UC Advance Payment Query

grrrrrrrrrowl

I've just accepted the commitments for my managed migration from IR ESA + HB. Although I can't see what my calculated monthly payments will be yet I looked on my advance payment application and it says I can apply for a max of £1,416.42.

Does this mean that is what my monthly UC payment will be? I was expecting £2482.26 as that is what I am currently getting (when worked out to a monthly figure). If that were the case would I have been able to apply for that advance or is the maximum actually the £1416.42 that I've been offered?

Just a bit confused as I'm not sure if they've worked out my entitlement incorrectly or if I just don't know how advance payments work!

tacpot12

The maximum Advance is usually 100% of your UC payment. So my initial reaction is that this is the amount that your UC payment will be, but the application of transitional protections doesn't happen immediately, and there may be other adjustments that still need to be made. 

Are you sure you are currently getting £2482.26 per month? How did you calculate this? (It's not uncommon for mistakes to creep into such calculations).

The main thing to know about Advances now is that have to be repaid over 24 months, so if you borrow £1416.42, you will have a deduction of £59 per month from your UC payment. This doesn't sound a lot now, but in two years time when you have been living on a reduced UC payment, it might well seem a heavy penalty. If you can manage without borrowing anything or having an advance that is much less than the maximum, you might be able to manage better in the long-term. You will not be evicted if you pay your rent in a month late. You can explain to your landlord that there will be a short delay in paying due to your migration to UC. Similarly, you may be able to avoid paying other bills. I would take some of the Advance if you have repayment plans for any debts and you need money to make the necessary repayments on time. You will also need some month for food (and electricity and gas if you are on pre-payment meters).

grrrrrrrrrowl

I currently get around £457 every 2 weeks for IR ESA (with EDP and SDP, but not support group) and also housing benefit for 2 rooms (extra room required for my care) at around £1491 a month. My calculations are correct, the HB on it's own is more than the max amount I can claim an advance for... that is why this amount is worrying me

tacpot12

You calculation is correct. I've checked it using your logic and using the benefit calculator at EntitledTo.co.uk. 

That benefit calculator reports that your UC payment should be £2040.56. It seems likely that your entitlement to help with your full housing costs will remain the same; what has changed is that UC is less generous to someone in your situation, and more importantly, the calculator hasn't included any transitional protection. With the transitional protection, you should receive the same as you were receiving previously. 


The lack of the transitional protection element is likely to be part of why the maximum Advance amount is set at £1416.42. Another reason is that your exemption from the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) has probably not been checked. I think the estimate therefore assumes that your eligible rent will be capped by the LHA. Depending on whether you are in London or not, I think this could explain the reason why the maximum Advance amount is set so low. With the transitional protection in place, and your exemption from the LHA checked, your UC amount should be the £2482 figure you currently receive, and the maximum Advance amount should be the same.

poppy12345

You shouldn't also assume that there'll be entitlement to an extra bedroom for a carer. You will need to apply for this. 

grrrrrrrrrowl

Ok so I've found this info digging around on facebook. Apparently the advance payment (for new claims or benefit transfers) is not strictly 100% of your monthly entitlement. It is the lower of 100% of your monthly entitlement or 360% of the UC standard allowance (which looks to be 360% of £393.45 = 1416.42).

The information is here https://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2022-0452/003-Advances_-_Benefit_transfer_V12.0.pdf and on very few other websites. Most sites don't explain this at all.

Newcad

The amount available as an initial UC advance will change as the "calclated" UC entitlement changes.

For example when I migrated I was at first offered an advance of just standard rate, then a few days later it was standard rate plus LCW Element, then a few days later the Housing Element was also added to the amount that I could take as an advance.

You can take the initial offered advance, and then take more later if it increases.

grrrrrrrrrowl

Newcad said:

The amount available as an initial UC advance will change as the "calclated" UC entitlement changes.

For example when I migrated I was at first offered an advance of just standard rate, then a few days later it was standard rate plus LCW Element, then a few days later the Housing Element was also added to the amount that I could take as an advance.

You can take the initial offered advance, and then take more later if it increases.

I think it's changed recently to essentially 360% of the standard allowance meaning that £1416.42 will be the maximum advance you can currently get and it will be lower than that if your monthly payments are less.

Newcad

I wouldn't be surprised if that is now the case, there have been a few recent changes to UC policy and practice

I guess I'm not keeping up as quickly as I used to.

HillStreetBlues

Newcad said:

I wouldn't be surprised if that is now the case, there have been a few recent changes to UC policy and practice

I guess I'm not keeping up as quickly as I used to.

I didn't know about the changes either, but the pdf grrrrrrrrrowl posted is from Feb 2022

poppy12345

grrrrrrrrrowl said:

Newcad said:

The amount available as an initial UC advance will change as the "calclated" UC entitlement changes.

For example when I migrated I was at first offered an advance of just standard rate, then a few days later it was standard rate plus LCW Element, then a few days later the Housing Element was also added to the amount that I could take as an advance.

You can take the initial offered advance, and then take more later if it increases.

I think it's changed recently to essentially 360% of the standard allowance meaning that £1416.42 will be the maximum advance you can currently get and it will be lower than that if your monthly payments are less.

I know of many people that have had advanced payments based on their maximum UC entitlement and this was recently.