It's been really interesting seeing your journey transitioning from working tax to universal credit, many of us are worried what will happen. Thank you for opening up about your finances and documenting it, you're helping many of us prepare for whats to come.❤
I hope it helps. It's why I wanted to document it, because I had no clue what was going on when I started and I can imagine the whole system being really baffling. I hope it's of use to you as you navigate the system.
I had an absolute nightmare with this, if you don't meet the minimum earning floor they will insist you get a job, I ended just signing off completely, I figured it was less stress worrying about my rent and council tax, instead of worrying about appeasing the dole...so they will give me my H.Benefit and c.tax, for how much they give ya it really isn't worth the stress, good luck with em🤞
You're totally right it's not worth it it's better not to claim it if you're self-employed just get a part-time job alongside yourself employment at least you don't have to answer to these people, do you believe they even want our phone numbers and sometimes they do WhatsApp calls FaceTime that is so invasive. Forget it
Am off tax credits and just stayed self-employed. It's only because the gas is so much am struggling on low income. I do get council tax full support. This week applied for UC. I imagine I will leave when it becomes too stressful with bookkeeping and they will say I don't earn enough. Hopefully will find some PAYE part time work to fill my shortfall. If I don't get some other full time well paid job. The hoops of jumping through fire are just not worth loosing my identity and respect. I'm glad to read peoples comments.... It will help me to understand this process. Good luck 🤞🍀
You can apply seperately to your council for council tax support on a low income. You don't have to do it through Universal credit. You show all your expenses etc book keeping.
"if you don't meet the minimum earning floor they will insist you get a job". This is entirely understandable - it is to prevent people falsely claiming they are self-employed, to then collect UC while doing nothing. And it's a fair point that if a person is not able to develop their business so that it provides a reasonable income, if that person is able to work and is still asking for government assistance, it is reasonable for them to ask that person to work in something else that does pay, i.e. a job.
Universal sounded all great and I was deperate for help and it turned into a complete nightmare for me. I made an appointment for jobseekers and was told I need to change to Universal because I worked for 20 years self-employed. It made sense and changed all. Another 4 weeks goes by and I put in all the paper. After another 3 weeks for so I was told I can't apply for Universal because I am not self-employed...who knew . This was the most depressing experience in my life and after 3 month, no help I decided to close the claim. Even when I was for 5 days in hospital (and I updated my case manager straight away) I was bombarded with text messages. It not worth ruining your mental health.
we are just applying for this, and finding the process intrusive and far from simple. aghhhh I am self-employed and my wife is a carer at home. Thank you for this video.
Keep watching. I am going to be doing a post in a couple of weeks about the monthly claim process. Personally I think they have designed the system in such a way that it will put off as many people claiming as possible. And I think it's working in many cases.
Yes and having some 1 whos your work coach living on same estate and known since I was young is wrong having to tell them what you earned then nearly falling off thay chair when I told them weekly but self employed u csn easily go weeks with out work
@@workinprogresssince1974 We were pushed off WFTC because my PIP review was considered a change in circumstances, even though this has been reinstated on appeal. We've looked at applying for UC. It seems like we'd need an extra method of bookkeeping on top of what we prepare for tax. We have a craft business that does quite well at Christmas but leaves us with nothing for the rest of the year. I can't see that UC will allow us to spread that income across the year.
You will become a star on youtube... I can see you having 1 mil subscribers and advertising products for more than 10K pounds per video.... I salute you from Romania... KEEP IT UP DEAR... LIFE WILL BE GOOD
DWP guidance states: Move to UC claimants who make a claim before their deadline date, or within 1 month of their deadline date passing, can be considered for Transitional Protection. However, if they make a claim more than 1 month after their deadline date, they are not entitled to Transitional Protection, even if their claim is backdated. Claimants entitled to Transitional Protection can be considered for the following: Transitional Protection additional amount, Transitional Capital disregard, Exemption from the normal UC education eligibility rules. UC is calculated differently to Legacy benefits. This means claimants moving to UC might not be entitled to the same amount that they were entitled to previously. For 'move to' UC claimants, if the amount of UC they are entitled to is less than the amount of their Legacy benefits entitlement, a Transitional Protection amount is applied. The TPAA is calculated by comparing the total amount of all Legacy benefits the claimant had previously been awarded, with the total amount of UC they would be entitled to (UC indicative amount). If the UC indicative amount is lower, the TPAA will be awarded to make up the difference as part of the UC award. TP will stop in the following circumstances: Couples forming, couples separating, the claimant has earnings equal to or above the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) in their 1st Assessment period, and earnings then drop below the AET (that was in place at the point they made their UC claim) for 3 consecutive assessment periods at any time during UC claim. Or if the UC award is terminated. Once TP has ended, it can not be re-awarded except in the following circumstances: when the claimant has an increase in household earnings that means their UC award is nil, and they are no longer entitled to UC. In these circumstances, TP will be re-instated if a re-claim is made within 4 months of the end of the assessment period in which the claimant last awarded UC. The 4 months is calculated from end date of the assessment period in which the claimant was last awarded UC. This is to encourage claimants to still work and earn more where possible.
Oh yeah, and I recall getting letters from UC, mostly the same day as my partner, telling us sometimes the same thing but at other times differing things - and sometimes giving conflicting information even the same day. I rang them repeatedly and had little joy. One day I 'pushed it' and got through to the man in charge of the whole thing - and I asked him to explain the system from the beginning, because I could not understand it with any semblance of logic - his reply was that he'd love to, but that he didn't understand it at all, either - as straight as that - at least he could laugh about it.
Just be careful - I did self-employed through the jobcentre (albeit back in 2008/9) at their direction and they saw my bank statements every 2 weeks, and at the end of 12 months my accounts showed I paid out £12000 to run the business and brought in £10,000 so a £2000 loss but they said because there was £10000 'income' I wasn't entitled to the benefit, which was job-seekers & housing benefit at the time, and had to pay every penny of all the benefits back!!!
You're getting paid off to leave the system.I have Cerebral palsy and had always worked. Short version I fell ill due to work-related stress. In 2004. I then in 2006 went into the Job Centre and saw the disabled employment adviser and headed back all but my disabled benefit. Then went self-employed in order to get away from the system it was doing my head in. I have never made much money as self-employed but it was much better for my sanity. My health has got much worse, but I still make a little money from my business. I reach retirement age in just over a year and I will still have to work to keep the heating on. With cerebral plasy you need to keep warm. Good luck to you. I say all this but still treat myself as lucky.
The minimum income floor is the amount of money you're TREATED as earning (regardless of whether you earn less) when you're on UC AND are self-employed. If I remember rightly, it's the hours you're "expected" to work (based on work conditionality group) multiplied by the minimum wage. (but as you're aware it typically doesn't apply for 12 months) You'd want it to be as low as possible because where it applies the amount of UC they deduct in the "from income" category is a lot higher.
Thank you. Received my migration notice at Christmas and was planning to volunteer. You’ve helped me enormously just advising about the forced migration and transitory year. I’d also been told that the paperwork demands on UC were-are awfully demanding. Like you I find self-assess easy peasy. You’ve helped me to alleviate the dread. 🙏
Hi, I’m in pretty much the same boat,looks like they are going to take it on the chin for a year with us ex-working tax credit and them tell us to get a proper job and sod off after your year of probation is up,it’s nuts but hay🤷🏻♀️
I think they have to. They did their best to convince people they would be better off on UC from WTC, and of course once you've made the leap there's no going back whether you get accepted or not, which probably washed their hands of many 1000s of people. Because we're being 'forceably' moved because they changed the system, I suppose they feel they have to provide some transitional help rather than just throwing us to the wolves. It's been a tactical response hanging in there. I followed Martin Lewis's advice which was to hold tight.
Wait 6 month after 12 month period is over your savings earnings might sure be lower with inflation etc put a brand new claim in it resets after 6 month be lucky people x
I totally agree with british people over a certain age and retired should get a very nice pension from the government. What I don’t get is when I see foreigners coming to the UK with the whole family getting free house and loads of benefits, they will never work and will have a prosperous and easy life forever. I also see brits that avoid working to live over Universal Credit forever. Something in this country has to be changed.
Come on you really think that, all the foreigners are working hard look at all the cleaners, taxis, security, nurses, universal credit isn’t the same no more, it’s not and doesn’t give you much specially if you have lots of kids, lots of brits just waste money on drinking, gambling, holidays, birthdays, that’s where their money goes but the foreigners they don’t waste money like this and save it, aswell as getting all sorts of jobs, it’s funny how you even thought of that.
@CraOnneal She's English. If you're Irish then I really don't know why you're using the word 'Brit' so freely. It encompasses four countries and languages whilst negating all of our different cultures! 😉
I have to mention that when the term"they have topped off," they are the taxpayer, not the government. I have a work mate who has more income than me via taxpayers' help. Another point is you will get all sorts of help via rent payments, council tax relief once retired. Good luck in your self-employed life, it's far better than relying on others.
Ive just found your channel and im self employed too and not always in work and i had no clue that i could get help. Thanks for sharing and teaching me something new!
i filled in a form Turn2Us, though i made a mistake due to reading a question wrong (dyslexia) and chatted with an agent. I am freelance self-employed and some online sales, occassional buy to sell and classed as trading for HMRC. It would seem the upcoming interview for UC will determine if they class what i do as self-employed using the floor thing. Though the Turn2Us calculation says i have a year. Not sure if that is true these days. Do you or anyone else know ???
I find this really interesting I am in the same situation as you But Because I earn over the £360 I am entitled to nothing I'm living on £800 a month now Wtc I got £240. I have found it so stressful I'm considering stopping my claim What is the point of 3 monthly job centre appointments to tell them what I'm doing eith my business and filling in expenses each month and wasting mine and their time if I cannot get help And I had a migration letter to change over
What do your calcs say on your online account? Do they not add the housing element for you? Do you have a minimum income floor? Did they decide you were gainfully self employed and are you on the protected start up year? I am earning over £360 from all my work sources pm. They add the housing element and the transitional protection, then deduct for savings etc, and then top up to the minimum income floor (kind of).
If the process is more hassle than it's worth, and you're getting anything from it, close your claim. They can't force you to claim. When I go online there is a section that says, 'close your claim' and as soon as it stops being of any use to me, I will absolutely be closing mine. So far, the only use I have had from them is getting some money. They certainly don't offer you resources for finding work or other avenues of increasing skills so I don't quite know how they plan to get people off UC beyond driving them away.
@workinprogresssince1974 in my experience getting people back to work is a myth..there are plenty of vacancies in the very job centres that are tasked with running the system..there is a much more sinister plan in play..its designed to completely obfuscate and muddy the waters...All job centres will be exclusively AI run relatively soon..I ran business in Scotland England and Ireland the over reach and beuracratic confusion ...which came from NGOs and outside agency's...made inter country commerce a logistical and beyrocratic nightmare...this isn't the forum to get political ..but its obvious to anyone who has eyes to see ...that most institutions have been destroyed from within ..this is not accidental..they have been set up to fail..with no accountability or consequences for the perpetrators....the mediocrity and incompetence of government became ultra transparent during the covid fiasco..every government world wide with a few notable exceptions was singing from a pre prepared hymn sheet...and non accountable bodies like WEF and WHO became supreme arbiters overnight..now they are deleting messages and fraudulently misleading the families who lost loved ones...and not one person is I'm prison for treason or gross negligence.....please don't give up on your claims because of the confusion programme..people can still be held accountable in their private capacity if they damaged or caused loss or harm under common law...hold the man or woman to account under verified claim if they infringe on your rights....most people don't know but we are ensnared in a system of legislation called UCC uniform commercial code..which if we consent by acquiescence lowers our status to that of cargo under Maritime admiralty law. Under this system we have no rights just duties and obligations...this is why what's going on doesn't make sense to the average joe or Jane on the street... .
I stopped the claim even before I got a penny. It's not worth ruining my mental health. I was for 5 days in hospital and emergency and was daily harassed by texts even though I gave the caseworker straight away notice that I am in hospital. I closed my claim
I don't know how long you have been self employed, but something doesn't sit right here with your video advice. If you are in your first year of Self Employment and on Universal Credit, the Job Centres gives you a year's start up grace period of a year and so Minimum Income Floor won't apply. Therefore, what UC pays you will direct be linked to your self employment profit (after tax and NI and costs) - what you have to live on. That is why you got over £400 paid to you, etc. You made a low net income one month of £450 ish and they made up the rest with UC with their payment to you. That is how Unemployment Benefit worked and how you described it in your video. But year two when your grace period ends things change - and not for the better either. If you are only pulling in, say only around £4-500 Self Employment profit (after tax, NI, costs deducted) what is the amount you have to live on - assuming that is what you typically make - Universal Credit will then calculate what they pay you in total per month based on an assumed net profit of £1400 or whatever the minimum wage net is for employees in jobs is (roughly £12k a year). Whether you actually get that amount is irrelevant to them. You must make up the shortfall yourself or just make more self employed. Therefore, you will need to make that much in reality and on a regular enough basis after year one of your new start up to make ends meet. If you don't, chances are you will need to find a MW job or sink or rely on savings to make up the difference. Why? UC don't pay out benefits to people to run what they consider to be a business they consider to be unviable or, to put it another way, a pin money hobby. That is what they would class as not gainfully self employed. You need to be gainfully self employed whether you really are or not. Even though, in reality, it can take more than one year to become established as a self employed start up they assume it only does take one year and no more than that. That is why being self employed and on UC is a tough call unless you can make good money being Self Employed to a minimum net profit wage level regularly every month (that is your net income after tax, NI and costs are deducted first - so grossing much more in reality to cover those deducted allowances and taxes/NI. Therefore you need to make £12000 per annum at least in net profit not gross income to really survive, assuming of course you can afford to live on £1200 net anyway based on your own living costs. Most can't. Also take into account that if your client fee payments are not regularly paid to you each month (which is unlikely) then you will also lose out if you get a whole lot of income from regular and late fees one month, which results in much more than the minimum wage take home an employee would get in a regular job. In which case, your UC will reduce accordingly based on what you did pull in that month. But if your client income isn't paid at all, and you fall short another month or very little because they still owe you on an unpaid invoice, then the UC MIF will still apply - making it a double whammy blow for the Self Employed. To put it simply, UC is unsuitable for any self employed person who is self reliant but who does not actually pull in the minimum wage equivalent in net profit per month. You are likely to be impoverished by lack of financial support and will need to find a job that does pay what the legal minimum wage is. That is why I gave up Self Employment on MIF (I had been in business for many years) and took on a full time permanent job which pays me well above minimum wage net profit by about £300 pm and that is after pension payments are deducted along with everything else like NI and PAYE tax. I was doing well enough most months, but my net profit earnings were too erratic - either unevenly distributed into my account or not enough at all some months - and so my savings were sinking without trace with the CoL rises and also finding that the CoL payments just happened to coincide with UC payment Assessment Periods that had paid me NIL income, meaning I got no CoL payments at all. Trust me when I say this: if you are in a PAYE job and are thinking of self employment supplemented on UC when work is low or fees are yet to be paid due to late client payments, then think hard about whether it is a viable option for you. The system is now set up to discourage start ups and that is how they do it - as I have described above. The good news is that if you are in paid employment, not self employed, if your actual living costs go up (rent, CoL inflation etc) and you still qualify for UC in the first place (less than £16k in savings) then any shortfall from your earnings to cover rent hikes etc. will be paid over to make up the difference. UC is an 'in work' benefit not just an unemployment benefit. Plus you get all the CoL lump sums assuming you were paid something in the assessment period they use to qualify you for it - even if it was just a few quid. On average I get about £17.00 pm now, but will be getting £300 CoL payment at the end of the month along with my regular salary. That is why it is worth keeping all of your savings in a pension scheme - even a private one - if you run the risk of having £16k in savings otherwise, which would disqualify you for UC entirely.
Hi. I am not in my first year of self-employment. I am on the start up year because I have been migrated from WTC and if you are forcibly migrated, and if you fit the criteria, you get accepted on to what they call the start up, or transitional, year. So that's why I am on it and why they have given me a minimum income floor. You're right about UC not working for the self-employed in terms of erratic income. I've just recorded a video about this to my channel, and it will upload soon. I am self-employed but it's not my only job. I have a number of other side hustles, all of which go into the pot and is all processed through self assessment. I do this because self-employment is unreliable and you always need extra income streams. I also have savings to help with quiet months. When I get to the end of my year on UC, I will probably be signed off because I don't meet the other criteria. It's just this grace period because of WTC that's got me here and I'm using the time to my best to increase my income, add side hustles and other employment to ensure I break even going forward. I am used to having a shortfall in income (hence some of the savings) which helps me deal with the swings and roundabouts, most of which has been exasperated by the pandemic and the now cost of living crisis which continues to present challenges. I hope that clears things up. I do go into this more in other videos but I appreciate it's not always easy to find when there are a lot of playlists.
Hi am In my first year grace period as self employed but I also do agency work too. So I am both employed and self employed can you still claim UC after the grace period for both? Any information would be helpful
i don't know how it works if you are both self employed and PAYE. I would imagine all UC are interested in, is how much is in the pot at the end of the month. You're either meeting the minimum income floor overall or you aren't. It may be that your income goes up and down a lot month by month and some months you need to claim and others you don't. Can you ask them via the journal?
My question is; when we actually hit the minimum income floor with our self-employment. Will we be getting any support form UC? My part-time employed friend who is already on UC told me that when he works 30h/week at minimum wage he gets £0 Universal credits... He only gets payments when he works 16-24h/week....not sure what is the deal here
@@workinprogresssince1974 I've been SE and E and the tax office did my request to payback the Tax - and now insist that I owe it in spite of my of setting it against my income and losses... all 101 accountancy. But they then said they'd write it off and of course then didn't! They're still insisting I pay it and adding charges to it too. All most annoying. You did say all the bits you replied to Potterspurn's message. Although his post is interesting too. Frankly ALL the Gov has to do is look at the Income of SE at the end of each year or quarterly perhaps. If we've fallen below the earning threshold then pay us a top-up amount to the 12,500. And if we chose to have it monthly throughout the next year then that could be an option too. Instead some manager somewhere has made this extra-ordinarily complex! Also if we earn more then we get a little less and vice versa. Gives us a safety net as we get on our feet. Most people want to work and be independent of their help and nonsense! Sadly they forget that entirely!
I don't think anyone is supposed to be able to work out the calculation, no one knows why they get what they do fully. If anyone does, then please correct me here. I don't understand why folk only get 12 months, because you either earn enough to live or you don't, still need to live if your income does not meet this amount, savings cap aside, because yes, everyone will need money later on with the measily state pension. Fact is, if you can't work at all and only get your rent and the standard single person amount of what, £335 a month - this is impossible to live on. I really don't know how folk manage on this - it's utterly depressing. The whole system needs reform, the min. wage needs doubling at least for a start, and those big companies like Amazon should have a shares incentive in their employees wage packet.
Things are being reformed. They're deliberately phasing out the welfare system. The Country is completely bankrupt just like the US and other Countries across the Western Nations. They just haven't told you yet. As for pensions, Govt have stolen everyone's monies which is why they keep raising the retirement age. Everything can be traced back to Finchley Road.
I am certainly inclined to agree that the main reason they are upping the retirement age is so they don't have to pay pensions because noone knows where the money is coming from. With so many people of working age not adding to the tax pot and people living much longer than that which the state pension was designed for or would have predicted, there is a huge bottle neck of takers rather than contributors and that is only going to implode at some point. Those of us who retire in 10 or 20 or more years away are screwed. You need to fund your own retirement although with wages so bad, I have no idea how people are going to do this.
The DWP use a notional minimum wage hourly rate income after the first year of self employment. Previously people could claim they were self employed with virtually no income from it to maximise in work benefits. DWP have ended that loophole. Basic UC level (before housing costs) being so low is one reason so many people claim sickness and disability benefits to top this up. It incentivises people to get a diagnosis ie anxiety, ME, fibromyalgia etc etc. That is why we allegedly have the most sick/disabled population in Europe. The system encourages those on benefits to become to ill to work. When you look at the benefits system you cant blame people for doing this. Do the maths. Single person 35yrs and over basic UC £368 pcm (plus rent and council tax benefit). Basic UC £368 plus full PIP award £742 pcm (plus rent and council tax benefit). We all know people who game the system and who can blame them.
Hiya, Thank you for sharing your experience. Yep I'm being forcibly about to change over to UniCred. I'm self-employed too. I've a horrible feeling that the Transition payment is a one off... making your 500 odd payment a one off - then it'll go down the following months... but even so it is encouraging. At the moment they've now got me with 3 appointments although at least 2 follow each other with the same lady, so hoping by taking along 'further evidence' (which they don't specify!) will mean the 3rd can be cancelled. Some of the phone advisors are saying all sorts! One told me that they carry on the WTC for a while... but I think they've muddled this transition payment so beware of false data. The lady I'm to go and see seems very well-informed, however. I'm hearing you say monthly amounts added. That sounds like a nightmare! Bad enough doing annual tax returns and I know they're proposing monthly tax returns! OMG! Talk about big brother watching every minute step! How can one explain - "well I bought that program / tool as next month I'm doing this project, so the returns will be over the next 6mths to a year"!?? Just gross and such a huge waste of my time! Like you I too, hope and expect that my business will be that much better off soon, and then I can rid myself of this Gov System forever I hope and pray! Good Luck! & Thank you! :D
It's a nice thought but I live in rented accommodation and there are strict rules about sub letting. Also, my spare bedroom is where I run my business from so they would have to sleep on the floor. ;)
I have heard of this happening. If they do come back for it, they can have it. They're the last people I want to be in debt to. They're already coming back for some of my WTC from earlier this year. Nothing surprises me.
@@workinprogresssince1974 No I had that too yet I've no idea why they took some back as from my view nothing had changed. (I do get some income from lodgers which helps my regular income, but now it's all going fully against me!) :( I meant to say too I totally get living on bare minimum. I now have a mini log stove (friend bought it for me!) to keep warm and OMG what a difference. Can actually cook on it too, so saving a fortune! Plus use a kelly kettle too and that runs of twigs!
They switched me over later last year onto UC. Since being a self employed gardener, the system has been nothing but a hinderance. One minute entitlement and the other been whisked away after receiving it. I got an unexpected letter stating that i owed over £500 and freaked out. Not surprisingly i refused to take the bait, and decided not to bother with UC. I'm currently paying off £10 a month until debt is paid Have you looked at spending some of your long term savings on better equipment for your business. And are your quotations in line with your overheads and inflations.
It can be really problematic and the UC system is not simple. Over all, I have more money coming in than going out, so that's all the worries me right now in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
you would be 174.00 better off a month if you took out your excess savings over 6k. you are allowed 6k in savings with out any deductions. if that was me i would be only keeping 6k in my bank account. lots of people i know did this before claiming universal. Being Honest is never the best policy when getting screwed over for having savings
My friend just switched she said she doing better with this one as she gets more money , ive still to switch but tax credits already slashed my payments clean in half and your still on way more and I have a dependent . How the hell do they work it out its a big scam if you ask me as on less hrs than I was the other year 🤔
Same here 1 dependant and money got slashed in half , I used to use for rent , then had to sell my things to make up the difference as on low income to start with !
Btw if you are successful in your self employment and have to pay over £1000 in tax and Class 4 NI per year. You'll then have to pay twice in the year which they call "payment on account" which when I was self employed never worked out correctly and I always ended up paying pretty much double 40% what I calculated I should be paying every year, opposed to the traditional method of 20% once a year. I also contacted a couple of accountants and they couldn't understand it either. It's purposefully confusing and there are payments, payments on account and balancing payments which all add up to figures that don't equate. I have another friend who is self employed and he just doesn't pay the payments on account and just sends them what he calculated his self at 20%. Anyway i got so feed up with the system they used I went back to full time employment. Just a heads up
I am on self assessment so I do my taxes at the end of tax year in April. You don't start paying tax until £12570 (personal allowance) and currently with the expenses, reduced income and that UC is a non taxable benefit I am still below that. I have been self-employed for 12 years so I am well versed in this now. I pay my self-employed NIs every January for the year, regardless of what I earn, which is currently at about £163 a year.
@ryanyardmusic364 I have found that while you wait the 5wks for the 1st payment - in the first SE (Self-Employed) meeting, they will provide a Support Allowance (no idea how you pay it back, but I'm assuming over the year?) and that's paid into your account 2 DAYS after the meeting. So that may help many.
That's what they're hoping. They've managed to 'get rid' of lots of claimants who don't want to do the week. I guess the Government love the new scheme for that at least!
I went on UC as a self-employed person after the second lockdown. I couldn't work. I was getting about £800 all-in with a housing allowance. I'm still on UC but they apply an assumed base income (notional) so I get zero, even though some months I make a loss.
UC is not set up properly for the self employed, it doesn't look at income over the year like WTC did. It goes month by month which can range wildly when you are self employed.
As a forced migration to UC, your savings incur the deduction you mention but you have a 1Y grace period where you can carry over 16K savings and not lose your UC.
Once you're set with an income level after 12 months if you dont make that income you will get no money only place in the world where £0 income = £900 plus i quite self employed
I know for a fact that a single person claiming UC can only have £6000 in Any type savings, Not £16000 - that only applies if your a married couple, secondly UC Is a taxable benefit, from April to April. I only know this cos I’ve been unemployed more years than I care to remember, I have gained knowledge for all the years I’ve been on most types of single person benefits, I’ve been on every work experience scheme since 1977, & they DONT work!😊
I started work also in 1977, never been unemployed,...how is it possible you have hardly ever worked? Past 30 years, I have been full-time self employed, bona fide business... no credits or top-ups or UC at all. And I have never pulled in much above a minimum wage. The scrips and scraps this lady ''earns'' does not seem like a genuine business to me.
Wrong - you won't get as much if you have £15999 as you would if you have nothing but they take off an incremental amount if you have more than £6000 up to £16000 and above that you would not get any (as a single person)
Im about to migrate to Universal credit for working tax credit. Im retired and work from home, more or less to keep me active and I enjoy it. Im not "Running a business", Im supplimenting my income. Im in receipt of £657 state pension plus £230 +/- for Working Tax Credits. Everybody who I know recieves around £800-£900 State pension. Everybody Ive spoken to about Universal Credit have given me a horror story about the UC system. Im awaiting with great trepidation upon recieving my Migration letter from UC.
@workinprogresssince1974 I've filed my Self Assessment to HMRC which they are checking, hopefully without in incidents. Then onto entering them as final figures to Tax Credits. There is a section on the TC information about Migrating that states that for those who are retired and still work, UC will advise on help from them or to direct me to pension credit, which I've never claimed for. Nobody tells me anything....! I thought this info might be of some help to anybody in the same situation as myself. I'll let you know how it pans out. My respects, John.
I received my letter from the DWP back in March. I had returned home from hospital and i saw the letter there waiting. It informed me that my tax credits were going to be stopped and that i had to claim UC. I did manage to get an extra couple of weeks because i had been recovering from an operation. I did ask for a further extension as TAX CREDITS are not ending until April 2025. They said no. While i was self employed i carried on working even though i was suffering from deep depression and feeling sick. The DWP just did not care. TAX CREDITS work. Yes there was room for improvement. But This idea of UC and self employed do not go hand in hand. If you want to continue claiming UC while being self employed then you must get used to the fact that they the DWP are very much going to be a part of everything you do in that business. I asked my work coach if they decide that my business does not earn enough what are the consequences, he refused to answer. He moved his computer screen to block his face.
If your savings are above a threshold and you don’t want to spend them then put them into a pension. This is vital because pension savings don’t affect UC claims. Also the government adds 25% so £10000 of savings becomes £12500. When you turn 55 you are allowed to withdraw 25% of your pension savings as tax free cash. If you can afford not to dip into your savings till 55 it’s a no brainer.
If you look at my post from yesterday, this will explain the situation I have with my new pension. I can only put in limited funds but hopefully that will change at some point this year.
RE savings, we need to contact our MPs and make the case that 6k is not enough savings for a family to hold as a contingency fund to ensure they are able to weather short term financial hardship eg losing job, car breaking down. Deductions for savings is penalising people being financially responsible. Allowing UC families to carry higher savings would prevent homelessness, instability for children. This would cost the govt less in the long term.
I absolutely agree with this. Thank you. Punishing people for trying to have a back up plan is a typical political move and demonstrates the lack of reality that runs through the UC system.
@@workinprogresssince1974 plus the fact that "means tested" truly means "cash tested" not "assets tested" - you can have £75k Porsche on your driveway and already booked month long cruise but as long as you have only some loose change in your bank you are good to claim... however having savings in a bank is a big no-no: you have to spend it first (or better keep it in a jar at home so nobody knows)... so why not ask Porsche owner to sell first before asking for help?
@@j.d.9848 I think that's very wrong. I get a bit of funds from lodgers and the property is a big asset, but only provides income on some returns from it. But I fear they'll say - as they are that anything over 16k and you'll get nothing. So I fear I'll get nothing. So yes an expensive car etc will count. Whilst correct that they are aware of it, it doesn't mean that you have 'cash'. Asset 'rich' doesn't mean 'cash rich'.
I wonder if you would work out better putting on a good bulk on those savings into a pension (pension bee for example ) you get 25% on to p free , it then doesn’t impact UC deductions and so you’d get more.
I did a post not so long ago where I explain that at the moment I can only put £2880 a year into a pension because I am currently not a tax payer. Whilst the Gov will add tax relief for a non taxer pension up to 20% it's only up to £3600 including the top up. I've just opened a pension at last so I will be feeding in what I can until I reach tax threshold again and can then add more if and when I have the money to spare.
I run my own business. I've been doing my own taxes for 12 years. I LOVE spreadsheets. Managing the figures is fine. But I had to do a lot of research in UC to work it all out and then I just ask a lot of questions at the meetings and via the journal. They're happy to explain things. :)
@@workinprogresssince1974you're lucky then. I was working a PAYE job but not earning much. Had to tell them about a mortgage even though I wasn't applying for help with it. They said I couldn't claim for the mortgage (which I wasn't asking for!) for 9 months and IN THE MEANTIME wasn't allowed to earn ANYTHING at all. All I wanted was a top-up to my wages (like WTC used to be). They never explained that one. I gave up after that. I used to get WTC but a few years back they cheated me out of that, despite my being eligible, so, no WTC to migrate from, sadly.
I would have a chat to them about your rental payments. It seems unfair the rent that you have to save for counts as savings when a lot of people will be paying monthly. Perhaps you can keep the next six months rent in a separate pot/account and argue that’s it not savings. This might being you down under the 16k. Also from what you’ve said I think that you might have got HB if you’d applied. Obviously too late now.
It was 16 grand on working tax. Its now £6250 if your savings exceed that they deduct £4.95 for every £250 over that amount, I couldn't understand how long they do that for. Even if we continued with our claim, we would get less than half we got on working tax.
"Transitional" means a huge amount will _disappear_ (like 4 from my family tree 2022) 🤔 Bedroom tax takes folk's food - Water demand another £57,OOO,OOO,OOO to sell us _rain_ - it was deducted from people - it took their heat in winter - maybe why another 50,000 from that year are not here 🙊
I might be premature as I'm only 11:50 into this video , BUT could it be one of those accidental overpayments , which you'll be expected to pay back? It's probably too obvious , but at the same time it is 'a thing'
I haven't seen any signs it's a mistake, and I have gone through all my figures with the DWP and they haven't flagged anything up. I have an official letter which explains their decision and their full recognition of my financial situation, though whether that counts for anything I don't know. I can only go by what they tell me.
Im going through this nightmare now.i haven't worked for years,had to give my job up well over ten years ago due to severe anemi,that lead to a host of other problems in my health.my partner is self inployed,so we got tax credit,then working tax credit.we got bye on that.messed up on the application form online as we haven't had to do this claim and im so stressed sorting my partners car and test out.ive never claimed for any health conditions I have in the past as we managed.i dont know what to do now
Makes a lot of sense if there is a pre-assessment to a claimant's suitability for S/E. Most should be directed to PAYE jobs, where there are thousands of vacancies. You need working capital to set up a genuine small business, few will have this necessity.
I think this is in part why so many small businesses are also home businesses. And depending on what you are doing, you may not need any working capital at all especially if you are transitioning from a hobby to a business and already have the infrastructure in place.
just a question for you. if you decided to setup a limited company where you are the only shareholder, would it be possible for you to pay yourself a set amount of profits each month, so you have more for business advertising costs and running costs? I'd think you would initially gain more from UC, but eventually always be above the threshold once you're company can pay you a liveable wage due to the investments you have made to increase profits.
I don't know anything about running a limited company. I think it's a very different set up to being a sole proprietor. I run on a cash basis, so money in is money earned and expenses paid is money out, and given that profits are low I don't know what would be the point for me. I'm hardly swimming in money right now. As long as I have more coming in than going out, I feel like I'm doing okay right now.
I don't want my business to get bigger. I like it's smallness. Finding money elsewhere through side hustles is how I prefer to balance it and you can't turn taking surveys into a limited company. I also like my work life balance and don't want to have to work much harder than I already do.
@@workinprogresssince1974 that’s reasonable. It’s always good to have that balance. I myself am looking for ways to quit my job to go full time self employed but I don’t have the luxury at the moment. So trying to figure out if it could be done with limited company.
That's a Single Person Limited Business. That is simpler than the usual Limited Company. You still need audited accounts each year though. But what you earn in your Ltd Co you can spend on business expenses, and you can use profits to pay yourself an income. Just need it listed accurately and precisely, making sure all your business debts are paid first before you take anything out of course.
I didn't. These are savings from years ago from an inheritance. I have always kept them locked in long term accounts with higher interest rates. It gives me a small passive income and means I avoid going into debt if I have to make an emergency purchase. Everything has been declared with the DWP.
Thank you for all your very informative help I have question to put out regarding the minimum income floor of 1200 you mentioned at 10.20 seconds of your presentation, can you tell what happens if you don’t hit this? I ask as I have had major surgery that although I am not physically handicapped has impacted on my workload also in my trade there are flat months jan feb due to the poor weather and clients recovering from splashing out over Christmas. Being self employed I expect many of us have such income fluctuations for me in the exterior painting trade on a small scale it’s difficult to have a completely regular income.
Within the normal UC system I am not entirely sure. I haven't experienced that. I assume that if you are not hitting your minimums they will just force you get more work as they only look at calculations month to month and don't take in the ups and downs of being self employed. For me, when I don't hit the minimum they pay me the difference (sort of) and there are few repercussions within the start up year because they can see from my monthly money submissions that I am growing my side hustles and working hard so within the start up year you get some lenience. If someone else reading this can fill in the blanks for me that would be great. I know there are others on the channel who have different experiences to me. If you are unable to work, but not receiving help from other parts of the benefits system, I assume they will still expect you to work. The system doesn't seem very understanding and is keen to get as many people unable to work, back into work. My assumption is that if you are on UC and intentionally not working for whatever reason they will impose sanctions. I could be wrong on this however. I hope this helps.
@@workinprogresssince1974 Wow thank you very much for getting back with that information. It really is a big help especially as I have my second appointment coming up, You know the one where you have to take in all your bank statements and accounts, I’m not really sure how much accounts they need to see is it a few years or just a couple of months? It’s going to take me days to dig it all out. Also like yourself, I may be relying on as you so Aptly call them side hustles as I used to be a musician or still am when I ever get time. So for example, if I sold a guitar on e bay and was really really lucky to get a couple of grand, which is totally ridiculous, but just as an example, I guess I have to declare that and don’t get any UC that month. One last little thing sorry to ask so much but did you mention after 12 months your UC ends? Great to hear from you and I really hope your plans go well and good luck with the hustling
They asked for 3 months of every single bank account I had. I had to take in hard copies of each. If there are months where you earn more than the minimum income floor, yes you will get nothing, but others where you earn less you get a top up to your income. Also don't forget to include all your business expenses including travel and any pension contributions. Pensions don't count as savings as you can't access them at will. My UC will end in a year, because I have more than the £6000 of savings which is the max allowed for standard UC claimants. If you don't have £6000 of savings then you'll be okay but my understanding is that if you then don't meet your minimum obligations each month income wise they will make you take jobs you don't want, and the catchment area for travel to a place of of work is quite big - something like 90 minutes bus travel. I hope that helps. Just ask if you need any more information, I'm always happy to help and I understand it's a very confusing system to navigate when you're new to it. :)
@@workinprogresssince1974 This is extremely good of you to reply I was really hoping you would get back as my appointment is next week and you have saved me from going through loads of years of paperwork now that you have explained they only need to see 3 months of trading. Regards the 3 months bank statements, hopefully they accept photo copy’s as like so many our local bank has closed. You have helped me understand matters and I am sorry your all the help from UC will stop at 12 months.We also have savings but not much as we top up our low income with it and have been constantly dipping into it since my operation also my wife’s brother had an operation and we had to send two grand to help with hospital costs (not a Uk citizen) I was wondering if your savings dropped below six would your claim still be stopped? As a matter of further interest I have read you can begin a new claim after a six months lapse, I wonder if you have to start from scratch again and fill in all those questions. Thanks again for your much appreciated help, Ps if I pick up any interesting information I will let you know too
I took in printed photocopies that I downloaded and printed from my banking apps as all mine are paperless now. If my savings went below £6000 I guess I would still be allowed onto UC. But that's not going to happen between now and August/September. Even doing a new claim wouldn't work for me because the savings level is too high. My 6 months of emergency savings alone is over £6000 and my retirement ISA counts too even though the pension doesn't.
My own experience and the internet I think. It's quite a while ago now since I made this video. A lot has happened since then. I have added some other UC videos since then. I hope you find them useful.
It looks like you were not claiming housing benefit previously which probably you should have been. Anyway that’s a guess. Under universal credit any housing costs you have are dealt with automatically. You don’t have to make a completely separate claim for housing benefit with the council. Also the taper for earrings has been reduced from 60% to 55% the idea being to encourage you to work! Anyway that might go some way to explaining why your benefits have risen. Basically your housing is now partly paid for.
No, she was not eligible to get housing benefit due to the level of her savings (over £16k). She is ordinarily not eligible to get UC as well because of those same savings. However for one year she is exempted from that particular condition as being forcibly migrated from tax credits (which are not means tested per se hence savings don't count).
Can you put savings into a private pension? Wouldnt they then not count as savings as you cant access them until youre atleast 55. If youre not planning on touching them for a while. I just wondered your thoughts as thinking about doing this x
I'm already maxed out. I can only put 2800 a year of my own money into a pension because I am a non tax payer at the moment so it doesn't really make a difference for UC purposes.
If you have a look back through my recent playlist you will find lists of the survey sites I use. There is a post I did recently about my Qtr 4 income update and I have listed there all the survey sites I use. There are quite a few of them!
What has happened to people working hard for a living and being self sufficient. Too many people scrounging off the state. Time to scrap benefit and universal credit. Let’s start having self respect and contributing to society
You should probably watch my recent video about the breakdown of the numbers who claim Universal Credit to see just how many people are actually scroungers and how many people are a victim of our wonderful system.
Not sure on a couple of things you have said. I am in the same position as you. Querying your figures......I thought you said you didnt qualify for the housing benefit....in which case you will receive the standard amount which is around 360 pm ...you put your hours in.....this is deductible at 55.p in the pound. Your income is approx. £250 pm. You claimed expenses which to be honest on an income of 250 pm cannot be much. Please explain to me IF you are not claiming H.B......you are getting nearly 600 per month. Also, thank you for letting us all know 15:32 what a smarty pants saver you are. Although how you manage to save anything on 250 a month is beyond me. This is a genuine question. Also, your income floor is based around your previous tax returns...which you said was 1200pm...its not decided on 'what THEY think you need to live on😊😊😊....also very good of you to remind us that savings are not for new cars or laptops. Theres something not quite right about this information.
My rent is £600pm, I get a nominal amount, minus what my local authority won't pay. So I am not paid for the rent I pay out. I never asked for it, they never asked if I wanted it. I assume this is part of the standard UC package and you get whatever the local authority wants to through it's policies and that of course varies between councils. I also lose a lot of UC money due to my savings, most of which is currently inaccessible. If you have watched my other financial vlogs you will know that I earn from multiple side hustles plus savings interest. I don't put work hours in, I put in amounts earned from those various sources, which varies a lot of every month. I joined UC from WTC on the protected migrated year so not all the rules apply and it seems that because I have the protected year - which also gives a bit of extra money each month - I don't get penalised for not reaching that minimum income floor for 1 year. My income currently averages about £500 then topped up in part by UC and I have emergency savings which covers me for things like my rent which I have to pay every 6 months not every month, and other things I have to pay for like my NI self employed and other annual payments.
After claiming UC for 3 months you can claim a Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loan for interest on a mortgage. It's calculated as if the mortgage interest rate is 2.65% and it's only available on the first £200,000 of the outstanding mortgage. Any payments are made direct to the lender and you will have to pay the difference between the SMI payment and the actual interest due if that is higher. Some lenders will agree to put you on interest-only but if they don't you will also have to pay any amounts due beyond the interest. The SMI loan is a secured loan and interest is charged on it at 3.28% but it doesn't have to be repaid as long as you own the property, although you can make voluntary repayments at any time. Both interest rates mentioned are subject to change. If you search for "SMI loan" you can find more information.
@@workinprogresssince1974 they only help with a mortgage after 9 months BUT you are not allowed to earn anything at all during that time. At least that's what my local office told me, despite I wasn't requesting help with the mortgage - I only wanted a top up to my low earnings (like WTC used to be)
I claimed for 2 months(as a single person) Worst 2 months EVER! Got the bare minimum, £320 per 4 weekly. Out of that I had to pay a portion of Council tax. Zero help with mortgage. Lucky I had some redundancy money. Constant phone calls, emails. I would rather be in work any day. I do not know how anyone can live with constant juggling finance, food shops etc. The stress from that and the constant phone calls etc must be awful!
I think it depends on what the financial situation is after the 12 months. I don't think they can FORCE you into PAYE but if the business is clearly failing I guess they could santion you for not doing enough to either earn more from the business or make money elsewhere. My business doesn't earn a huge amount since 2nd half 2023, but I have a number of side hustles now which pick up the slack and I think as long as you're making enough across the board that's what matters. What I earn pays my bills, even though that's less than the minimum income floor the UC thinks I need.
They stopped my child tax credits as my youngest hit 19. I've now managed 8 months without it. It's been a tough transition but I've managed it. Maybe I should do a video about it, they sent me a leaflet in the summer saying i get tax credits and I will be transferred onto uc. But I don't gwt them anymore, i don't know what the dwp are up too?
hi thanks for your videos, they are very helpful. I have a question. I have been classed as gainfully self employed, I have been on UC for about 3 months. I think I heard my 'coach' say that if i earn more than £1400 in one month the UC claim will be stopped? this does not make any sense to me at all, if true, as I may have a good month followed by a very poor month, and therefore be in some trouble financially. I am in a grace year and will qualify for the benifit next year, that is what the coach says. Could you help me understand this, did I hear right?
It only gets stopped in the month that you earn £1400 because that is the minimum income floor. That of course is depending on expenses, pension contributions, savings etc that come out when you do your monthly claim. If, after calculating that you over £1400 then you won't get any money but only for that month as you put in a claim on a monthly basis.
Under managed migration you are entitled to a similar payment to legacy benefits if circumstances haven’t changed. Whoever advised you differently is clueless. The minimum income floor is what DWP use to calculate your assumed income once the first year of self employment is complete or a year after you migrate to UC. This is 52 weeks x 35 hours x minimum wage, so around £1500 a month. If you earn less it doesn’t matter, this is the figure they will use. In short, it is a ludicrous figure which will mean most self employed people will not get anything after the start up period. Make the most of your unexpected windfall and good luck to you. 😊
I think this system will likely cause havoc for a the large number of self-employed people who for various reasons were not able to hold a normal job (mental health issues etc) but were happy making less than 1000/ month plus getting little help from WTC. Now whatever they have build to create the income will be destroyed and the net result will just be higher unemployment rate.
I think the local housing allowance reduction puts you in the under 35 years old, room category, rather than the over 35 1 bedroomed allowance. If you are 35 or over you need to get this looked at.
@@workinprogresssince1974 they may well do, but they do miscalculate, lie and cheat. It pays to be fully aware of what you're eligible for. Unfortunately since the change from WTC or Income Support!/JSA etc to UC it's not that easy to find out exactly what you're entitled to - although to be honest I haven't tried looking since I gave up trying to claim the WTC element of UC 18 months ago having got nowhere - I was just so disillusioned and my mental health was already at rock bottom at that point I couldn't fight for it (Thankfully I'm a lot better now, so might try again - maybe!).
It's called not using your heating or electric....... I have no control over the standing charges, I can control how much I use. Also, for a while I was getting good discounts from my supplier so I wasn't paying as much as most people anyway.
No lights , no vcooking, no washing , appliances that have to be on fridge freezers etc ?I use no heating all year and the bare minimum and my bills £35 a week@@workinprogresssince1974
Here's a breakdown of my last bill, bearing in mind I was away for 2 weeks for xmas/ny: Total gas and electric bill all in £39.18. Electric Standing Charge: £15.18 (45ppd), Gas Standing Charge: £4.37 (14ppd). Your numbers are much higher than mine. You probably need to shop around for a new supplier.
If you earn more than the minimum floor income you will not get universal credit. The benefit is a scam, you are better off not taking it and just improve on your income and savings and just doing a tax return yearly
I had my migration letter in September 2023 and have to apply for universal credit by 21st January 2024 so does that mean I'll get the transitional period money to make sure get around the same as was getting on my tax credit award?
It depends on your personal circumstances. I am better off under UC than WTC. The managed migration is a start up year, so you will likely get it. It's a protected year.
@@workinprogresssince1974 I've used a few of the benefit calculators and seems as tho will be worse off but as had the migration notice hopefully it'll be topped up to similar to what already getting although not looking forward to job centre meeting as stuff like that always worries me
@@workinprogresssince1974 was your job centre interview ok or am I worrying about nothing?have tax returns and utr and invoices for work etc and read that's the stuff they want to see?
I had two initial meetings before I was accepted onto UC. The first was just to submit my 3 months of bank statements for all my bank accounts. Literally everything. The second meeting was to get me set up so they could assess my claim. They put all your 'jobs' on the system. I had loads of side hustles and they ran out of room and just picked the best 5! They want you to demonstrate that you are 'gainfully self employed' ie trying. I took all my accounts for that year (a bunch of envelopes with receipts which they didn't look at), I told them where I sell and advertise myself (Etsy, Shopify, Instagram and RUclips) and gave them the internet addresses and chatted at length about how things were going and was generally really enthusiastic. They warm to you if you are nice. I know lots of people say the UC people are horrible but (and maybe it's just my office) I have found them really chatty and enthusiastic. After you get accepted you need to submit your accounts each month online. If you are used to being self employed and doing a self assessment this is not difficult. It takes me about 3 minutes to do each month, then in a few days the system will tell you how much you are getting and show you the calculations, and then the money appears in your account a week later. Next week I am going to do a run through video of how to do your accounts each month which I hope will help. Good luck with your claim. They're not scary. At least, I don't think they are, but you have to go in with a positive mindset. I rather enjoy my visits but then, I don't get out much!1!! :D
MY SON Gets on Universal Credit from 2023 £758 a month Plus Disability benefits on top £407 a month NOT BAD INCOME It was a nightmare process getting this Sorted for my Disabled SON
That's depressing. it happened to my neighbour last year when he had to close his business down, but they told him he was on his own. So far, I've found two more income streams since I was signed up for UC, but income varies wildly. Sometimes I claim nothing, sometimes (like Christmas/NY) I got more because there was no money coming in from the new jobs because there is no statutory holiday pay. UC isn't set up for the self employed way of earning which WTC handled very well because it was based on your self assessment.
Having been self-employed and having previously been on Universal Credit myself, may I ask has your work coach has put you on a start-up year? I was very surprised you were getting so much money. In your second year, if you are classed as 'gainfully self-employed', based on the implementation of your Minimum Income Floor, either way you wouldn't receive any money from Universal Credit.
Yes. I am on the start up year because I was on the managed migration from working tax credits. Hopefully the rest of my videos in this series explains the situation I am in and why I have ended up on UC at all. I was surprised they even accepted me but because it was managed migration I think they kind of had to.
Yes. I don't pass any financial checks for rent so they let me pay in 6 monthly chunks. I just have to manage my finances to ensure that I have the 6 months ready on payment week. My neighbour who is also self employed is the same. I feel quite lucky. I lost two previous rental applications because I failed the checks and they didn't want to take the money but I think my landlord is used to self employed people needing somewhere to live.
@@workinprogresssince1974 in the past when I failed an income check I paid the first 6 months up front and was allowed to pay monthly after that. Can't your landlord do that for you since you are able to save enough for the rent over 6 months?
Thank you for the video. It helped me a lot. I was really stressed out by being forced from WTC to UC. I am going to make my claim on Tuesday as I already received a letter than my WTC will be ending in April . I just wonder what will happen after 1 year if my self-employment I still does not make a profit of 35(h) x National Minimum Wage. each week..
If you are not earning enough they will simply force you to take a regular job because I don't think they will just keep topping up your money indefinitely. You will make a plan with them that tells you how many jobs you have to apply for per week or whatever and then you'll have to take one that's offered to you. If ever there was an incentive to make more money at your self employment this is it! Alternatively can you add some smaller side hustles to bump up your self employed income?
I wonder how this will work. Because they are happy to top up for people with part-time jobs so why not for self-employed who make part-time income (specially in areas where there are not many jobs). I can't see them forcing me to do anything however they can force me to have a long-term depression @@workinprogresssince1974
Would you class yourself as gainfully self employed if you were only earning £100 a month? Would you have other work coming in either self employed or PAYE?
@@workinprogresssince1974 I don't know. I'm on esa and I get an assessment in Oct & I don't want to go to it because they never let you have it so I'm just considering my options. I breed live food but I don't make an income yet just do it as a hobby so I don't know how much I will earn you see
Hello, you have helped many people, I hope you can help me too. I have a full-time job and earn minimum wage. I left my husband because he had alcohol and gambling problems. I want to move into a house right now, but I can't afford it financially. I called citizen advice They said they cant help me because my salary enough for rent s house but how? I earn 1500 Pounds and the minimum rent is 1100/ 1200 Pounds 300£ left then How will I survive on this for a month?
When I didn't have enough money for rent, I looked at house shares and people looking for a lodger. If you don't have the money you have to compromise big time, even if it's only for the short term. In the end I just kept moving further north where it was cheaper. I have a 2 bed flat that's £600 a month but I live a long way from everyone I know. I know it's probably not the answer you need, but when needs must you do what you have to do. Could you get a better paying job, or take up any of the side hustles I do to increase your income?
There are more videos and more to come. It varies wildly because so does my income. I've calculated so far I get an average of £370 pm from UC. Also, if I calculated up all the hours I do through self employment I probably do the same as you.
An inheritance and a divorce from years ago and at least I had the sense to squirrel it away for years and years. Never spend it just because you have it.
A substantial number of businesses that were helped financially during the lockdowns haven't survived. And many of them never stood a chance given how things played out. And many would say that if you have mobility and health, you shouldn't get any help at all, but that presents a whole raft of other problems that I think the Government would like to avoid. Currently there are 6.1m people on UC - 2.4m of which are part of the 'looking for work' category and getting what would have once have been called the jobseekers allowance, where terms must be met to continue receiving the benefit. This includes the self employed whose businesses aren't earning enough and have to find supplementary work or improve their businesses within the terms agreed. Some will argue there should not be a protected year for those moving from legacy benefits. That would have ended our legacy claims straight off. However, for many in the protected category their claims are likely to end after 1 year in any case, when they will not be eligible for any help at all, so that solves that problem. However, the Government doesn't like some of the figures it sees and propping up a failing business for a bit in the hope of success is better than having another million or so on the unemployed lists. When you're self employed, you are classed as in work no matter what you earn, so at least we aren't seen. Theoretically the full UC transfer should be finished this year, so we'll see what the final figures look like then. So far about 40,000 WTC claimants have been accepted onto the new UC system for the protected year, meaning that the DWP thinks there is something worth salvaging as we are deemed 'gainfully self employed' or filling in the short fall with other work. I have one or two new videos coming up soon which include a few more numbers.
Thank you for your fulsome reply but I still don't like how companies, and some of them v large, are able to employ people on low wages which are effectively topped up by the taxpayer. This was prevalent way before lockdown. If there is a job there is a wage, if a company is not profitable it is not up to the tax payer to keep the directors in their positions, rather they should seek employment themselves. @@workinprogresssince1974
None of us like it. But it's an issue for the Government to address, but it won't because it doesn't want businesses who would be 'forced' to pay their staff more, to then start cutting jobs because they have to pay then a proper wage. The Government would rather everyone was labelled as working, even if it's terrible money, rather than putting them into the unemployed category, because businesses knee jerk reaction to people having enough to live on is to cut staff. I'm sure that once the minimum wage goes up on 1st April a few more companies will shed staff to protect the 9.8% they'd rather keep in the bank. We are all statistics and numbers in a Government report, and that's what they are protecting. Equally, big companies have become very accustomed to huge profit margins, and they won't want to give that up for a happier work force. It's not about us.
You may see it as failing business but a person with mental health issues etc, may see her small business that makes a few hundred / month as a reason to keep on living. Many self-employed on low income were not able to hold a normal full-time job before they became self- employed. Removing the little support that was helping them stay afloat and away from other benefits will not suddenly change them. It will. just create misery and more mental health issues for the weakest.
Thank you. Too often people see things in black and white and people as numbers and they forget they are human beings who are just trying to get by in this crazy world. Thank you for being a sympathetic human being who takes people's circumstances into consideration. :)
You can come and live with me if you like, you sound the same as me but im no good with that government stuff, i own my 3 bed house so no rent or mortgage, just bills, be nice to have someone in the house, apart from my 5 cats lol
It depends on what area you live in. Most areas have their own clinical trials places. If you Google volunteer medical trials and where you live you should get a list of clinics looking for volunteers.
It's been really interesting seeing your journey transitioning from working tax to universal credit, many of us are worried what will happen. Thank you for opening up about your finances and documenting it, you're helping many of us prepare for whats to come.❤
I hope it helps. It's why I wanted to document it, because I had no clue what was going on when I started and I can imagine the whole system being really baffling. I hope it's of use to you as you navigate the system.
I had an absolute nightmare with this, if you don't meet the minimum earning floor they will insist you get a job, I ended just signing off completely, I figured it was less stress worrying about my rent and council tax, instead of worrying about appeasing the dole...so they will give me my H.Benefit and c.tax, for how much they give ya it really isn't worth the stress, good luck with em🤞
You're totally right it's not worth it it's better not to claim it if you're self-employed just get a part-time job alongside yourself employment at least you don't have to answer to these people, do you believe they even want our phone numbers and sometimes they do WhatsApp calls FaceTime that is so invasive.
Forget it
Am off tax credits and just stayed self-employed. It's only because the gas is so much am struggling on low income. I do get council tax full support. This week applied for UC. I imagine I will leave when it becomes too stressful with bookkeeping and they will say I don't earn enough. Hopefully will find some PAYE part time work to fill my shortfall. If I don't get some other full time well paid job. The hoops of jumping through fire are just not worth loosing my identity and respect. I'm glad to read peoples comments.... It will help me to understand this process. Good luck 🤞🍀
You can apply seperately to your council for council tax support on a low income. You don't have to do it through Universal credit. You show all your expenses etc book keeping.
Thats what they want you to do sign off everything I could claim rent but its not worth my peace of mind that means more to me any day!
"if you don't meet the minimum earning floor they will insist you get a job". This is entirely understandable - it is to prevent people falsely claiming they are self-employed, to then collect UC while doing nothing. And it's a fair point that if a person is not able to develop their business so that it provides a reasonable income, if that person is able to work and is still asking for government assistance, it is reasonable for them to ask that person to work in something else that does pay, i.e. a job.
Universal sounded all great and I was deperate for help and it turned into a complete nightmare for me. I made an appointment for jobseekers and was told I need to change to Universal because I worked for 20 years self-employed. It made sense and changed all. Another 4 weeks goes by and I put in all the paper. After another 3 weeks for so I was told I can't apply for Universal because I am not self-employed...who knew . This was the most depressing experience in my life and after 3 month, no help I decided to close the claim. Even when I was for 5 days in hospital (and I updated my case manager straight away) I was bombarded with text messages. It not worth ruining your mental health.
Exactly what they wanted you to do
Sabotage from within is the plan. Once people are off UC, they don't have to consider them. It's one less number on their awful statistics. :(
It's Just Numbers, wait untill a loaf of bread is £5.00.. Won't seem so much then.
we are just applying for this, and finding the process intrusive and far from simple. aghhhh I am self-employed and my wife is a carer at home. Thank you for this video.
Keep watching. I am going to be doing a post in a couple of weeks about the monthly claim process. Personally I think they have designed the system in such a way that it will put off as many people claiming as possible. And I think it's working in many cases.
Yes and having some 1 whos your work coach living on same estate and known since I was young is wrong having to tell them what you earned then nearly falling off thay chair when I told them weekly but self employed u csn easily go weeks with out work
@@workinprogresssince1974 We were pushed off WFTC because my PIP review was considered a change in circumstances, even though this has been reinstated on appeal. We've looked at applying for UC. It seems like we'd need an extra method of bookkeeping on top of what we prepare for tax. We have a craft business that does quite well at Christmas but leaves us with nothing for the rest of the year. I can't see that UC will allow us to spread that income across the year.
You will become a star on youtube... I can see you having 1 mil subscribers and advertising products for more than 10K pounds per video.... I salute you from Romania... KEEP IT UP DEAR... LIFE WILL BE GOOD
DWP guidance states: Move to UC claimants who make a claim before their deadline date, or within 1 month of their deadline date passing, can be considered for Transitional Protection.
However, if they make a claim more than 1 month after their deadline date, they are not entitled to Transitional Protection, even if their claim is backdated.
Claimants entitled to Transitional Protection can be considered for the following: Transitional Protection additional amount, Transitional Capital disregard, Exemption from the normal UC education eligibility rules.
UC is calculated differently to Legacy benefits. This means claimants moving to UC might not be entitled to the same amount that they were entitled to previously.
For 'move to' UC claimants, if the amount of UC they are entitled to is less than the amount of their Legacy benefits entitlement, a Transitional Protection amount is applied.
The TPAA is calculated by comparing the total amount of all Legacy benefits the claimant had previously been awarded, with the total amount of UC they would be entitled to (UC indicative amount).
If the UC indicative amount is lower, the TPAA will be awarded to make up the difference as part of the UC award.
TP will stop in the following circumstances: Couples forming, couples separating, the claimant has earnings equal to or above the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) in their 1st Assessment period, and earnings then drop below the AET (that was in place at the point they made their UC claim) for 3 consecutive assessment periods at any time during UC claim. Or if the UC award is terminated.
Once TP has ended, it can not be re-awarded except in the following circumstances: when the claimant has an increase in household earnings that means their UC award is nil, and they are no longer entitled to UC.
In these circumstances, TP will be re-instated if a re-claim is made within 4 months of the end of the assessment period in which the claimant last awarded UC.
The 4 months is calculated from end date of the assessment period in which the claimant was last awarded UC.
This is to encourage claimants to still work and earn more where possible.
I'm glad you got something from U.C. Claudia... hope it takes some pressure off for you. Bit of thinking time and breathing space ❤
Oh yeah, and I recall getting letters from UC, mostly the same day as my partner, telling us sometimes the same thing but at other times differing things - and sometimes giving conflicting information even the same day. I rang them repeatedly and had little joy. One day I 'pushed it' and got through to the man in charge of the whole thing - and I asked him to explain the system from the beginning, because I could not understand it with any semblance of logic - his reply was that he'd love to, but that he didn't understand it at all, either - as straight as that - at least he could laugh about it.
Just be careful - I did self-employed through the jobcentre (albeit back in 2008/9) at their direction and they saw my bank statements every 2 weeks, and at the end of 12 months my accounts showed I paid out £12000 to run the business and brought in £10,000 so a £2000 loss but they said because there was £10000 'income' I wasn't entitled to the benefit, which was job-seekers & housing benefit at the time, and had to pay every penny of all the benefits back!!!
You're getting paid off to leave the system.I have Cerebral palsy and had always worked. Short version I fell ill due to work-related stress. In 2004. I then in 2006 went into the Job Centre and saw the disabled employment adviser and headed back all but my disabled benefit. Then went self-employed in order to get away from the system it was doing my head in. I have never made much money as self-employed but it was much better for my sanity. My health has got much worse, but I still make a little money from my business. I reach retirement age in just over a year and I will still have to work to keep the heating on. With cerebral plasy you need to keep warm. Good luck to you. I say all this but still treat myself as lucky.
*Thanks ever so much for sharing your audit. Excellent 👌👍 analytical video.*
The minimum income floor is the amount of money you're TREATED as earning (regardless of whether you earn less) when you're on UC AND are self-employed. If I remember rightly, it's the hours you're "expected" to work (based on work conditionality group) multiplied by the minimum wage. (but as you're aware it typically doesn't apply for 12 months)
You'd want it to be as low as possible because where it applies the amount of UC they deduct in the "from income" category is a lot higher.
Do what everyone else does….sell the big issue….one a day….
How many hours is this ? I have an interview in 3 weeks am migrating to UC and am self employed
Thank you. Received my migration notice at Christmas and was planning to volunteer. You’ve helped me enormously just advising about the forced migration and transitory year. I’d also been told that the paperwork demands on UC were-are awfully demanding. Like you I find self-assess easy peasy. You’ve helped me to alleviate the dread. 🙏
Wow, this is very useful. Thank you for sharing!
Well done for helping people with your advice
Hi, I’m in pretty much the same boat,looks like they are going to take it on the chin for a year with us ex-working tax credit and them tell us to get a proper job and sod off after your year of probation is up,it’s nuts but hay🤷🏻♀️
I think they have to. They did their best to convince people they would be better off on UC from WTC, and of course once you've made the leap there's no going back whether you get accepted or not, which probably washed their hands of many 1000s of people. Because we're being 'forceably' moved because they changed the system, I suppose they feel they have to provide some transitional help rather than just throwing us to the wolves. It's been a tactical response hanging in there. I followed Martin Lewis's advice which was to hold tight.
Wait 6 month after 12 month period is over your savings earnings might sure be lower with inflation etc put a brand new claim in it resets after 6 month be lucky people x
I totally agree with british people over a certain age and retired should get a very nice pension from the government. What I don’t get is when I see foreigners coming to the UK with the whole family getting free house and loads of benefits, they will never work and will have a prosperous and easy life forever.
I also see brits that avoid working to live over Universal Credit forever.
Something in this country has to be changed.
Come on you really think that, all the foreigners are working hard look at all the cleaners, taxis, security, nurses, universal credit isn’t the same no more, it’s not and doesn’t give you much specially if you have lots of kids, lots of brits just waste money on drinking, gambling, holidays, birthdays, that’s where their money goes but the foreigners they don’t waste money like this and save it, aswell as getting all sorts of jobs, it’s funny how you even thought of that.
@CraOnneal She's English. If you're Irish then I really don't know why you're using the word 'Brit' so freely. It encompasses four countries and languages whilst negating all of our different cultures! 😉
@@BK-iu6owEspecially*, not specially. As well*, two words.
I have to mention that when the term"they have topped off," they are the taxpayer, not the government. I have a work mate who has more income than me via taxpayers' help. Another point is you will get all sorts of help via rent payments, council tax relief once retired. Good luck in your self-employed life, it's far better than relying on others.
Ive just found your channel and im self employed too and not always in work and i had no clue that i could get help. Thanks for sharing and teaching me something new!
You're welcome! I hope it helps.
i filled in a form Turn2Us, though i made a mistake due to reading a question wrong (dyslexia) and chatted with an agent. I am freelance self-employed and some online sales, occassional buy to sell and classed as trading for HMRC. It would seem the upcoming interview for UC will determine if they class what i do as self-employed using the floor thing. Though the Turn2Us calculation says i have a year. Not sure if that is true these days. Do you or anyone else know ???
Quite! Just fallen over this and your comment. I’m going to have to get up to speed!
The payment they will prob take off you later down line with the letter saying , sorry but we have over paid you, you now owe us !
They haven't overpaid me. I know it happens though.
That’s happened to us it’s a ripoff.
Really interesting video, your advice is invaluable to us all 👍
Please keep us updated...dwp payments are subject to change at short notice...
I find this really interesting
I am in the same situation as you
But
Because I earn over the £360 I am entitled to nothing
I'm living on £800 a month now
Wtc I got £240.
I have found it so stressful I'm considering stopping my claim
What is the point of
3 monthly job centre appointments to tell them what I'm doing eith my business and filling in expenses each month and wasting mine and their time if I cannot get help
And I had a migration letter to change over
What do your calcs say on your online account? Do they not add the housing element for you? Do you have a minimum income floor? Did they decide you were gainfully self employed and are you on the protected start up year? I am earning over £360 from all my work sources pm. They add the housing element and the transitional protection, then deduct for savings etc, and then top up to the minimum income floor (kind of).
I bet certain people are getting max payments.
If the process is more hassle than it's worth, and you're getting anything from it, close your claim. They can't force you to claim. When I go online there is a section that says, 'close your claim' and as soon as it stops being of any use to me, I will absolutely be closing mine. So far, the only use I have had from them is getting some money. They certainly don't offer you resources for finding work or other avenues of increasing skills so I don't quite know how they plan to get people off UC beyond driving them away.
@workinprogresssince1974 in my experience getting people back to work is a myth..there are plenty of vacancies in the very job centres that are tasked with running the system..there is a much more sinister plan in play..its designed to completely obfuscate and muddy the waters...All job centres will be exclusively AI run relatively soon..I ran business in Scotland England and Ireland the over reach and beuracratic confusion ...which came from NGOs and outside agency's...made inter country commerce a logistical and beyrocratic nightmare...this isn't the forum to get political ..but its obvious to anyone who has eyes to see ...that most institutions have been destroyed from within ..this is not accidental..they have been set up to fail..with no accountability or consequences for the perpetrators....the mediocrity and incompetence of government became ultra transparent during the covid fiasco..every government world wide with a few notable exceptions was singing from a pre prepared hymn sheet...and non accountable bodies like WEF and WHO became supreme arbiters overnight..now they are deleting messages and fraudulently misleading the families who lost loved ones...and not one person is I'm prison for treason or gross negligence.....please don't give up on your claims because of the confusion programme..people can still be held accountable in their private capacity if they damaged or caused loss or harm under common law...hold the man or woman to account under verified claim if they infringe on your rights....most people don't know but we are ensnared in a system of legislation called UCC uniform commercial code..which if we consent by acquiescence lowers our status to that of cargo under Maritime admiralty law. Under this system we have no rights just duties and obligations...this is why what's going on doesn't make sense to the average joe or Jane on the street...
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I stopped the claim even before I got a penny. It's not worth ruining my mental health. I was for 5 days in hospital and emergency and was daily harassed by texts even though I gave the caseworker straight away notice that I am in hospital. I closed my claim
I don't know how long you have been self employed, but something doesn't sit right here with your video advice. If you are in your first year of Self Employment and on Universal Credit, the Job Centres gives you a year's start up grace period of a year and so Minimum Income Floor won't apply. Therefore, what UC pays you will direct be linked to your self employment profit (after tax and NI and costs) - what you have to live on. That is why you got over £400 paid to you, etc. You made a low net income one month of £450 ish and they made up the rest with UC with their payment to you. That is how Unemployment Benefit worked and how you described it in your video.
But year two when your grace period ends things change - and not for the better either. If you are only pulling in, say only around £4-500 Self Employment profit (after tax, NI, costs deducted) what is the amount you have to live on - assuming that is what you typically make - Universal Credit will then calculate what they pay you in total per month based on an assumed net profit of £1400 or whatever the minimum wage net is for employees in jobs is (roughly £12k a year). Whether you actually get that amount is irrelevant to them. You must make up the shortfall yourself or just make more self employed. Therefore, you will need to make that much in reality and on a regular enough basis after year one of your new start up to make ends meet. If you don't, chances are you will need to find a MW job or sink or rely on savings to make up the difference.
Why? UC don't pay out benefits to people to run what they consider to be a business they consider to be unviable or, to put it another way, a pin money hobby. That is what they would class as not gainfully self employed. You need to be gainfully self employed whether you really are or not. Even though, in reality, it can take more than one year to become established as a self employed start up they assume it only does take one year and no more than that. That is why being self employed and on UC is a tough call unless you can make good money being Self Employed to a minimum net profit wage level regularly every month (that is your net income after tax, NI and costs are deducted first - so grossing much more in reality to cover those deducted allowances and taxes/NI. Therefore you need to make £12000 per annum at least in net profit not gross income to really survive, assuming of course you can afford to live on £1200 net anyway based on your own living costs. Most can't.
Also take into account that if your client fee payments are not regularly paid to you each month (which is unlikely) then you will also lose out if you get a whole lot of income from regular and late fees one month, which results in much more than the minimum wage take home an employee would get in a regular job. In which case, your UC will reduce accordingly based on what you did pull in that month. But if your client income isn't paid at all, and you fall short another month or very little because they still owe you on an unpaid invoice, then the UC MIF will still apply - making it a double whammy blow for the Self Employed.
To put it simply, UC is unsuitable for any self employed person who is self reliant but who does not actually pull in the minimum wage equivalent in net profit per month. You are likely to be impoverished by lack of financial support and will need to find a job that does pay what the legal minimum wage is.
That is why I gave up Self Employment on MIF (I had been in business for many years) and took on a full time permanent job which pays me well above minimum wage net profit by about £300 pm and that is after pension payments are deducted along with everything else like NI and PAYE tax. I was doing well enough most months, but my net profit earnings were too erratic - either unevenly distributed into my account or not enough at all some months - and so my savings were sinking without trace with the CoL rises and also finding that the CoL payments just happened to coincide with UC payment Assessment Periods that had paid me NIL income, meaning I got no CoL payments at all.
Trust me when I say this: if you are in a PAYE job and are thinking of self employment supplemented on UC when work is low or fees are yet to be paid due to late client payments, then think hard about whether it is a viable option for you. The system is now set up to discourage start ups and that is how they do it - as I have described above.
The good news is that if you are in paid employment, not self employed, if your actual living costs go up (rent, CoL inflation etc) and you still qualify for UC in the first place (less than £16k in savings) then any shortfall from your earnings to cover rent hikes etc. will be paid over to make up the difference. UC is an 'in work' benefit not just an unemployment benefit. Plus you get all the CoL lump sums assuming you were paid something in the assessment period they use to qualify you for it - even if it was just a few quid. On average I get about £17.00 pm now, but will be getting £300 CoL payment at the end of the month along with my regular salary. That is why it is worth keeping all of your savings in a pension scheme - even a private one - if you run the risk of having £16k in savings otherwise, which would disqualify you for UC entirely.
Hi. I am not in my first year of self-employment. I am on the start up year because I have been migrated from WTC and if you are forcibly migrated, and if you fit the criteria, you get accepted on to what they call the start up, or transitional, year. So that's why I am on it and why they have given me a minimum income floor. You're right about UC not working for the self-employed in terms of erratic income. I've just recorded a video about this to my channel, and it will upload soon. I am self-employed but it's not my only job. I have a number of other side hustles, all of which go into the pot and is all processed through self assessment. I do this because self-employment is unreliable and you always need extra income streams. I also have savings to help with quiet months. When I get to the end of my year on UC, I will probably be signed off because I don't meet the other criteria. It's just this grace period because of WTC that's got me here and I'm using the time to my best to increase my income, add side hustles and other employment to ensure I break even going forward. I am used to having a shortfall in income (hence some of the savings) which helps me deal with the swings and roundabouts, most of which has been exasperated by the pandemic and the now cost of living crisis which continues to present challenges. I hope that clears things up. I do go into this more in other videos but I appreciate it's not always easy to find when there are a lot of playlists.
Hi am In my first year grace period as self employed but I also do agency work too. So I am both employed and self employed can you still claim UC after the grace period for both? Any information would be helpful
i don't know how it works if you are both self employed and PAYE. I would imagine all UC are interested in, is how much is in the pot at the end of the month. You're either meeting the minimum income floor overall or you aren't. It may be that your income goes up and down a lot month by month and some months you need to claim and others you don't. Can you ask them via the journal?
My question is; when we actually hit the minimum income floor with our self-employment. Will we be getting any support form UC? My part-time employed friend who is already on UC told me that when he works 30h/week at minimum wage he gets £0 Universal credits... He only gets payments when he works 16-24h/week....not sure what is the deal here
@@workinprogresssince1974 I've been SE and E and the tax office did my request to payback the Tax - and now insist that I owe it in spite of my of setting it against my income and losses... all 101 accountancy. But they then said they'd write it off and of course then didn't! They're still insisting I pay it and adding charges to it too. All most annoying.
You did say all the bits you replied to Potterspurn's message. Although his post is interesting too.
Frankly ALL the Gov has to do is look at the Income of SE at the end of each year or quarterly perhaps. If we've fallen below the earning threshold then pay us a top-up amount to the 12,500. And if we chose to have it monthly throughout the next year then that could be an option too.
Instead some manager somewhere has made this extra-ordinarily complex! Also if we earn more then we get a little less and vice versa. Gives us a safety net as we get on our feet. Most people want to work and be independent of their help and nonsense! Sadly they forget that entirely!
I don't think anyone is supposed to be able to work out the calculation, no one knows why they get what they do fully. If anyone does, then please correct me here. I don't understand why folk only get 12 months, because you either earn enough to live or you don't, still need to live if your income does not meet this amount, savings cap aside, because yes, everyone will need money later on with the measily state pension. Fact is, if you can't work at all and only get your rent and the standard single person amount of what, £335 a month - this is impossible to live on. I really don't know how folk manage on this - it's utterly depressing. The whole system needs reform, the min. wage needs doubling at least for a start, and those big companies like Amazon should have a shares incentive in their employees wage packet.
Things are being reformed. They're deliberately phasing out the welfare system. The Country is completely bankrupt just like the US and other Countries across the Western Nations. They just haven't told you yet. As for pensions, Govt have stolen everyone's monies which is why they keep raising the retirement age. Everything can be traced back to Finchley Road.
I am certainly inclined to agree that the main reason they are upping the retirement age is so they don't have to pay pensions because noone knows where the money is coming from. With so many people of working age not adding to the tax pot and people living much longer than that which the state pension was designed for or would have predicted, there is a huge bottle neck of takers rather than contributors and that is only going to implode at some point. Those of us who retire in 10 or 20 or more years away are screwed. You need to fund your own retirement although with wages so bad, I have no idea how people are going to do this.
The DWP use a notional minimum wage hourly rate income after the first year of self employment. Previously people could claim they were self employed with virtually no income from it to maximise in work benefits. DWP have ended that loophole. Basic UC level (before housing costs) being so low is one reason so many people claim sickness and disability benefits to top this up. It incentivises people to get a diagnosis ie anxiety, ME, fibromyalgia etc etc. That is why we allegedly have the most sick/disabled population in Europe. The system encourages those on benefits to become to ill to work. When you look at the benefits system you cant blame people for doing this. Do the maths. Single person 35yrs and over basic UC £368 pcm (plus rent and council tax benefit). Basic UC £368 plus full PIP award £742 pcm (plus rent and council tax benefit). We all know people who game the system and who can blame them.
Hiya, Thank you for sharing your experience. Yep I'm being forcibly about to change over to UniCred. I'm self-employed too. I've a horrible feeling that the Transition payment is a one off... making your 500 odd payment a one off - then it'll go down the following months... but even so it is encouraging. At the moment they've now got me with 3 appointments although at least 2 follow each other with the same lady, so hoping by taking along 'further evidence' (which they don't specify!) will mean the 3rd can be cancelled.
Some of the phone advisors are saying all sorts! One told me that they carry on the WTC for a while... but I think they've muddled this transition payment so beware of false data. The lady I'm to go and see seems very well-informed, however.
I'm hearing you say monthly amounts added. That sounds like a nightmare! Bad enough doing annual tax returns and I know they're proposing monthly tax returns! OMG!
Talk about big brother watching every minute step!
How can one explain - "well I bought that program / tool as next month I'm doing this project, so the returns will be over the next 6mths to a year"!??
Just gross and such a huge waste of my time!
Like you I too, hope and expect that my business will be that much better off soon, and then I can rid myself of this Gov System forever I hope and pray! Good Luck! & Thank you! :D
have you also tried doing airbnb if you have a spare room? that might help you.
It's a nice thought but I live in rented accommodation and there are strict rules about sub letting. Also, my spare bedroom is where I run my business from so they would have to sleep on the floor. ;)
Be careful as they will come back on you to pay back money you shouldn't have had.Even when it's their mistake.
I have heard of this happening. If they do come back for it, they can have it. They're the last people I want to be in debt to. They're already coming back for some of my WTC from earlier this year. Nothing surprises me.
@@workinprogresssince1974 No I had that too yet I've no idea why they took some back as from my view nothing had changed. (I do get some income from lodgers which helps my regular income, but now it's all going fully against me!) :(
I meant to say too I totally get living on bare minimum. I now have a mini log stove (friend bought it for me!) to keep warm and OMG what a difference. Can actually cook on it too, so saving a fortune! Plus use a kelly kettle too and that runs of twigs!
They switched me over later last year onto UC.
Since being a self employed gardener, the system has been nothing but a hinderance.
One minute entitlement and the other been whisked away after receiving it.
I got an unexpected letter stating that i owed over £500 and freaked out.
Not surprisingly i refused to take the bait, and decided not to bother with UC.
I'm currently paying off £10 a month until debt is paid
Have you looked at spending some of your long term savings on better equipment for your business.
And are your quotations in line with your overheads and inflations.
It can be really problematic and the UC system is not simple. Over all, I have more money coming in than going out, so that's all the worries me right now in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
you would be 174.00 better off a month if you took out your excess savings over 6k. you are allowed 6k in savings with out any deductions. if that was me i would be only keeping 6k in my bank account. lots of people i know did this before claiming universal. Being Honest is never the best policy when getting screwed over for having savings
Good for you. I'm in a similar situation. I haven't been asked to migrate but I am dreading it. 😀
It will come. It's not that complicated once you get stuck into it. It's just whether you get accepted or not.
My friend just switched she said she doing better with this one as she gets more money , ive still to switch but tax credits already slashed my payments clean in half and your still on way more and I have a dependent . How the hell do they work it out its a big scam if you ask me as on less hrs than I was the other year 🤔
I did a post last week which shows you some of the calculation process. It does make sense but it's just so complicated.
Same here 1 dependant and money got slashed in half , I used to use for rent , then had to sell my things to make up the difference as on low income to start with !
Btw if you are successful in your self employment and have to pay over £1000 in tax and Class 4 NI per year. You'll then have to pay twice in the year which they call "payment on account" which when I was self employed never worked out correctly and I always ended up paying pretty much double 40% what I calculated I should be paying every year, opposed to the traditional method of 20% once a year. I also contacted a couple of accountants and they couldn't understand it either. It's purposefully confusing and there are payments, payments on account and balancing payments which all add up to figures that don't equate. I have another friend who is self employed and he just doesn't pay the payments on account and just sends them what he calculated his self at 20%. Anyway i got so feed up with the system they used I went back to full time employment. Just a heads up
I am on self assessment so I do my taxes at the end of tax year in April. You don't start paying tax until £12570 (personal allowance) and currently with the expenses, reduced income and that UC is a non taxable benefit I am still below that. I have been self-employed for 12 years so I am well versed in this now. I pay my self-employed NIs every January for the year, regardless of what I earn, which is currently at about £163 a year.
@ryanyardmusic364 I have found that while you wait the 5wks for the 1st payment - in the first SE (Self-Employed) meeting, they will provide a Support Allowance (no idea how you pay it back, but I'm assuming over the year?) and that's paid into your account 2 DAYS after the meeting. So that may help many.
Too much hassle I'd rather not clame
That's what they're hoping. They've managed to 'get rid' of lots of claimants who don't want to do the week. I guess the Government love the new scheme for that at least!
I went on UC as a self-employed person after the second lockdown. I couldn't work. I was getting about £800 all-in with a housing allowance. I'm still on UC but they apply an assumed base income (notional) so I get zero, even though some months I make a loss.
UC is not set up properly for the self employed, it doesn't look at income over the year like WTC did. It goes month by month which can range wildly when you are self employed.
As a forced migration to UC, your savings incur the deduction you mention but you have a 1Y grace period where you can carry over 16K savings and not lose your UC.
Once you're set with an income level after 12 months if you dont make that income you will get no money only place in the world where £0 income = £900 plus i quite self employed
Yeah, I expect nothing from it after 12 months. We'll see what happens. With any luck I won't need them at all by then.
I know for a fact that a single person claiming UC can only have £6000 in Any type savings, Not £16000 - that only applies if your a married couple, secondly UC Is a taxable benefit, from April to April. I only know this cos I’ve been unemployed more years than I care to remember, I have gained knowledge for all the years I’ve been on most types of single person benefits, I’ve been on every work experience scheme since 1977, & they DONT work!😊
Or if you are in the start up year after a managed migration from WTC which is not like regular UC.
I started work also in 1977, never been unemployed,...how is it possible you have hardly ever worked?
Past 30 years, I have been full-time self employed, bona fide business... no credits or top-ups or UC at all.
And I have never pulled in much above a minimum wage.
The scrips and scraps this lady ''earns'' does not seem like a genuine business to me.
Wrong - you won't get as much if you have £15999 as you would if you have nothing but they take off an incremental amount if you have more than £6000 up to £16000 and above that you would not get any (as a single person)
£6000 is true for a single person but you can have more savings if you wish. Only problem is they will deduct your payment.
In correct matey I have not long ago submitted my self assessment and universal credit is not a taxable income !!
Im about to migrate to Universal credit for working tax credit. Im retired and work from home, more or less to keep me active and I enjoy it. Im not "Running a business", Im supplimenting my income. Im in receipt of £657 state pension plus £230 +/- for Working Tax Credits. Everybody who I know recieves around £800-£900 State pension. Everybody Ive spoken to about Universal Credit have given me a horror story about the UC system. Im awaiting with great trepidation upon recieving my Migration letter from UC.
I think experiences vary. I've been okay but I am in a different situation to many claimants. I have very mixed feelings about it.
@workinprogresssince1974
Well after viewing your videos they're gonna have a meltdown when I turn up.
How were the free pies?
Ha ha. Let me know how that goes. The pies were good!
@workinprogresssince1974
I've filed my Self Assessment to HMRC which they are checking, hopefully without in incidents. Then onto entering them as final figures to Tax Credits. There is a section on the TC information about Migrating that states that for those who are retired and still work, UC will advise on help from them or to direct me to pension credit, which I've never claimed for. Nobody tells me anything....!
I thought this info might be of some help to anybody in the same situation as myself.
I'll let you know how it pans out.
My respects, John.
Why not claim pension tax credits and get your pension made up to £201 a week .. ? Beats jumping through hoops for the UC ?
I went for universal credits as a self employed person with a mortgage and was told I’d get nothing. So I’ve never bothered since.
I get a feeling the only self employed getting on to UC will be WTC migrated claimants. We'll be gone in a year.
I received my letter from the DWP back in March. I had returned home from hospital and i saw the letter there waiting. It informed me that my tax credits were going to be stopped and that i had to claim UC. I did manage to get an extra couple of weeks because i had been recovering from an operation. I did ask for a further extension as TAX CREDITS are not ending until April 2025. They said no. While i was self employed i carried on working even though i was suffering from deep depression and feeling sick. The DWP just did not care.
TAX CREDITS work. Yes there was room for improvement. But This idea of UC and self employed do not go hand in hand. If you want to continue claiming UC while being self employed then you must get used to the fact that they the DWP are very much going to be a part of everything you do in that business. I asked my work coach if they decide that my business does not earn enough what are the consequences, he refused to answer. He moved his computer screen to block his face.
If your savings are above a threshold and you don’t want to spend them then put them into a pension. This is vital because pension savings don’t affect UC claims. Also the government adds 25% so £10000 of savings becomes £12500. When you turn 55 you are allowed to withdraw 25% of your pension savings as tax free cash. If you can afford not to dip into your savings till 55 it’s a no brainer.
If you look at my post from yesterday, this will explain the situation I have with my new pension. I can only put in limited funds but hopefully that will change at some point this year.
can you do a video on filling the online "how to report your income and expenses universal credit" I have just been force over from old system
Absolutely! Glad to help.
RE savings, we need to contact our MPs and make the case that 6k is not enough savings for a family to hold as a contingency fund to ensure they are able to weather short term financial hardship eg losing job, car breaking down. Deductions for savings is penalising people being financially responsible. Allowing UC families to carry higher savings would prevent homelessness, instability for children. This would cost the govt less in the long term.
I absolutely agree with this. Thank you. Punishing people for trying to have a back up plan is a typical political move and demonstrates the lack of reality that runs through the UC system.
@@workinprogresssince1974 plus the fact that "means tested" truly means "cash tested" not "assets tested" - you can have £75k Porsche on your driveway and already booked month long cruise but as long as you have only some loose change in your bank you are good to claim...
however having savings in a bank is a big no-no: you have to spend it first (or better keep it in a jar at home so nobody knows)... so why not ask Porsche owner to sell first before asking for help?
@@j.d.9848 I think that's very wrong. I get a bit of funds from lodgers and the property is a big asset, but only provides income on some returns from it. But I fear they'll say - as they are that anything over 16k and you'll get nothing. So I fear I'll get nothing.
So yes an expensive car etc will count. Whilst correct that they are aware of it, it doesn't mean that you have 'cash'. Asset 'rich' doesn't mean 'cash rich'.
I wonder if you would work out better putting on a good bulk on those savings into a pension (pension bee for example ) you get 25% on to p free , it then doesn’t impact UC deductions and so you’d get more.
I did a post not so long ago where I explain that at the moment I can only put £2880 a year into a pension because I am currently not a tax payer. Whilst the Gov will add tax relief for a non taxer pension up to 20% it's only up to £3600 including the top up. I've just opened a pension at last so I will be feeding in what I can until I reach tax threshold again and can then add more if and when I have the money to spare.
@@workinprogresssince1974 useful to know those limits . thanks for replying
Your credit will be your imcome in the
future
I'm amazed how you can navigate the universal credit benefit minefield. It looks so complex.
I run my own business. I've been doing my own taxes for 12 years. I LOVE spreadsheets. Managing the figures is fine. But I had to do a lot of research in UC to work it all out and then I just ask a lot of questions at the meetings and via the journal. They're happy to explain things. :)
@@workinprogresssince1974you're lucky then.
I was working a PAYE job but not earning much. Had to tell them about a mortgage even though I wasn't applying for help with it. They said I couldn't claim for the mortgage (which I wasn't asking for!) for 9 months and IN THE MEANTIME wasn't allowed to earn ANYTHING at all. All I wanted was a top-up to my wages (like WTC used to be). They never explained that one. I gave up after that.
I used to get WTC but a few years back they cheated me out of that, despite my being eligible, so, no WTC to migrate from, sadly.
I would have a chat to them about your rental payments. It seems unfair the rent that you have to save for counts as savings when a lot of people will be paying monthly. Perhaps you can keep the next six months rent in a separate pot/account and argue that’s it not savings. This might being you down under the 16k.
Also from what you’ve said I think that you might have got HB if you’d applied. Obviously too late now.
It was 16 grand on working tax. Its now £6250 if your savings exceed that they deduct £4.95 for every £250 over that amount, I couldn't understand how long they do that for. Even if we continued with our claim, we would get less than half we got on working tax.
"Transitional" means a huge amount will _disappear_ (like 4 from my family tree 2022) 🤔 Bedroom tax takes folk's food - Water demand another £57,OOO,OOO,OOO to sell us _rain_ - it was deducted from people - it took their heat in winter - maybe why another 50,000 from that year are not here 🙊
I might be premature as I'm only 11:50 into this video , BUT could it be one of those accidental overpayments , which you'll be expected to pay back? It's probably too obvious , but at the same time it is 'a thing'
I haven't seen any signs it's a mistake, and I have gone through all my figures with the DWP and they haven't flagged anything up. I have an official letter which explains their decision and their full recognition of my financial situation, though whether that counts for anything I don't know. I can only go by what they tell me.
If you pay your rent monthly your additional savings for the next 6 monthly rent payment will not be subject to the savings deduction.
Im going through this nightmare now.i haven't worked for years,had to give my job up well over ten years ago due to severe anemi,that lead to a host of other problems in my health.my partner is self inployed,so we got tax credit,then working tax credit.we got bye on that.messed up on the application form online as we haven't had to do this claim and im so stressed sorting my partners car and test out.ive never claimed for any health conditions I have in the past as we managed.i dont know what to do now
Makes a lot of sense if there is a pre-assessment to a claimant's suitability for S/E.
Most should be directed to PAYE jobs, where there are thousands of vacancies.
You need working capital to set up a genuine small business, few will have this necessity.
I think this is in part why so many small businesses are also home businesses. And depending on what you are doing, you may not need any working capital at all especially if you are transitioning from a hobby to a business and already have the infrastructure in place.
just a question for you. if you decided to setup a limited company where you are the only shareholder, would it be possible for you to pay yourself a set amount of profits each month, so you have more for business advertising costs and running costs?
I'd think you would initially gain more from UC, but eventually always be above the threshold once you're company can pay you a liveable wage due to the investments you have made to increase profits.
I don't know anything about running a limited company. I think it's a very different set up to being a sole proprietor. I run on a cash basis, so money in is money earned and expenses paid is money out, and given that profits are low I don't know what would be the point for me. I'm hardly swimming in money right now. As long as I have more coming in than going out, I feel like I'm doing okay right now.
@@workinprogresssince1974 it might be an idea to look into it. Is there anything stopping you getting more work for your self employment?
I don't want my business to get bigger. I like it's smallness. Finding money elsewhere through side hustles is how I prefer to balance it and you can't turn taking surveys into a limited company. I also like my work life balance and don't want to have to work much harder than I already do.
@@workinprogresssince1974 that’s reasonable. It’s always good to have that balance. I myself am looking for ways to quit my job to go full time self employed but I don’t have the luxury at the moment. So trying to figure out if it could be done with limited company.
That's a Single Person Limited Business. That is simpler than the usual Limited Company. You still need audited accounts each year though. But what you earn in your Ltd Co you can spend on business expenses, and you can use profits to pay yourself an income. Just need it listed accurately and precisely, making sure all your business debts are paid first before you take anything out of course.
It’s ok if you’re renting … not with a mortgage…
If you struggled so much financially for the past 12 years how were you able to save almost £16k ?
I didn't. These are savings from years ago from an inheritance. I have always kept them locked in long term accounts with higher interest rates. It gives me a small passive income and means I avoid going into debt if I have to make an emergency purchase. Everything has been declared with the DWP.
Thank you for all your very informative help
I have question to put out regarding the minimum income floor of 1200 you mentioned at 10.20 seconds of your presentation, can you tell what happens if you don’t hit this?
I ask as I have had major surgery that although I am not physically handicapped has impacted on my workload also in my trade there are flat months jan feb due to the poor weather and clients recovering from splashing out over Christmas.
Being self employed I expect many of us have such income fluctuations for me in the exterior painting trade on a small scale it’s difficult to have a completely regular income.
Within the normal UC system I am not entirely sure. I haven't experienced that. I assume that if you are not hitting your minimums they will just force you get more work as they only look at calculations month to month and don't take in the ups and downs of being self employed. For me, when I don't hit the minimum they pay me the difference (sort of) and there are few repercussions within the start up year because they can see from my monthly money submissions that I am growing my side hustles and working hard so within the start up year you get some lenience.
If someone else reading this can fill in the blanks for me that would be great. I know there are others on the channel who have different experiences to me. If you are unable to work, but not receiving help from other parts of the benefits system, I assume they will still expect you to work. The system doesn't seem very understanding and is keen to get as many people unable to work, back into work. My assumption is that if you are on UC and intentionally not working for whatever reason they will impose sanctions. I could be wrong on this however. I hope this helps.
@@workinprogresssince1974
Wow thank you very much for getting back with that information. It really is a big help especially as I have my second appointment coming up, You know the one where you have to take in all your bank statements and accounts,
I’m not really sure how much accounts they need to see is it a few years or just a couple of months? It’s going to take me days to dig it all out.
Also like yourself, I may be relying on as you so Aptly call them side hustles as I used to be a musician or still am when I ever get time. So for example, if I sold a guitar on e bay and was really really lucky to get a couple of grand, which is totally ridiculous, but just as an example, I guess I have to declare that and don’t get any UC that month.
One last little thing sorry to ask so much but did you mention after 12 months your UC ends?
Great to hear from you and I really hope your plans go well and good luck with the hustling
They asked for 3 months of every single bank account I had. I had to take in hard copies of each. If there are months where you earn more than the minimum income floor, yes you will get nothing, but others where you earn less you get a top up to your income. Also don't forget to include all your business expenses including travel and any pension contributions. Pensions don't count as savings as you can't access them at will. My UC will end in a year, because I have more than the £6000 of savings which is the max allowed for standard UC claimants. If you don't have £6000 of savings then you'll be okay but my understanding is that if you then don't meet your minimum obligations each month income wise they will make you take jobs you don't want, and the catchment area for travel to a place of of work is quite big - something like 90 minutes bus travel. I hope that helps. Just ask if you need any more information, I'm always happy to help and I understand it's a very confusing system to navigate when you're new to it. :)
@@workinprogresssince1974
This is extremely good of you to reply I was really hoping you would get back as my appointment is next week and you have saved me from going through loads of years of paperwork now that you have explained they only need to see 3 months of trading.
Regards the 3 months bank statements, hopefully they accept photo copy’s as like so many our local bank has closed.
You have helped me understand matters and I am sorry your all the help from UC will stop at 12 months.We also have savings but not much as we top up our low income with it and have been constantly dipping into it since my operation also my wife’s brother had an operation and we had to send two grand to help with hospital costs (not a Uk citizen)
I was wondering if your savings dropped below six would your claim still be stopped?
As a matter of further interest I have read you can begin a new claim after a six months lapse, I wonder if you have to start from scratch again and fill in all those questions.
Thanks again for your much appreciated help,
Ps if I pick up any interesting information I will let you know too
I took in printed photocopies that I downloaded and printed from my banking apps as all mine are paperless now. If my savings went below £6000 I guess I would still be allowed onto UC. But that's not going to happen between now and August/September. Even doing a new claim wouldn't work for me because the savings level is too high. My 6 months of emergency savings alone is over £6000 and my retirement ISA counts too even though the pension doesn't.
Thank you for the explanations. Where did you get your advice from please?
My own experience and the internet I think. It's quite a while ago now since I made this video. A lot has happened since then. I have added some other UC videos since then. I hope you find them useful.
It looks like you were not claiming housing benefit previously which probably you should have been. Anyway that’s a guess. Under universal credit any housing costs you have are dealt with automatically. You don’t have to make a completely separate claim for housing benefit with the council. Also the taper for earrings has been reduced from 60% to 55% the idea being to encourage you to work! Anyway that might go some way to explaining why your benefits have risen. Basically your housing is now partly paid for.
No, she was not eligible to get housing benefit due to the level of her savings (over £16k).
She is ordinarily not eligible to get UC as well because of those same savings.
However for one year she is exempted from that particular condition as being forcibly migrated from tax credits (which are not means tested per se hence savings don't count).
Good for you, if you're entitled to it, then all's good. Christmas has come early 😄
My daughter has been convinced she can go self employed with a plastic sawing machine. Your thoughts?
I did! I soon earned enough to replace with industrial machines.
Can you put savings into a private pension? Wouldnt they then not count as savings as you cant access them until youre atleast 55. If youre not planning on touching them for a while. I just wondered your thoughts as thinking about doing this x
I'm already maxed out. I can only put 2800 a year of my own money into a pension because I am a non tax payer at the moment so it doesn't really make a difference for UC purposes.
You deverve this ❤
which websites do you go for surveys that pay you?
If you have a look back through my recent playlist you will find lists of the survey sites I use. There is a post I did recently about my Qtr 4 income update and I have listed there all the survey sites I use. There are quite a few of them!
@@workinprogresssince1974 thank you
What has happened to people working hard for a living and being self sufficient. Too many people scrounging off the state. Time to scrap benefit and universal credit. Let’s start having self respect and contributing to society
You should probably watch my recent video about the breakdown of the numbers who claim Universal Credit to see just how many people are actually scroungers and how many people are a victim of our wonderful system.
Not sure on a couple of things you have said. I am in the same position as you. Querying your figures......I thought you said you didnt qualify for the housing benefit....in which case you will receive the standard amount which is around 360 pm ...you put your hours in.....this is deductible at 55.p in the pound. Your income is approx. £250 pm. You claimed expenses which to be honest on an income of 250 pm cannot be much. Please explain to me IF you are not claiming H.B......you are getting nearly 600 per month. Also, thank you for letting us all know 15:32 what a smarty pants saver you are. Although how you manage to save anything on 250 a month is beyond me. This is a genuine question. Also, your income floor is based around your previous tax returns...which you said was 1200pm...its not decided on 'what THEY think you need to live on😊😊😊....also very good of you to remind us that savings are not for new cars or laptops. Theres something not quite right about this information.
My rent is £600pm, I get a nominal amount, minus what my local authority won't pay. So I am not paid for the rent I pay out. I never asked for it, they never asked if I wanted it. I assume this is part of the standard UC package and you get whatever the local authority wants to through it's policies and that of course varies between councils. I also lose a lot of UC money due to my savings, most of which is currently inaccessible. If you have watched my other financial vlogs you will know that I earn from multiple side hustles plus savings interest. I don't put work hours in, I put in amounts earned from those various sources, which varies a lot of every month. I joined UC from WTC on the protected migrated year so not all the rules apply and it seems that because I have the protected year - which also gives a bit of extra money each month - I don't get penalised for not reaching that minimum income floor for 1 year. My income currently averages about £500 then topped up in part by UC and I have emergency savings which covers me for things like my rent which I have to pay every 6 months not every month, and other things I have to pay for like my NI self employed and other annual payments.
I agree , something is very off here . How you manage to save let alone live on a couple of hundred pounds a month just doesn’t add up
I am on the minimum floor income self employed on universal credit and I am in a terrible situation atm.
Hi I am Sam situation but I sold my house and locked my money do they ask capital in the bank or they just ask income from the bank
If you have funds over £6k, I think you can't claim. Hide the money elsewhere! 😉
@dilgarden420 I believe you are allowed up to £6,000 in the bank ,and because it’s means tested that’s when you don’t get paid anything.
Im guessing if someone has a mortgage there will be little or no help with it .
I have absolutely no idea. Is anyone reading this who has a mortgage? it would be great to know how that affects UC claimants.
After claiming UC for 3 months you can claim a Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loan for interest on a mortgage. It's calculated as if the mortgage interest rate is 2.65% and it's only available on the first £200,000 of the outstanding mortgage. Any payments are made direct to the lender and you will have to pay the difference between the SMI payment and the actual interest due if that is higher. Some lenders will agree to put you on interest-only but if they don't you will also have to pay any amounts due beyond the interest. The SMI loan is a secured loan and interest is charged on it at 3.28% but it doesn't have to be repaid as long as you own the property, although you can make voluntary repayments at any time. Both interest rates mentioned are subject to change. If you search for "SMI loan" you can find more information.
@@workinprogresssince1974 they only help with a mortgage after 9 months BUT you are not allowed to earn anything at all during that time. At least that's what my local office told me, despite I wasn't requesting help with the mortgage - I only wanted a top up to my low earnings (like WTC used to be)
I claimed for 2 months(as a single person) Worst 2 months EVER! Got the bare minimum, £320 per 4 weekly. Out of that I had to pay a portion of Council tax. Zero help with mortgage. Lucky I had some redundancy money. Constant phone calls, emails. I would rather be in work any day. I do not know how anyone can live with constant juggling finance, food shops etc. The stress from that and the constant phone calls etc must be awful!
I thaught UC support stopped after 12 month for self employed if you don`t earn enough, and they push in into PAYE.
I think it depends on what the financial situation is after the 12 months. I don't think they can FORCE you into PAYE but if the business is clearly failing I guess they could santion you for not doing enough to either earn more from the business or make money elsewhere. My business doesn't earn a huge amount since 2nd half 2023, but I have a number of side hustles now which pick up the slack and I think as long as you're making enough across the board that's what matters. What I earn pays my bills, even though that's less than the minimum income floor the UC thinks I need.
They stopped my child tax credits as my youngest hit 19. I've now managed 8 months without it. It's been a tough transition but I've managed it. Maybe I should do a video about it, they sent me a leaflet in the summer saying i get tax credits and I will be transferred onto uc. But I don't gwt them anymore, i don't know what the dwp are up too?
Were you only getting the child tax credit element?
Yes
hi thanks for your videos, they are very helpful. I have a question. I have been classed as gainfully self employed, I have been on UC for about 3 months. I think I heard my 'coach' say that if i earn more than £1400 in one month the UC claim will be stopped? this does not make any sense to me at all, if true, as I may have a good month followed by a very poor month, and therefore be in some trouble financially. I am in a grace year and will qualify for the benifit next year, that is what the coach says. Could you help me understand this, did I hear right?
It only gets stopped in the month that you earn £1400 because that is the minimum income floor. That of course is depending on expenses, pension contributions, savings etc that come out when you do your monthly claim. If, after calculating that you over £1400 then you won't get any money but only for that month as you put in a claim on a monthly basis.
but in the month after if you go not earn that amount you get the support again until the grace period is over
@@workinprogresssince1974
Under managed migration you are entitled to a similar payment to legacy benefits if circumstances haven’t changed. Whoever advised you differently is clueless.
The minimum income floor is what DWP use to calculate your assumed income once the first year of self employment is complete or a year after you migrate to UC. This is 52 weeks x 35 hours x minimum wage, so around £1500 a month. If you earn less it doesn’t matter, this is the figure they will use. In short, it is a ludicrous figure which will mean most self employed people will not get anything after the start up period.
Make the most of your unexpected windfall and good luck to you. 😊
I think this system will likely cause havoc for a the large number of self-employed people who for various reasons were not able to hold a normal job (mental health issues etc) but were happy making less than 1000/ month plus getting little help from WTC. Now whatever they have build to create the income will be destroyed and the net result will just be higher unemployment rate.
In my case the threshold is £1400. If you can't reach that you'll have to give up your self employment status.
I think the local housing allowance reduction puts you in the under 35 years old, room category, rather than the over 35 1 bedroomed allowance. If you are 35 or over you need to get this looked at.
Surely they know how old I am?
@@workinprogresssince1974 they may well do, but they do miscalculate, lie and cheat. It pays to be fully aware of what you're eligible for. Unfortunately since the change from WTC or Income Support!/JSA etc to UC it's not that easy to find out exactly what you're entitled to - although to be honest I haven't tried looking since I gave up trying to claim the WTC element of UC 18 months ago having got nowhere - I was just so disillusioned and my mental health was already at rock bottom at that point I couldn't fight for it (Thankfully I'm a lot better now, so might try again - maybe!).
@@workinprogresssince1974This is the sort of 'mistake' they make! 😉
How can your gas and electricty be £36 a month ... standing charge is 65p a day /You would be £1.20 a day so 55p for gas and electricty a day ?
It's called not using your heating or electric....... I have no control over the standing charges, I can control how much I use. Also, for a while I was getting good discounts from my supplier so I wasn't paying as much as most people anyway.
No lights , no vcooking, no washing , appliances that have to be on fridge freezers etc ?I use no heating all year and the bare minimum and my bills £35 a week@@workinprogresssince1974
Here's a breakdown of my last bill, bearing in mind I was away for 2 weeks for xmas/ny: Total gas and electric bill all in £39.18. Electric Standing Charge: £15.18 (45ppd), Gas Standing Charge: £4.37 (14ppd). Your numbers are much higher than mine. You probably need to shop around for a new supplier.
If you earn more than the minimum floor income you will not get universal credit. The benefit is a scam, you are better off not taking it and just improve on your income and savings and just doing a tax return yearly
I had my migration letter in September 2023 and have to apply for universal credit by 21st January 2024 so does that mean I'll get the transitional period money to make sure get around the same as was getting on my tax credit award?
It depends on your personal circumstances. I am better off under UC than WTC. The managed migration is a start up year, so you will likely get it. It's a protected year.
@@workinprogresssince1974 I've used a few of the benefit calculators and seems as tho will be worse off but as had the migration notice hopefully it'll be topped up to similar to what already getting although not looking forward to job centre meeting as stuff like that always worries me
@@workinprogresssince1974 was your job centre interview ok or am I worrying about nothing?have tax returns and utr and invoices for work etc and read that's the stuff they want to see?
I had two initial meetings before I was accepted onto UC. The first was just to submit my 3 months of bank statements for all my bank accounts. Literally everything. The second meeting was to get me set up so they could assess my claim. They put all your 'jobs' on the system. I had loads of side hustles and they ran out of room and just picked the best 5! They want you to demonstrate that you are 'gainfully self employed' ie trying. I took all my accounts for that year (a bunch of envelopes with receipts which they didn't look at), I told them where I sell and advertise myself (Etsy, Shopify, Instagram and RUclips) and gave them the internet addresses and chatted at length about how things were going and was generally really enthusiastic. They warm to you if you are nice. I know lots of people say the UC people are horrible but (and maybe it's just my office) I have found them really chatty and enthusiastic. After you get accepted you need to submit your accounts each month online. If you are used to being self employed and doing a self assessment this is not difficult. It takes me about 3 minutes to do each month, then in a few days the system will tell you how much you are getting and show you the calculations, and then the money appears in your account a week later. Next week I am going to do a run through video of how to do your accounts each month which I hope will help. Good luck with your claim. They're not scary. At least, I don't think they are, but you have to go in with a positive mindset. I rather enjoy my visits but then, I don't get out much!1!! :D
@@workinprogresssince1974 bloody hell,all bank statements as didn't know they wanted stuff like that
MY SON Gets on Universal Credit from 2023 £758 a month Plus Disability benefits on top £407 a month NOT BAD INCOME It was a nightmare process getting this Sorted for my Disabled SON
absolutely no help for the ex self employed!!!!... one person in the DWP told me i was trying too hard looking for a job!!!!!! thats the truth!!!
That's depressing. it happened to my neighbour last year when he had to close his business down, but they told him he was on his own. So far, I've found two more income streams since I was signed up for UC, but income varies wildly. Sometimes I claim nothing, sometimes (like Christmas/NY) I got more because there was no money coming in from the new jobs because there is no statutory holiday pay. UC isn't set up for the self employed way of earning which WTC handled very well because it was based on your self assessment.
They need to make up their mind what they want! Especially as looking for a job is now what you are pressurised into doing.🤬😡☠💀👿😈
Hello. I thought this was the video i replied to your emquiry about UC and profit and loss. Did you see it?
Lord's get £300+a day
Yes they do...for falling asleep in the chamber! Plus a reduced bar allowance!!!
Yes, it always makes me laugh when people comment on scroungers when the biggest ones are the ones in Parliament and the House of Lords 😂
Having been self-employed and having previously been on Universal Credit myself, may I ask has your work coach has put you on a start-up year? I was very surprised you were getting so much money. In your second year, if you are classed as 'gainfully self-employed', based on the implementation of your Minimum Income Floor, either way you wouldn't receive any money from Universal Credit.
Yes. I am on the start up year because I was on the managed migration from working tax credits. Hopefully the rest of my videos in this series explains the situation I am in and why I have ended up on UC at all. I was surprised they even accepted me but because it was managed migration I think they kind of had to.
Did You say you pay your rent 6 months at a time?
Yes. I don't pass any financial checks for rent so they let me pay in 6 monthly chunks. I just have to manage my finances to ensure that I have the 6 months ready on payment week. My neighbour who is also self employed is the same. I feel quite lucky. I lost two previous rental applications because I failed the checks and they didn't want to take the money but I think my landlord is used to self employed people needing somewhere to live.
@@workinprogresssince1974 in the past when I failed an income check I paid the first 6 months up front and was allowed to pay monthly after that. Can't your landlord do that for you since you are able to save enough for the rent over 6 months?
Absolutely insane
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Where was that decided, originally? I hope it doesn't come to Norway.
Where was what decided?
Thank you for the video. It helped me a lot. I was really stressed out by being forced from WTC to UC. I am going to make my claim on Tuesday as I already received a letter than my WTC will be ending in April . I just wonder what will happen after 1 year if my self-employment I still does not make a profit of 35(h) x National Minimum Wage. each week..
If you are not earning enough they will simply force you to take a regular job because I don't think they will just keep topping up your money indefinitely. You will make a plan with them that tells you how many jobs you have to apply for per week or whatever and then you'll have to take one that's offered to you. If ever there was an incentive to make more money at your self employment this is it! Alternatively can you add some smaller side hustles to bump up your self employed income?
I wonder how this will work. Because they are happy to top up for people with part-time jobs so why not for self-employed who make part-time income (specially in areas where there are not many jobs). I can't see them forcing me to do anything however they can force me to have a long-term depression @@workinprogresssince1974
I'm wondering if I went self employed and earned 100 a month for example do they top it up still
Would you class yourself as gainfully self employed if you were only earning £100 a month? Would you have other work coming in either self employed or PAYE?
@@workinprogresssince1974 I don't know. I'm on esa and I get an assessment in Oct & I don't want to go to it because they never let you have it so I'm just considering my options. I breed live food but I don't make an income yet just do it as a hobby so I don't know how much I will earn you see
Hello, you have helped many people, I hope you can help me too. I have a full-time job and earn minimum wage. I left my husband because he had alcohol and gambling problems. I want to move into a house right now, but I can't afford it financially. I called citizen advice They said they cant help me because my salary enough for rent s house but how? I earn 1500 Pounds and the minimum rent is 1100/ 1200 Pounds 300£ left then How will I survive on this for a month?
When I didn't have enough money for rent, I looked at house shares and people looking for a lodger. If you don't have the money you have to compromise big time, even if it's only for the short term. In the end I just kept moving further north where it was cheaper. I have a 2 bed flat that's £600 a month but I live a long way from everyone I know. I know it's probably not the answer you need, but when needs must you do what you have to do. Could you get a better paying job, or take up any of the side hustles I do to increase your income?
You could save in cash
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So you earn the same as me, who works 42.5 hours a week, and you get over half of that for free, in fact I think you earn more than me
There are more videos and more to come. It varies wildly because so does my income. I've calculated so far I get an average of £370 pm from UC. Also, if I calculated up all the hours I do through self employment I probably do the same as you.
I really do not understand how you have savings ..
An inheritance and a divorce from years ago and at least I had the sense to squirrel it away for years and years. Never spend it just because you have it.
Going to be unpopular but, apart from lockdowns, I don't see why the taxpayer should underwrite a failing business.
A substantial number of businesses that were helped financially during the lockdowns haven't survived. And many of them never stood a chance given how things played out. And many would say that if you have mobility and health, you shouldn't get any help at all, but that presents a whole raft of other problems that I think the Government would like to avoid. Currently there are 6.1m people on UC - 2.4m of which are part of the 'looking for work' category and getting what would have once have been called the jobseekers allowance, where terms must be met to continue receiving the benefit. This includes the self employed whose businesses aren't earning enough and have to find supplementary work or improve their businesses within the terms agreed. Some will argue there should not be a protected year for those moving from legacy benefits. That would have ended our legacy claims straight off. However, for many in the protected category their claims are likely to end after 1 year in any case, when they will not be eligible for any help at all, so that solves that problem. However, the Government doesn't like some of the figures it sees and propping up a failing business for a bit in the hope of success is better than having another million or so on the unemployed lists. When you're self employed, you are classed as in work no matter what you earn, so at least we aren't seen. Theoretically the full UC transfer should be finished this year, so we'll see what the final figures look like then. So far about 40,000 WTC claimants have been accepted onto the new UC system for the protected year, meaning that the DWP thinks there is something worth salvaging as we are deemed 'gainfully self employed' or filling in the short fall with other work. I have one or two new videos coming up soon which include a few more numbers.
Thank you for your fulsome reply but I still don't like how companies, and some of them v large, are able to employ people on low wages which are effectively topped up by the taxpayer. This was prevalent way before lockdown. If there is a job there is a wage, if a company is not profitable it is not up to the tax payer to keep the directors in their positions, rather they should seek employment themselves. @@workinprogresssince1974
None of us like it. But it's an issue for the Government to address, but it won't because it doesn't want businesses who would be 'forced' to pay their staff more, to then start cutting jobs because they have to pay then a proper wage. The Government would rather everyone was labelled as working, even if it's terrible money, rather than putting them into the unemployed category, because businesses knee jerk reaction to people having enough to live on is to cut staff. I'm sure that once the minimum wage goes up on 1st April a few more companies will shed staff to protect the 9.8% they'd rather keep in the bank. We are all statistics and numbers in a Government report, and that's what they are protecting. Equally, big companies have become very accustomed to huge profit margins, and they won't want to give that up for a happier work force. It's not about us.
You may see it as failing business but a person with mental health issues etc, may see her small business that makes a few hundred / month as a reason to keep on living. Many self-employed on low income were not able to hold a normal full-time job before they became self- employed. Removing the little support that was helping them stay afloat and away from other benefits will not suddenly change them. It will. just create misery and more mental health issues for the weakest.
Thank you. Too often people see things in black and white and people as numbers and they forget they are human beings who are just trying to get by in this crazy world. Thank you for being a sympathetic human being who takes people's circumstances into consideration. :)
You can come and live with me if you like, you sound the same as me but im no good with that government stuff, i own my 3 bed house so no rent or mortgage, just bills, be nice to have someone in the house, apart from my 5 cats lol
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Pensioners get much less
Hi is there any way you could send me a link for clinical trials thank you
It depends on what area you live in. Most areas have their own clinical trials places. If you Google volunteer medical trials and where you live you should get a list of clinics looking for volunteers.
@@workinprogresssince1974 thank you 🙏 I’m living in a tent I work but I’m in debt trying earn a little extra