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Maternity allowance back pay and UC

angeleyez84

I have recently had a back payment of maternity allowance which I should of applied for in November but only applied for in April due to being told at work I was entitled to SMP which I wasn’t the money I was receiving was occupational. Anyhow I applied in April and they told me to backdate my claim to when I started my maternity in November, which now I have been awarded the full amount with a back payment of £4300. I know this will affect my UC but in what way? I have spoken to some advisors who said my next balance for June 1st will more than likely be £0 which is fine as I have the money to cover and my UC payment after that on July 1st should then go off our amounts of earnings? Is this the case? Will this not be classed as an overpayment and be deducted in monthly installments? Or will my balance be £0 then back to normal going off earnings after this next time?

I’m so confused and stressed about it

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poppy123456

MA will be deducted in full from UC because it's treated as "other income" rather than earnings. Had you been entitled to SMP that that would be treated as earnings and the deduction would have been less.

If you were claiming UC when the MA was awarded from then you will have an overpayment of UC from when the MA was awarded from. You will need to make sure you report the changes on your journal and tell them you've been awarded it.

Your statements will need to be recalculated before they will know how much money you owe. Once this is done you will receive a letter on your journal telling you how much you owe them. You can either pay it back in full from the lump sum MA or they will reduce your future UC payments to pay it back.

Going forward the MA will again be treated as other income and reduce your UC £1 for £1.

angeleyez84

so MA is taken £ for £ moving forward, which means after that is taken off the total amount what’s left will be used to calculate with partners earnings the amount we get?

What is the maximum amount UC can take each month for overpayments?

poppy123456

Yes going forward it's £1 for £1. You won't be any worse off or better off by claiming MA. I believe the amount of deduction is 15% but with earnings it's 25%. I'm not sure which percentage they will take because it's your debt and your partners earnings so it maybe the lower amount. https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/information-for-your-situation/overpayments-under-the-universal-credit-system/how-is-an-overpayment-recovered#:~:text=If%20you%20are%20receiving%20Universal%20Credit%20and%20have%20some%20earned,25%25%20of%20your%20standard%20allowance.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-overpayment-recovery-staff-guide/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide#appendix-2

Albus_Alumni

Heya @angeleyez84 welcome to the community. :)

I can see Poppy is already helping you out, but I just wanted to stop in and say a quick hi. 😁

angeleyez84

thanks you hello 😃

Ok so when my dad got back paid £2000 his claim was stopped an he had to reclaim.. will they do this to me?

poppy123456

Your claim will not end. His claim shouldn’t have ended after 1 assessment period of your UC being reduced to zero. It must have ended for another reason.

When your UC is reduced to zero through earnings or other income it stays open for 6 months. At the end of the 6 month it will automatically close.

angeleyez84

thank you sorry I’m just stressing out about it as I have paid my monthly bills rent ect with it just in case