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Hi,

 

I live with my husband, we are both self employed, I had a baby in September and receive Maternity allowance.

 

I was also receiving Working Tax Credits and Child Tax credits, around £80 per week.

 

My husband is currently quiet with work so we asked the council for rent help, they told us they can no longer help and we need to apply for universal credit. We did this (horrendous application system!) and in the meantime our working and child tax credits stopped, we were never informed this would happen, i wish i had just left it as it was. We were relying on that money and now it has just stopped!

 

We both had a job centre interview yesterday which is part of this ridiculous process and my husband has to go back yet again with business details. He only earns around £5000 per year , they basically want to see if it is worth him running his business, if he earns enough, if not they will make him look for other part time work - how on earth can he do that around a self employed business that is on demand (ie it depends when his customers want him!). This is all if we want to claim universal credit.

 

So, i assume they will say he does not earn enough and will have to find other work....we do not want to do this so my question is, if he says no to looking for other work, will we just get no help....even with a new baby.

 

Am i correct in thinking that £5000 per year approx will not meet their requirements? Just wanted a little bit of advice before we see them again. The whole new system is ridiculous, i have worked and paid tax all my life yet when we need a bit of help we have to fight for it, yet people who dont want to get a job, try their hardest NOT to get one, receive all the help there is out there!!!

 

Any advice appreciated

Edited by honeybee13
Paras.
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They will look at his Self Employment and will look at how many hours he is working.

they won't simply look at his earnings they will also look at how many hours he is working.

 

 

Universal Credit is a means tested benefit replacing the other means tested benefits (Income Related Employment Support Allowance, Income Based JSA, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit).

 

 

You will both have a claimant commitment drawn up which will detail exactly what you will need to do to receive this benefit.

 

 

The idea is for people to work and earn more so that they claim and receive less money from the welfare system.

 

 

I would suggest that it is highly likely that he will be required to look for extra work either employed or extending and expand his current self employment but I have been out of the UC side of things for nearly 12 months now.

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They are likely to look at how many hours he is working each week,

the claimant commitment would be for full time employment up to 35 hours per week and they will take into account the hours he is currently working.

 

 

They won't really be looking at the amount he receives as such but based on minimum wage £7.20 for over 25 he wouldn't be classed as working enough hours.

 

 

£5000 per year works out at £96.16 every week which works out to be about 13.5 hours a week (I know in reality it is going to be more but not how the UC Service Centre will see it) so technically there is room for hours that he could be expected to work.

 

 

Unfortunately there were a lot of people who went self employed for the minimum number of hours needed to claim tax credits and didn't try to increase their work base or hours as they were getting all the other benefits that go alongside a low income (housing costs, prescriptions etc) so UC was introduced to phase this out and get people to increase their income.

 

Were you advised that you will not get your tax credits reinstated either as you have now made the application for UC?

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  • 2 months later...

I started maternity last July, it ends this April.

Before maternity i was getting working tax credit, i then got child tax credit too.

We were struggling so we asked council for housing benefit help but they said we now have to claim universal credit. We did this and all credits stopped and we have had nothing.

My husband is self employed and we have to ring up monthly with his earnings. They are usually around £600 at the moment. But they record it as £1092. They add my maternity approx £600 month and say we dont get any help!!

So my question is, if he earns under this £1092 then they dont help us as he apparently isnt working hard enough, so if he earns above this i assume they wont help either?!

So what on earth is the point?!

 

Also, i am self employed so what on earth do i do once i return to work? I cant cope with no money for a month, i wont earn money immediately, no way enough for rent etc - help :(

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Can someone explain this.

Husband is self employed and i am on maternity leave (i am self employed too).

We put a universal credit claim in and they set him a minimum income floor of £1092.

Basically as he earns under that, we get no help.

So what if he earns over that?

It makes no sense and i want someone to clarify for me :)

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It seems to be as you say. Here's a link to the government website with their explanation.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide

 

Hopefully someone with experience of UC will be along later to help with this.

 

HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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I have read everything on the net, it makes no sense to not help people who try to generate income but are maybe quiet at the moment and then reward those who earn more.

I was hoping someone could just clarify that i am right with this and if he earns over the MIF we will get help!!! Annoyed as we were on working and child tax credits before, nothing changed!!

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It seems to be as you say. Here's a link to the government website with their explanation.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide

 

Hopefully someone with experience of UC will be along later to help with this.

 

HB

 

Alas Honeybee I do not think there are that many if any that understand UC in all it's glory, including the DWP!

 

My understanding is that they will use this MIF of £1092 as your income level, regardless of whether you actually earn/receive that amount as this is what they deem you should be getting if you are gainfully self-employed. i.e. whatever you are entitled to after this amount of income is what you should receive as your UC entitlement, so if you only earn say £500 and not the MIF, they will use the MIF to calculate any award until such time your actual earnings go above this, then they will use the actual earnings.

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Hey,

 

I was hoping someone else would answer your question because I know less about this area of Universal Credit, though given the passage of time, I will try to explain it to you.

 

Firstly, you should inform UC that as you have just migrated across from

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(oops, my mouse was hovered over 'Post Quick Reply')

 

an existing benefit, there is a transitory period - up to a year - where they should not set an amount of money they expect your husband to earn. Until the transitory period ends, they should play around with the figure in response to what your husband is actually earning. The idea is that during this time he will be demonstrating to them that self-employment is viable.

 

Are you saying that this £1092 figure has been set in stone immediately - and not subject to change? If so, then I'd suggest you resist it.

 

I am sure you know the reasoning behind why they do this but I'll explain why, just in case. UC will expect him to achieve financial independence in his self employment. Otherwise, self-employed folk would only carry out a couple of hours work a week on the understanding UC would top up their earnings. There would be no incentive for the claimant to increase their customer base or alternatively pursue another source of employment.

 

For any earnings above the agreed figure - £1092, UC will apply a taper. By that, I mean, for each extra £ earned, each £ of UC will fall by 65p (after April 2017 63p). If you both are self employed, then your expected earnings and his expected earnings are added together and then they will determine what, if any, money you are entitled to.

 

It seems that they are saying your household income is £1692 a month, and that on this level of earnings, you are ineligible for UC.

 

The system is new so I guess the call handler is still trying to figure out things for themself too. Sorry to hear of the trouble you have faced.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My maternity leave ends on Wednesday, I am self employed.

My husband is also self employed, we cant survive on his wage and i wont earn much to start with, it will take a while to get established again.

We are in the universal credit system but dont get anything from them.

I have to call on wednesday and declare my change of circumstances and make a job centre appointment.

Worried sick how we are going to pay our rent etc, will they help me, they cant expect me to earn a good wage straight away can they?

Any advice appreciated

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So my maternity ended on the 5th.

i am self employed and will not earn much until i am back up and running. my baby is 7 months old.

I had a job centre appt today, they set my MIF at £650 which was shocking. Then an hour later they send me a message saying that is wrong and i will have no MIF set until my baby is one.

Can anyone tell me what help i should therefore expect to get. they didnt know what they were doing, no one does and i have no clue if i will be getting any money or not!!!

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I did consider it, i havent replied as i simply have not had the time. after your message i asked them about the transisionary period for which i am STILL waiting on a reply from them!

My situation has now changed with me returning to work (as above) but nothing makes sense to me, the system is a mess! Once again, apologies didnt reply

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Thanks for considering my response!

 

I had assumed it had not been read because you had gone on to ask, "they cant expect me to earn a good wage straight away can they?Any advice appreciated."

Anyway back to your question.

 

I said that you would have a transitory period for a year.

 

I said that you cannot be set an MIF not because your baby is not 1 but because you are in self employment and are supposed to have a year's breathing space. Also because you have migrated from another benefit. Though if they are saying it's because your baby is not 1, you'll miss out on 7 months breathing space you're entitled to.

 

During the year you are likely to be called in to talk about how your self employment is going.

 

Has your husband been set an MIF? If so, what is it? Both of your figures are combined in order to calculate any UC you are entitled to.

 

As I said before, he should not be set one during the transitory period.

 

UC staff are unlikely to be much help until they get used to it themselves. You'll have to assert yourself in front of them till that point.

 

If I were you, I would call them - they are still open until 6pm - and say that I am entitled to UC and when can I expect my first payment?

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When you applied for UC, did you ask for help with your housing costs or just for the basic amount?

 

I am guessing that the current figure - £1092 - exceeds the threshold for any basic amount of UC you could get.

 

It's wrong so eventually they should set it aside. You look like you have a case for a backdate too.

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i initially did it because we needed housing help but they just dont care! Yes the £1092 must do but like i say its all a mess, i appreciate your replies, really hope they realise they are wrong and they owe us! Now that would be a first!

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I was just asking because it is up to the claimant to apply for benefits that are open to them.

 

The harsh reality is that the DWP is not going to pay out money it is not asked for. I doubt that they have a charter mandating that they should!

 

I would advise against waiting to see if they realise they are wrong if money is tight right now. Though yeah, I hope you get things sorted.

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