UC and my work status not kept up to date

savings37

I moved across from CTC to UC recently under migration and have received one very small payment.

The following month the payment on the statement was alot bigger, hence I informed UC.

In the mean time UC have arranged a commitments interview and now I have been told to update my work situation....I have had same full time employment for many years as has my wife. It seems UC system hasn't received my wage information from last month and hence thinks I'm out of work?

Any foresight is much appreciated on what is going on, do I need to update my work monthly even though I'm continuously employed by the same employer?

NedS

UC receives details of your earnings each month from HMRC over a Real Time Information (RTI) feed.

HMRC can only share the information they have. It is the responsibility of your employer to report your earnings to HMRC accurately and on time.

What date does your UC assessment period end, and on what date do you normally get paid. If they happen to coincide or are very close, this can sometimes cause issues especially if your employer is a little late reporting your earnings.

Do you have an online tax account with HMRC? If so, you can normally see exactly when your employer is reporting your earnings (my employer normally reports the data to HMRC around 22-25th of the month and then I get paid on the last day of the month).

If you receive your UC statement, and your reported salary is clearly wrong or missing, you should notify UC immediately on your journal telling them exactly how much you were paid and on what date. If come the end of the month UC have not received any earnings for you, they will think you are not working and invite you in for an appointment hence why it is important to notify them immediately if your earnings are incorrect.

savings37

3rd of the month is the assessment period end date. I get paid on the 26th, my pay slips are dated the last day of the month...it is quite close. I don't have an online tax account to check the reporting date. 

It all seems a mess for what amounts to half a tank of fuel per month 🙄

NedS

OK, so it could be a case that your employer is late, or at least inconsistent, in reporting your earnings each month to HMRC and they are thus not feeding through to UC in time for the end of your AP on the 3rd.

If you are only entitled to a small amount of UC, and you feel it is not worth the hassle, you can always request for your claim to be closed - that is your choice. Otherwise, follow the advice given above to check your UC statement each month and report any discrepancies in your earnings for the month.

savings37

The problem I have is UC are requiring the face to face interview, won't accept telephone and I can't attend due to work. 

huckster

If you ask via your journal to be able to report the earnings that were missing, UC will add a report your earnings from employers to do action. Once you then report the earnings the status of your claim should change and no appointment would be required.

savings37

I updated the earnings via the journal on Fri 4th, let's hope it updates soon then 🫣

TheShape

savings37 said:

I updated the earnings via the journal on Fri 4th, let's hope it updates soon then 🫣

Unfortunately, you might find that your Work Coach blindly trusts the UC system to 'be correct', which it usually is, but only when the correct information is fed into it at the right time.

They may not know that the RTI feed can be checked and may indeed show that you were paid in the Assessment Period but your employer was late in reporting this which is not uncommon.  It could, of course, be a different issue.

Hopefully, now you have messaged them, someone will be able to see what the issue is and take the correct action.

huckster

You don't update via journal. You complete a report your earnings from employers to do action which UC should set for you.  Once you complete the to do action it will show this in your journal record.

savings37

I've now requested on my journal a link to report my earnings, good job people are knowledgeable on here 👍

In the mean time the payment which is substantially more than I am due has hit my bank account today 🫣

Is the best course of action to call UC about it or let the online journal reporting deal with it?

huckster

Leave it for UC to deal with journal