UC payment more than usual - could it be my partners early December payday?

Mal8236

Currently receiving universal credit as I am on maternity leave and only receiving SMP and we are struggling to make ends meet. Me and my partner both work full time.
Last month we were entitled to £291 and I’ve just received our statement for this month which says we will get £1,460.
I’m really confused by this as it’s such a big difference to last month and our circumstances haven’t changed.
It also says our joint take home pay is £812 (which is my SMP) it doesn’t mention my partners wages for that month.
My partner did get paid earlier than normal in December because of Christmas could this be the reason why? And it isn’t covered in our assessment period?

We also have 2 things in our to do list and they are asking us for our wage each month from December 2024 to November 2025.

Would this payment be correct or is there something wrong?

TIA

Rosie_Scope

Hi @Mal8236, welcome to the community. That does sound a bit strange but as you say, it might just be the difference in when your husbands work reported his pay in December.

Have you got access to the previous month's statement to check whether your husband's pay was included correctly in the previous assessment period?

Is your Universal Credit claim quite new or have you been claiming for a while?

SwiftFox

I'll be honest, I didn't think you got UC for maternity? But whatever, it sounds a lot of money, I'd ask in case they want it back.

Mal8236

@Rosie_Scope

Thank you for replying.
Yes on last months statement my partners wages were on there and were correct.

Our assessment period for this month was between 30th December and 29th January. We both normally get paid on the last working day of the month but my partner got paid early on the 24th December so that’s why I’m thinking it might be that but I’m unsure what that means for us

Our claim is new, this is only our second month of claiming so I don’t have much to go on

Rosie_Scope

@Mal8236 It can sometimes take the payments a little while to equal out if it's a new claim. Especially if there's been some differences from the paydays over December.

But it may be worth just popping a message on your journal to see if they can put your mind at ease. Hopefully they can have a look for you and make sure everything is correct. Just try to be a little bit careful with spending the money in the meantime in case they decide it's an over-payment.

Mal8236

@SwiftFox

Not everyone on maternity leave will be eligible for UC but it depends on circumstances. Our rent is quite high and our joint earnings aren’t a lot with me being on maternity.
Yes I’ve left a message on my journal so I will see what they say about the payment

Mal8236

@Rosie_Scope

Yeah I have left a message on my journal so will see what they say. I don’t want to touch the money in case it is wrong and then have to pay anything back!
Thanks for your help

Biblioklept

@Mal8236 This actually sounds correct because it sounds as though his employer reported it early via HMRC (your husband can check using his HMRC account) but your last AP would have been 30th Nov to 29th December, so his wages on 28th Nov wouldn't have counted, but the ones he received earlier in December will have).

I think you're gonna have some real trouble on UC because your pay dates are so close to your AP ones which is going to suck because your AP can't be changed.

Because your AP dates are so close to your wage date, you may find some issues where some months two of his wages fall into the same UC assessment period. For example in February, his wages for 30th Jan AND wages for 27th February will both fall into your UC AP of 30th Jan - 28th Feb 😣

The reason it's asking about your wages from Dec 24 to Nov 25 is because they're checking if you're entitled to a grace period from the benefit cap because your earnings this month are showing as below the limit (£812 reported instead of the £846 needed)