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UC overpayment letter with new calculation_Advice needed

uzzal

My wife, two children (aged 4 and 10), and I have been on Universal Credit. I am self-employed as a PCO driver, and my Minimum Income Floor (MIF) is set at £1,557 per month. Our house rent is £1,300 per month. We used to receive roughly £1,900 per month from UC. However, since my wife started university in September 2024 (pursuing a BSc in Nursing), she didn’t apply for any Maintenance Loan, as they are repayable with interest. She only applied for grants.

Now, UC is saying that they overpaid us £5,129 over the last three months. Based on their new calculation, our new entitlement is approximately £194 per month. We have provided all the required documents to UC and informed them that we didn’t apply for a Maintenance Loan.

Even if the Maintenance Loan is counted as income, do you think this new calculation is correct? How on earth are we supposed to survive now? It feels like UC is punishing us because my wife is trying to enter a profession and eventually get off UC. Can someone please advise?

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Kimi87

Please see section about student loans.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students

Because your wife was eligible for a loan, this has been taken into account by UC and treated as income.

It doesn't matter unfortunately that she chose not to take it.

You can try a benefits calculator to see if you agree with the calculation, accurate results do rely on the information inputted into them being correct

https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

uzzal

Well, even though they take the loan/maintenace in cinsideration, the calculation doesn't sound right. did anybody go through similar situation like me?

poppy123456

Your Minimum Income Floor is £1,557/month. This means that if your earnings are less than that then they will use that figure to calculate your UC entitlement. If your earnings are more than this then they will use your actual earnings figure, minus the work allowance.

It wouldn’t be possible to tell you whether the amount you’ve received is correct because we don’t know what elements are included and what deductions they used, for your earnings and the student maintenance loan.

I don’t know if a benefits calculator will take into consideration a student loan.

You can also get some expert advice from any agency near you. Sometimes situations are complex and it’s not always possible for such advice on an Internet forum.

uzzal

My case is quite simple..I am self employed and report my income every month for UC to calculate my entitlement. my wife was unemplyed until 22nd September when she became full time student. I have checked statement and in that statement they used £1,709.62 as 'Other income' for my wife. that's the main concern, everything else is same. as a nursing student she gets some bursaries and gtants. She didn't apply for maintenance loan as they are repayable. So where the hack UC found that figure for my wife (for the first time). For the sake of argument, lets assume that they calculated her maintence loan (which she didn't apply) as income still that figure is absurd.

Can anybody share me their same experience/ same situation ( become a full time student while in UC) please and how did you sort it out.

Kimi87

A local advice agency might be able to advise:

https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

Adrian_Scope

Hello @uzzal

If a maintenance loan is available to your wife, Universal Credit (UC) will calculate your UC as if she had claimed it, regardless of whether she chooses to do so. They treat it as income payable to you and you are depriving yourself of, even though, as you rightly point out, it is a loan that must eventually be repaid.

We cannot confirm whether the amount they are deducting is correct, as we would need to know how much student maintenance she would be entitled to and the breakdown of those amounts.

poppy123456

Your case isn't simple at all. It will depend on how much maintenance loan she would have been entitled to, how much your maximum UC entitlement is, what your earnings were and so on.

You can't expect to claim a means tested benefit when there's a student maintenance loan available to you.

uzzal

I have been asking for the breakdown of my wife's income that they are caliming for in the journal of UC but they are not replying me. What could be my next step if someone can help me please.

I have a right to see where and how did theyc alculate £1709.62 for my wife's income.

Kimi87

You could try getting the information via formal complaint

https://makeacomplaint.dwp.gov.uk/

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