UC split payments.

kkkklinky

Can you confirm that when requesting 2 payments a month that you will have to wait a full month for the payments to start. My neighbour wants to do this but I have warned her that she will have to wait a month and then will only receive half of her usual payment instead of the full amount before the changes start. Her work coach has told her she will get it 2 weeks after she requests the change, I don't think this is correct because when I requested an APA last year I was told I would have to wait a month so I kept to my normal payments.
Thanks 

poppy12345

You are correct, the first payment would be for half of her usual payment. Then 14 -16 days later she will receive the other half. 

tomtom256

If it's requested and accepted prior to the end of their assessment period, it will be setup ready for their next payment cycle.

kkkklinky

I thought so...it was the reason I stayed on monthly myself, the idea of having to wait a month to only receive half my payment when I would of gotten a full one completely put me off. Luckily I'm my case I get weekly payment of CA so wasn't massively impacted. I will let her know.

kkkklinky

tomtom256 said:

If it's requested and accepted prior to the end of their assessment period, it will be setup ready for their next payment cycle.

Nope, I requested fortnightly before I received my first payment and was still told I would have to wait a full month. I wondered if that had changed but apparently not. Poppy 1234 and Reddit have confirmed what I already suspected. I been told it's because UC is always paid a month in arrears regardless of an APA

poppy12345

kkkklinky said:

tomtom256 said:

If it's requested and accepted prior to the end of their assessment period, it will be setup ready for their next payment cycle.

Nope, I requested fortnightly before I received my first payment and was still told I would have to wait a full month. I wondered if that had changed but apparently not. Poppy 1234 and Reddit have confirmed what I already suspected. I been told it's because UC is always paid a month in arrears regardless of an APA

I don't think tomtom is disagreeing with my advice, I think he's just advising how long it takes. You would always be waiting longer for your first full payment once it's set up, it's just the way it works. After that your payments will be split into 2 equal payments, made twice a month. 

Newcad

kkkklinky said:

Nope, I requested fortnightly before I received my first payment and was still told I would have to wait a full month.

That's a special case at the start of a new claim.

In that circumstance you would have to wait for the first AP to end before you got a full months payment but from then on it would be paid split, 2-payments each month ongoing.

However during that first AP you can instead request a New Claim UC Advance once you have verified your ID.
So if you took that New Claim Advance 2-weeks after making the claim then the effect would be the same as a split payment in that first month.

(Actually it could be better - because the Advance could also be for a full months UC, so you could have 2 months worth of UC in that first month - once as an advance then again at the first AP end as a normal monthly payment).

You do have to pay any advance back though, with a New Claim Advance you pay it back at so much a month for up to the next 24 months, you choose how many months but most people will take the full 24.
You could think of it as an interest free loan from the DWP (and with no credit checks needed)..