UC making up my earnings amount so they dont have to pay me.

jcr71

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

 

marcia_

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

 

 You are self employed? 

Minimum income floor is entirely correct and legal. 

jcr71

marcia_ said:

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

 

 You are self employed? 

Minimum income floor is entirely correct and legal. 

yes im self employed.
 i am earning nowhere near earning the minimum income floor.
my take home pay is around £700 a month.
DWP have just started saying im earning MIF on my claim when i am not earning anywhere near that.

MattMattMattUK

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

Yes it is legal, it is legal because the rules for claiming UC are clearly laid out in legislation and ministerial guidance. 

jcr71 said:

marcia_ said:

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

 

 You are self employed? 

Minimum income floor is entirely correct and legal. 

yes im self employed.
 i am earning nowhere near earning the minimum income floor.
my take home pay is around £700 a month.
DWP have just started saying im earning MIF on my claim when i am not earning anywhere near that.

You are claiming as someone who is self employed, which is why the floor kicks in. If you are not earning that amount then your self employment is obviously not working for you and you are choosing to remain underemployed and the state takes the view that it is not taxpayers responsibility to subsidise that choice. £700 a month is the equivalent of around thirteen hours a week on minimum wage, so either you are working very part time or the business model you have chosen is flawed and you are earning far less than minimum wage and would be better off employed elsewhere. They are not saying that you are earning the Minimum Income Floor, just that for self employed people that is the level they are treated as earning for benefits payments, if that did not exist then it would be easy for people to use self-employment as a route to not have to look for work whilst claiming UC.

jcr71

MattMattMattUK said:

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

Yes it is legal, it is legal because the rules for claiming UC are clearly laid out in legislation and ministerial guidance. 

jcr71 said:

marcia_ said:

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

 

 You are self employed? 

Minimum income floor is entirely correct and legal. 

yes im self employed.
 i am earning nowhere near earning the minimum income floor.
my take home pay is around £700 a month.
DWP have just started saying im earning MIF on my claim when i am not earning anywhere near that.

You are claiming as someone who is self employed, which is why the floor kicks in. If you are not earning that amount then your self employment is obviously not working for you and you are choosing to remain underemployed and the state takes the view that it is not taxpayers responsibility to subsidise that choice. £700 a month is the equivalent of around thirteen hours a week on minimum wage, so either you are working very part time or the business model you have chosen is flawed and you are earning far less than minimum wage and would be better off employed elsewhere. They are not saying that you are earning the Minimum Income Floor, just that for self employed people that is the level they are treated as earning for benefits payments, if that did not exist then it would be easy for people to use self-employment as a route to not have to look for work whilst claiming UC.

thank you for clarifying this.
i guess that all that is left for me is to turn to a life of crime then?

MattMattMattUK

jcr71 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

Yes it is legal, it is legal because the rules for claiming UC are clearly laid out in legislation and ministerial guidance. 

jcr71 said:

marcia_ said:

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

 

 You are self employed? 

Minimum income floor is entirely correct and legal. 

yes im self employed.
 i am earning nowhere near earning the minimum income floor.
my take home pay is around £700 a month.
DWP have just started saying im earning MIF on my claim when i am not earning anywhere near that.

You are claiming as someone who is self employed, which is why the floor kicks in. If you are not earning that amount then your self employment is obviously not working for you and you are choosing to remain underemployed and the state takes the view that it is not taxpayers responsibility to subsidise that choice. £700 a month is the equivalent of around thirteen hours a week on minimum wage, so either you are working very part time or the business model you have chosen is flawed and you are earning far less than minimum wage and would be better off employed elsewhere. They are not saying that you are earning the Minimum Income Floor, just that for self employed people that is the level they are treated as earning for benefits payments, if that did not exist then it would be easy for people to use self-employment as a route to not have to look for work whilst claiming UC.

thank you for clarifying this.
i guess that all that is left for me is to turn to a life of crime then?

Rather than engage in criminal activity, why not take a full time job on minimum wage, which would bring in £1,984 gross / £1,721 net per month. Self employment that only brings in £700 a month is a hobby, not a full time job, and the government takes the view that it is not taxpayers responsibility to subsidise that choice.

nannytone_2

No.  You get a job.

Muttleythefrog

jcr71 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

Yes it is legal, it is legal because the rules for claiming UC are clearly laid out in legislation and ministerial guidance. 

jcr71 said:

marcia_ said:

jcr71 said:

i was made to migrate from working tax credits to uc in 2024.
after 1 year they are now mandatorily making my take-home pay figure  £1,642.72 (the Minimum Income Floor amount) every month, despite me earning less than half of this amount.
this means that they are no longer giving me any financial aid.

so im now receiving zero help paying my rent etc, which is putting me at risk of loosing my home.

how is this legal and can i do anything about it?

thank you

 

 You are self employed? 

Minimum income floor is entirely correct and legal. 

yes im self employed.
 i am earning nowhere near earning the minimum income floor.
my take home pay is around £700 a month.
DWP have just started saying im earning MIF on my claim when i am not earning anywhere near that.

You are claiming as someone who is self employed, which is why the floor kicks in. If you are not earning that amount then your self employment is obviously not working for you and you are choosing to remain underemployed and the state takes the view that it is not taxpayers responsibility to subsidise that choice. £700 a month is the equivalent of around thirteen hours a week on minimum wage, so either you are working very part time or the business model you have chosen is flawed and you are earning far less than minimum wage and would be better off employed elsewhere. They are not saying that you are earning the Minimum Income Floor, just that for self employed people that is the level they are treated as earning for benefits payments, if that did not exist then it would be easy for people to use self-employment as a route to not have to look for work whilst claiming UC.

thank you for clarifying this.
i guess that all that is left for me is to turn to a life of crime then?

If I understand from previous thread then you work as a taxi driver.... increasing the hours of work a possibility?.. or changing to being employee status of a firm?

As others point to... the UC system is geared to encouraging people to work more or for more until they do not require assistance or require less of such. It's unfortunate you haven't be pre-warned of, or understood, the situation that has arisen.

sgthammer

UC is a stricter system than tax credits. Your transitional protection from MIF lasted a year, the same length of time as a start-up business gets. The MIF was suspended for a while at the start of the pandemic, but reinstated around the same time they stopped the £20/week UC uplift.

Your options are:

a. Charge more for whatever you do in your self-employment. This has its own challenges, but everybody else from plumbers to politicians is doing it, so don't be put off by notions of charging a "fair price". Society has moved past that, and you need to live.

b. Work more, either in your self employment or by getting a second job. If you're unable to do this for reasons other than lack of demand for your labour, such as ill health or caring responsibilities, it's possible there may be other benefits better suited to your circumstances than UC and you should apply for those.

c. Accept that you are, in DWP language, "not gainfully self-employed" and tell the jobcentre you're now looking for other work entirely. This will subject you to more intrusive monitoring and more frequent reviews, but at least they'll keep paying you as long as you meet the new conditions, which should help keep a roof over your head.

huckster

As others have said, time to find an employed job or find a way to make your self employment pay you a living wage.

I have dealt with many Uber and taxi drivers and they are comfortably taking home over £2000 a month. They have to make themselves available all key times including mornings, evenings and weekends.