TODAY we launch our new series answering your Universal Credit questions.
Our welfare expert Nichola Salvato has over four years experience, including two as a Universal Credit support officer for Citizens Advice and she helps answer your queries.
Nichola is a single mum who is currently taking the Department of Work and Pensions to Court over childcare payments.
We want to Make Universal Credit Work and as part of our campaign we have been putting pressure on the government to help hard-working Brits keep more of their Universal Credit payments by reducing the taper rate and increasing the work allowance.
We want them to pay childcare costs upfront and reduce the time you wait for your cash from five to two weeks.
Now in our weekly series we answer your questions and help you navigate the Universal Credit maze.
If I have paid off my advance payment could I get another one? And if yes how do I get it? I.S, via Facebook.
Nichola replies: FIRSTLY, well done for clearing your Advance. Although they can really help families get through the first five weeks of a UC claim, it means taking on debt that has to be paid back monthly. It really should be called a loan, not an Advance!
If you need another Advance after you have paid back the new claim one then you have a couple of options.
Under UC rules there are two other types of Advance, a change of circumstances advance and a budgeting Advance, neither of these are as generous as the new claim Advance and how much you get is calculated by DWP based on how much they think you can reasonably pay off each month.
The budgeting Advance is available if you have an emergency of some kind like a fridge or cooker breaking down and you need help to buy a new one.
The maximum you can get for a budgeting advance is £348 if you’re single with no children, £464 if you are a couple with no children and £812 if you are responsible for children.
You also need to meet the “earnings criteria” so if you are single you must have earned less than £2,600 in the last six months and £3,600 if you are a couple.
Before you get an advance it might be worth seeing if you can get a grant to buy any white goods that have broken. It’s worth checking the Turn2Us website.
If you can’t then before you buy anything new I would suggest checking local Facebook groups, Gumtree and eBay for items being sold second hand to keep your costs down.
The change of circumstances advance is available when you have some kind of change that will result in an increase to your UC entitlement in the future, for example if you have a partner move in, a new baby, a change in child care provider or you move house and your rent is higher.
Both advances are available by messaging on the UC journal (choose the “about a payment” option), phoning the UC helpline or by making an appointment with your work coach at the Job Centre.
If you tell them your need is urgent, they may be able to make the payment on the same day that you apply. They will be repayable over a 6-month period and there is no right to appeal the decisions on Advances.
You can also try the Flexible Support Fund if your need is anything to do with getting or staying in work, clothes for interview for example, bus fair or childcare costs.
If you want to try for the FSF you will need to make an appointment with your Work Coach at the Job Centre.
Good luck with it, I hope you manage to get what you need.
