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Important News about Universal Credit

despondent

Hi I've just been checking the government website, which shows you how much you get now, and how much you will get when universal credit starts. The difference for me will be £410.66 per month. I will get a transitional payment each month for this. When the universal credit goes up the following year say for example it rises by £20 per month, this amount will be taken off my transitional payment. What has started to worry me is that basically everyones money will be frozen for over 15 years.

This means each year your rent goes up, you have to pay the difference. each year the council tax goes up you will have to pay the difference. Your PIP will rise, it is separate, but it will in no way cover the constant rises we will all be facing. Basically the care component worth £95 per week has been taken away. I am worried that i will struggle to pay my rent, and be made homeless.

Here is a link to the government calculator I used. it shows you what you get now, and what you will get on universal credit.

Please budget for this NOW.

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Comments

despondent

Sorry dont know how to edit the page. here is the link i promised.

https://www.betteroffcalculator.co.uk/#/calculator/new/step1

Barbiesnemesis

Sometimes I think that the Government's philosophy on reducing benefits is that if they make us poor enough we'll go and get jobs - what they don't realise is that for some of us working isn't an option

despondent

Yes, what worries me, is that the government have said they will give us transitional payments, but we are basically having a freeze on our payments for over 15 years, less probably if you live in London. How many people are going to become homeless in the next decade because they wont be able to afford rent and food?

The government need to let people who were entitled to ESA support keep it, and not let it erode. I foresee a huge problem, and it is very worrying along with all the other things we have to deal with.

whistles

We will get another government by then. So I'm not bothered.
I actually can't plan, so that does have is advantages!

despondent

and if we dont..........

mark my words, we will be at the mercy of our landlord and their price hikes, and will be more vunerable than ever.

whistles

What page are you referring to?

despondent

I've put a link to the Government's benefit calculator, it shows you what you get now, and what you will get under universal credit.

this page

https://www.betteroffcalculator.co.uk/#/calculator/new/step1

whistles

Just noticed this is parent and carer.
Doesn't apply to me sorry. My mistake.

despondent

Maybe I posted this on the wrong Headline forum, but I have read your other forums and know that this does apply to you. I am new, and dont know my way around these forums yet. But please believe me when I say that this is true, as you will find out when you contact your council about incorrectly means testing your housing benefit. This is much worse, as we will never get money or help with our rent hikes. I can't believe that people don't realise this. Our money will not go up until the £410.66 transitional payment has been asborbed by Universal credit. I am going to repost this in a more apt forum.

whistles

I will be £20 a week better off using that calculator.
But I don't follow where you are getting the rest of the info from.

I do feel its a very bad idea letting the dwp deal with the rent elements! They are already making stuff ups.

I can't find anywhere where it actually says what the housing element will be, just a bedroom tax. Is that what you mean, we have no idea how much rent money we will get?
I checked my local authority and I can check the rents but that doesn't mean dwp will give me that?

despondent

at the top of the page, on the left it has two electronic buttons, one of them says Universal credit, if you click on that, your income changes from your current status to what you will get on universal credit.

then another button on the right about the payments explains your situation eg transitional payments, warm home discount, possible water reductions.

whistles

Yes I did change it. £20 a week better off.

despondent

So you wont need transitional money to support you then. I'm glad for you. I am not on the higher tier for PIP, maybe that makes a difference. It will be interesting to see how other people find the calculator.

Please people post your results not the amount, but ithat you are better off or you will need transitional payments, as I would be very interested.

despondent

Thinking about it, I wonder if it has anything to do with my rent which is £210.46 per week. I bet if people are on lower rent, they might be alright. Living in London is going to be too costly once you're on universal credit.

whistles

The transitional money you are referring to is if you migrate when they go full service.
I believe that's the premiums?

despondent

yes, once everyone has to migrate to universal credit, the care component of ESA goes. So the transitional payment is to offset this loss initially, but it never goes up, but decreases every year in line with the rise on your Universal credit monthly amount.

You know if anyone applies for ESA now and are successful they get less money than us. So whether you are disabled or healthy everyone gets the same amount. Obviously if you qualify for PIP you will get that separately.

whistles

I have already lost the care component.
But those who already have it should be keeping it, else why migrate. No point.

I think if they shave any more money off us we need to be looking for shoe boxes. I live in one room, I cannot make one room less.

despondent

That is why you were not negaatively affected by the transition, and were better off. I am sorry to hear that you have so little space to live in.

the migration starting in July 2019 is mandatory, you have no choice, because yes i would never go on it. then you have people like my mum who would of gambled all the rent money away if she were on universal credit. at Christmas it will be tempting to keep a little of it, seeing it go into my bank account and £912 of it is for my rent, yikes.

whistles

"Your transitional protection amount will top your Universal Credit up so that it matches your previous benefit income to ensure you are not worse off due to the move to Universal Credit"

Example:

Jane and Dave currently receive £1100 per month from the benefits to be replaced by Universal Credit but their Universal Credit entitlement is only £1000 per month.

They are part of the managed migration onto Universal Credit so they receive a transitional protection amount of £100 per month to top up their Universal Credit so they are not worse off.

The following April the Universal Credit rates are increased so their Universal Credit entitlement goes up to £1020 per month.

They only need a transitional protection amount of £80 now to top them up to their previous benefit income of £1100 per month.

Although their Universal Credit entitlement has gone up £20, their transitional protection amount is reduced by £20 so they still receive £1100 per month.

They won't see a rise in their income from Universal Credit until their Universal Credit entitlement becomes more than £1100 per month and their transitional protection amount reduces to nothing"

^^
Just found this and I think I get what you mean. As the UC money goes up because it does yearly, your transitional money drops so it actually doesn't go up.

Those who are naturally migrated will actually catch up with the managed migration. Unless they are on benefits not affected by UC?

whistles

Ps whoever thought of that should work for NASA!
It does look like frozen benefit, but I can't work out of if that's going to absorb the sdp.

If this could be moved to UC section maybe an advisor could pop on.