the 12 month start up period, the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) will apply, so at that point the MIF figure (or your profits after losses if higher) will be used regardless of any profits and losses.