Confirm previous earnings from work - For Universal Credit

NeedHelpASAP

In the 9 months before you claimed Universal Credit, were the total earnings of you and your partner less than £430 per month at any time?
My partner is self employed and so the earning varies each month such that some months the income is £200 , £250 , £600 etc .
The question states ''at any time'' so for some months its less than £430 so if i choose the option 'YES' I get this message to confirm.
''The total earnings from work for you and your partner were less than £430 a month.'' , here it doesnt say 'at any time'' and asked me to cinfirm if this is true.
Can some one please help me out. If i choose 'NO' for the answer i get a option to enter earnings for all last 9 months.

Adrian_Scope

Hi @NeedHelpASAP. This is to determine grace period exemption from the benefit cap. 
If some months she received less than £430 a month then you would put yes. Hope that helps.

NeedHelpASAP

i said no and entered all the months income that were less than and more than 430,

Adrian_Scope

How's everything else with your claim going @NeedHelpASAP? Please let us know if you have any other questions.

NeedHelpASAP

Before we were told by our council to change housing benefit to Universal Credit, we used to get child tax credit and working tax credit and so we used to get  NHS tax credit exemption certificate. but that certification has been expired this month and we have not received a new one. i dont know what we need to do as we need prescription every month. By looking at the requirement for free prescription via UC , it doesnt seem like we are eligible. the only benefit we get now is UC so are we able to claim the  NHS tax credit exemption certificate?

woodbine

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/help-with-health-costs/help-with-health-costs-for-people-getting-universal-credit/
If you don't qualify for NHS exemptions then for prescriptions you can pay monthly (its around £13 per month)works out cheaper than 2 items per month.

NeedHelpASAP

i dont like this new Universal credit method because before we used to get working tax credit and child tax credit and so we were eligible for NHS exemptions but since changing to UC we no longer get that and now dont get the NHS exemptions even though our household income is less than 500-700 a month 

Adrian_Scope

Hello @NeedHelpASAP. Do either you or your partner receive LCW/LCWRA or do you have children on your claim?

NeedHelpASAP

we get 1 child element. I contacted them via journal and they said you can get free prescription if you show your universal credit statement at the pharmacy but i didnt really understand that.

NeedHelpASAP

woodbine said:

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/help-with-health-costs/help-with-health-costs-for-people-getting-universal-credit/
If you don't qualify for NHS exemptions then for prescriptions you can pay monthly (its around £13 per month)works out cheaper than 2 items per month.

when i contacted UC they said they dont give out NHS exemptions certificate, they said you just show your online UC statement  when you collection your prescription.

Adrian_Scope

Hi @NeedHelpASAP. With a child or LCW on your claim you can earn up to £935 a month on UC and still be entitled to free prescriptions. 
They don't send out an exemption certificate like Tax Credits did, but when you pick up the prescription there should be an option on the back you tick to say you receive Universal Credit. 
If you scroll to the very bottom of your UC statement there should be another section called "Other support you may be able to get". Click on this and it'll explain about free prescriptions etc. 

NeedHelpASAP

Oh Make sense, but due to my partner being self-employed, UC  have added  A minimum floor income of about 1200 GBP and my partner income doesn't reach the minimum floor and sometimes is less than 435 GBP so i should be fine with claiming free prescriptions right? Even thought when we tried claiming free school meal for my child, they said our income is the minimum income floor which didnt make sense at all because they assumed the 1200 GBP is our income so i dont really like UC, 

Adrian_Scope

The Minimum Income Floor can be really harsh on self-employed people. Can I ask how old your child is and what other elements you have on your claim? I'm wondering if there's a way to get your MIF lowered. Do either of you receive PIP/DLA?

NeedHelpASAP

my claim has the following
-Standard allowance
-Housing
-Children
My child is 17 year old, UC also minuses about £150 for 2 of my children who are adult.
My partner is self-employed and i am looking for part time work and i was put into part time education( its closed now due to Covid) but i was attending it and will continue. 
We dont get PIP/DLA
Yes you are right this is really harsh because before we moved into UC we were always entitled Free NHS Prescriptions   via Tax Credits awards.
And i was expecting payment to increase for UC during this COVID-19 as they removed the income floor for few months but it stayed the same and instead a Benefit Cap limit was added so payment is usual as before.

NeedHelpASAP

Adrian_Scope said:

The Minimum Income Floor can be really harsh on self-employed people. Can I ask how old your child is and what other elements you have on your claim? I'm wondering if there's a way to get your MIF lowered. Do either of you receive PIP/DLA?

my claim has the following
-Standard allowance
-Housing
-Children
My child is 17 year old, UC also minuses about £150 for 2 of my children who are adult.
My partner is self-employed and i am looking for part time work and i was put into part time education( its closed now due to Covid) but i was attending it and will continue. 
We dont get PIP/DLA
Yes you are right this is really harsh because before we moved into UC we were always entitled Free NHS Prescriptions   via Tax Credits awards.
And i was expecting payment to increase for UC during this COVID-19 as they removed the income floor for few months but it stayed the same and instead a Benefit Cap limit was added so payment is usual as before.