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What is income floor benefit?

Lisatho11987777

Hi sorry to bother you on my universal credit journal today it tells me I have income floor benefit I dint want to sound stupid but what does that mean I have more money now I still work but just wanted to know what it means for me thank you in advance

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Sandy_123

I don't have a clue lol but it sounds to your advantage

Lisatho11987777

Scared now I am not self employed I work in a petrol station I get a wage slip and they pay me and they pay my pension I work 16hrs have they done it in error Mike ?

calcotti

If you are not self employed then the MIF is not applicable and should not be applied. You will need to challenge it.

To be clear - is this a notification on your journal that the MIF will be applied or is it appearing on your latest statement!

calcotti

Sandy_123 said:

I don't have a clue lol but it sounds to your advantage

The MIF is never to the advantage of a claimant, application of the MIF reduces the benefit payable.

Sandy_123

Ah ok @calcotti I thought was other way round.

Lisatho11987777

Sorry I am tagging you @calcotti but my answer is to you its on my new statement I had today its the highest I have ever been paid I normsly get 837 as I get 525 for rent my wages are normaly 647.00 but because I got extra for xmas and holiday pay this month I was 749 wages so I expected less this month but I have 932 00 being paid to me this month I am allowed to earn 335.00 before money is stopped unless my work puts me as self employed I also get 345 for my limited capability to work cant remember the rest if it lol

Is it because I am carer for my mum as well

Lisatho11987777

I have sent a journal message to my work coach to be on the safe side I am already struggling looking after my mum and me on my money because my brother only agrees to pay for mums care out of her money as he is power of attorney I manage though

calcotti

The fact that you care for your mum makes no difference because you cannot be paid the carer element as well as the LCWRA element.

Your numbers don’t make sense to me
Your maximum UC amount is single person standard allowance plus LCWRA plus housing (£525) which I make to be £1193.47
The earnings deduction is (your wage - £335) x55%
The amount payable is the maximum amount minus the earnings deduction.

If you earn £647 the deduction would be £171.60 so UC payable should be £1021.87
If you earn £749 the deduction would be £227.70 so UC payable should be £965.77

I don’t see any reference to Minimum Income Floor In what’ve you have posted.

Are there any deductions for advance payments (or anything else)?

You could try comparing the latest statement with the last one to see if you can spot the differences.

As you say, in general, it makes no sense for your UC to go up if your wage has gone up. However if you are comparing with older payments you need to remember that the way the earnings deduction is calculated was changed a total the end of November and there’s is a smaller deduction from UC as a result. So even if you earned he saw same amount in December as in, say, August last year the amount of UC received would now be higher.

Just a reminder that I don’t like being tagged (but I’m not offended that you did).

Is the inclusion of the LCWRA element recent?

MarkM88

@lisathomas50 maybe you could post a screenshot of statement to help understand calculations? (Remember to remove any personal info).

Lisatho11987777

Sorry I know that's why I said sorry straight away I have looked everything is the same they take 29 .00 off me for a loan I had your calculations are right I get 1193.47 before they take anything off I am allowed to earn 335.00 before takeingvsnyingvoff then for every 1.00 they take 55p

It says on my payment statement about the income floor

Everything is the same but last month I only got paid 837.00 and this month 932.00 but nothing has changed so confused again sorry I tagged you

Lisatho11987777

My wages last month were lower lol

calcotti

lisathomas50 said:

It says on my payment statement about the income floor

Can you quote exactly what it says (or as Mark suggests post a screenshot)?

calcotti

lisathomas50 said:

they take 29 .00 off me for a loan

So
Your maximum UC amount is £1193.47
The earnings deduction is (your wage - £335) x55%
The amount payable is the maximum amount minus the earnings deduction.

If you earn £647 the earnings deduction would be £171.60 and minus the loan £29 the UC payable should be £992.87 whereas you said you were only getting £837.

If you earn £749 the earnings deduction would be £227.70 and minus the loan £29 the UC payable should be £936.77. So this month’s payment seems roughly right

calcotti

Lisa - given that your recent payment looks to be correct (although i am still puzzled about the relevance of the MIF that you originally asked about) it may be helpful to just look at one of your earlier statements when you said you were earning £647 and only getting £837 UC.

Lisatho11987777

Thanks everyone for your help the income floor was done by mistake I asked why it was higher when I had earnt more but they couldn't explain so looking into my payments as it doesn't make sense that this payment is alot higher I normally only get 837.00 and I normaly only earn 647.00 over Xmas I got double time Xmas day so I got 749.00 a 100.00 pound more and then get more universal credit

Glad I asked the question if they have paid me the wrong amount would I have to pay it back or if they find I have not been paid enough would they pay me the short fall

Thanks in advance

calcotti

Lisa, as per my previous posts I believe that, based on what you have posted, your latest payment is correct (although my calculation was slightly out from the amount you said you were paid). I remain puzzled that you previous payments were the amount you said.

The answer to your last question is yes. If UC overpay you then you are required to pay it back even if it is their mistake. If they have underpaid you then they should pay you anything you are owed.

Lisatho11987777

Thank you yes this month's payment appears right but all my other payments were lower so hopefuly now universal credit can look into why

Thank you for your help

calcotti

Lisa, if they review your previous payments they will prepare new statements for each payment period. When UC upload them the new statement so will overwrite the old ones and you will no longer be able to access them in your journal. It may therefore be sensible for you to downloads copies of all your previous statements. You will then be able to compare the old and new (once they are done) to see what has changed.

poppy123456

lisathomas50 said:

Thank you yes this month's payment appears right but all my other payments were lower so hopefuly now universal credit can look into why

Thank you for your help

Have you taken into consideration the increase in the work allowance and the decrease in the earnings taper from 63% to 55% which was in December 2021. Therefore, if you earnings have been roughly the same in each AP an increase in your UC would be correct now.

calcotti

poppy123456 said:

lisathomas50 said:

Thank you yes this month's payment appears right but all my other payments were lower so hopefuly now universal credit can look into why

Thank you for your help

Have you taken into consideration the increase in the work allowance and the decrease in the earnings taper from 63% to 55% which was in December 2021. Therefore, if you earnings have been roughly the same in each AP an increase in your UC would be correct now.

I did look at that and the change in WA and taper rate aren’t sufficient to explain the differences Lisa described given that she said her earnings were higher in December.