How To Do Your Monthly Claim With Universal Credit
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Today I want to talk you through the monthly process for submitting your Universal Credit claim as a self employed person migrated from Working Tax Credits and receiving the protected start up year.
I appreciate that different situations will require different explanations. This is my experience of navigating the UC system since September 2023 and I cannot report on things that I have no experience of.
If anything isn’t clear, please drop me a line in the comments and I will try and respond or do a follow up video if that is more helpful.
That is the most useful video I have seen on universal credit for the self employed and I have been looking for months! Step by step screen shot is so helpful, thanks so much
Thank you so much for your comment. I'm so glad you found it helpful. One of the main reasons I started making these videos is because I couldn't find the information I needed from a practical point of view of someone on the receiving end of UC. I'll keep making videos as and when I have experience of the system. If you have any questions though, do leave a comment and I will do my best to help. Have a great weekend. :)
Thanks so much 🙏 You’re taking my fear of the unknown away! I have a job centre appointment coming up to set this up for me.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am new to this. very helpful and not a scary as I thought it may be.
I agree this video is very helpful... With the lady actually going thru the form U need to fill out for universal credit is extremely helpful to see ... I researched that if your income is below £1,000 per month on self employment then u dont need to fill in a TAX RETURN ❤👍✌️XX
Thanks for this, and you're right, it's about time I gave myself a kick up the bum and kept a better track of everything.
Great videos and thanks for your help.
Im helping a friend with this at the moment, as they have recieved the dreaded end of tax credit letter.
Im pleased it suits you and many of your followers.
Unfortunately for us, we are borderline tax credits and self employed and its just going to be duplication of the tax return and VAT which we do anyway.
Plus a third new duplication due to new recording of EU goods and environmental certificates,
Its not worth the extra admin or time to us.
We (probably loose out) yet again !
Only my opinion.
However great videos 👍
Very helpful, thank you 🌹🌹🌹
finally someone who speaks sense
Im still on tax credits still. Dreading the migration over to UC. I also claim Carers Allowance. With my business, some months I have more expenses than income.
I do have to prove my exp/inc for CA, which has made filling in my self assessment easier.
I'll have to come back to your video when the time comes.
Thanks for doing this 😊
My pleasure. I hope it helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
It's a bit of work figuring out but not too difficult. The problem really is after 12mnths they apply a minimum income floor which basically means you will get nothing from them regardless of whether you have slow times and little income!
I’m in the US but still watching bc I enjoy watching your videos 😊
Waves. Hello to the US! Lovely to have you here. :)
Hi Claudia. I don't know what you mean by 'disregarded' above £16000. If you have over £16000 in savings, then you're not entitled to ANY benefits, and this has been the case for at least 20 years. Also, if you have over £6000 in savings, then each benefit is reduced by a different amount per each £250, or part thereof.. This is why the DWP are planning to check claimants bank accounts in 2025. The only exception to this is Pension Credit, if you're old enough to qualify for it. Everything else you said is correct.
Edit : Sorry, I was wrong about this.
Although the £16000 savings rule applies to most benefits, there's an exception for Self-Employed UC claimants that I wasn't aware of. I'm always willing to accept that I'm sometimes wrong about certain DWP benefits.
I think its in regards to the transitional period of one year, in which you are allowed the savings of stated amounts in the video. If you migrated from Tax credits at DWP request.
Because it's the start up year. I have a letter from Universal Credit which clearly states that everything over £16000 in savings is being disregarded for 1 year.
Pension Credit is on their hitlist so they can now check Pension Credit as it is means tested . The state pension without pension credit cannot allow them access to your bank account. They are sneaking it in through a data protection law. So if you are a pensioner downsizing say and doing boot sales to get rid every Sunday ; they will look for patterns of income etc and then question you on it. This is my understanding of the law that is going to the lords now. It all seems a bit persnickety to me .
@@workinprogresssince1974 Ok, so it's a different rule for Self-Employed UC claimants. Sorry for the confusion.
UC always check your bank accounts and remind you not to exclude any online ones to avoid a charge of fraud.
Lovely. I like the fact that expenses are 'allowable', not compulsory. I was participating in an online one HMRC seminar and was told that I do not have to declare any expenses if I do not want to....Just thought I'd share it with you
I didn't know that. I guess if you don't fill in the expenses that just means they get to pay you less each month because the expenses are knocked off your income and therefore they would be giving you more money. By not adding your expenses they pay you less. Is that what you mean?
@@workinprogresssince1974 yes you right they will likely pay less int he first year. I am just trying to predict year 2. Maybe sellers who made at leat £750/month but less that £1300will be allowed to develop further and claim UC for longer?
this was extremely helpful and reassuring. thankyou :)
Thank you 😊 this is very useful x
Glad it was helpful!
Marvelous!
i'm in exact same situation, because the last few months have been slow earnings wise they have already started turning the screws and suggesting i go on training courses and for the moment "suggesting' different jobs,fair enough but it seems the 1 year protection period seems a bit iffy to me.
It's because it's transitional and it's designed to give people who were on WTC which was a guaranteed income every month, time to settle into a new and far more complicated system. It also means that many people who would not be eligible for UC get to have that year which I suppose is better than a kick in the bum. Because many of us on the transitional year, will be kicked off after 12 months.
on a plus side you may get a few decent qualifications on the cheap i.e. free of charge for you :)
Thank you so much for this I’ve had to migrate over from the disability element of working tax
They have given me a year but I don’t do my books I hand over my paperwork to a friend who does it in January I don’t think I’ll be able to manage this once a month they also removed my disability element and just reduced my hours to 16 as I’ve not been well
Furstly i would like to say its an amazing video with loads of helpfull information.
Wondering how paying no tax or ni on a given month effects your payment
For exampme i earn £1000 in a month and after expenses still have £600 out of this i would put my tax and ni to one side for end of year but Uc will not take this into account so assume i have the full £600 to hand?
Hope that makes sense as im baffled
No but at the point where you do put in your tax and NI that would count but in one lump sum on one month, so whether you do it monthly or at year end won't matter, you can still declare it. My NI is yearly anyway. What you put aside for tax I guess will count as savings so be careful what you hang on to in case it counts against your claim if you are not on the protected year. If you don't declare it as an expense each month you will just get less UC money because you need to put your expenses in monthly, and NI at least counts as an expense.
Hi, I had no idea that self employed people can claim universal credits. I have a friend who is self employed who lives a very poor life. I don’t think she even knows she could claim. Is it assessed purely on income and expenses or are hours worked taken into account. I will send her this link. Many thanks.
It's worth trying. I was on the managed migration because I used to be on working tax credits so I get a few fringe benefits but it's worth her even applying because you never know. It could be a lifeline.
She will get a year before the minimum income floor is used to calculate benefits but worth a go
@@markware85 It's definitely been worth it for me.
Hi I just found your channel and find it really interesting. Currently I'm employed in a full time job, have a dependant child and I do get some UC. I am thinking to change my career path, but to do that I would need to start with a side hussle as a freelancer - just to get some experience first. Would you know by any chance how it would work, considering I would still be eligible to claim UC? Because I have a dependant, I wouldn't want to make my situation worse and unstable, so I am hesistant to do it. On the other hand, I need to start somewhere. I hope it's ok to ask. Warm greetings!
If you take on a side hustle whilst you are still working and you're earning from the side hustle, you won't have to report it, but you might want to let them know you are thinking of doing it. Don't jack in your full time job until you can guarantee your income elsewhere. Side hustles take a while to pick up. If you start earning a little from your side hustle whilst in your job, I would imagine you would just need to declare it at your monthly assessments online - presuming you are doing that. If you don't need to report it, you may need to declare it has income which will mean registering as self employed but tread carefully because it can complicated your tax payments etc. Ask the UC office either online or at your next meeting if you have one. They may be able to help, but Google is probably just as useful. Let me know if I can help.
Thanks for putting this on but there is a heck of a lot more i need to know. What about flat rate expenses for working at home? How can you have stock to sell but not able to off cost the cost of buying the stock as it was bought before your switch over date? How do you prove any cash payments?
My understanding is that for working from home you can claim back a portion of your energy bill based on the number of rooms you use, divided by the bill. Anything you buy for the business is a claimable expense. I use the cash basis for my self assessment which means when I buy it, or get paid for it, that's when it goes into the accounts and I use the same method for UC. I buy fabric for my business so it goes into my accounts even if I don't use that fabric for another year to make something. With anything that doesn't have a paper trail you make your own invoices. Just set up an invoice template or buy one of those little cash payment books if you don't have a computer and record everything. I have this problem with Vinted, where you can't download a proof of sales. You can see the information on the app but there's no way to get it onto paper, so I just make a spreadsheet of all the income and submit that. You can only do what you can.
@@workinprogresssince1974 I am disabled but i still started my own business in 2014 and the reason i have been able to make it work is because of help with working tax credits but this switch to UC is not fair or workable for someone like me. I have built up 20k of stock and packing and equipment but they wont take anything into account before the switch, so when i make a sale it is classed as 100% profit even though it is only 30% profit. Yes they say you will not be out of pocket for the first year but after that they will cut off the support based on the year of fake 100% profit. I cannot build up my business more as i work as much as i possibly can now there is no room for growth being disabled i am not even doing as much as i have all this new UC accounts to do. No i cannot use my HMRC accounts as UC insist on monthly accounts for the 27th of the month to the 26th of the next month. So after the year is up my little business is done. I am glad you are finding a way to make it work for you but please tell your followers UC is not a fair system at all really and defiantly not for disabled people.
You are allowed savings up to £6,000 on Universal Credit without it affecting your claim. For savings between £6,000 and £16,000 your monthly Universal Credit payment is reduced by £4.35 for every £250 portion up to £16,000. Any more than £16,000 you claim is reduced to zero. Course if you are in work none of this really matters.
I think you can work up to 36 hours a month at NMW before your Universal Credit claim is affected.
I don't know why you said that you're not claiming any money for your rent. It states quite clearly on your UC page for housing costs, that your rent is £600 a month, and they're paying £399.98 of that, which, as it states, is less than the full amount, because £399.98 is the maximum Local Housing Allowance for you. That's why there's a deduction of £200.02, which is the amount you're paying.
Please add a correction to your video, explaining why what was on your screen was different to what you said. Maybe you didn't realise that UC were paying your rent for the last few months ?
Sorry but does this mean your rent is 600 pounds per month.
When I applied for UC noone said anything to me about rent or asked if I needed help with it. I assumed that since it was something I hadn't applied for, it wasn't part of the application. I can see the numbers but given that the monthly amounts I have received from UC to date have never covered the rent or come close to it, then in my mind it's not actually been covered by them. The average monthly amount I have received from UC in total since I started my claim last September is £314. There were people commenting previously that I should apply separately for rent help so this has been confusing. I'll have to go back through my videos and find the errors.
I am not self employed anymore but I had to move region as I couldn't find an accomodation that would match the housing benefits I could get and was told 8 would get a sanctioned if I was to apply for more expensive which is fair enough but it's difficult for me to have moved almost 6 hours away from South where I had made a few friends (so I thought 😄) but wait
I recently looked as to what the housing benefits can cover where I wanted to live and it can cover up to 700 pounds 😂 changes happen every time I have moved . Coin cidence of course.
@@workinprogresssince1974 As I'm not sure on the rules for Self-Employed UC claimants, I can't really comment accurately, but if they haven't been paying your rent in with your usual UC payment, it's either a miscalculation on the payment side, or it's a rule that doesn't apply to Self-Employed UC claimants, but going by that screen, DWP could potentially owe you several hundred pounds for rent, so I would ask them why your rent payments aren't being made, if they're not being paid to you. As far as I know, you shouldn't need to claim separately for your rent, as it's meant to be included with everyone's Universal Credit claim.
@@Theycallmemister That statement about a Sanction being applied if you moved into an area with rents that were higher than the Local Housing Allowance doesn't sound right to me. I've never heard of a Sanction being applied because of unusually high rents needing to be paid. What's more likely, is that Universal Credit don't want you to move into an unaffordable area, where they'd have to pay the maximum LHA allowance, and then you'd either need to pay the difference yourself, or claim some of it through your local council, using a process called 'Discretionary Housing Allowance'. This isn't recommended for very high rents, as the council will question why you aren't using more affordable accommodation.
Really helpful video: I am already claiming UC with a part time job however I would like to transition out of my job to self employed whilst on UC .. I need to declare my candles business and I will also be doing some freelance work on the side to bust my monthly income. Can I invoice my freelance work through my candle business even though they are not related. ? Thanks Syreeta.
Once you are self employed and registered with HMRC for self assessment, you can pretty much lump everything into one self assessment income. So you can list individual 'businesses' within one self assessment. So for instance I have my design business, then my 'author' business and then I will add everything else dividing it up by a suitable title such as CZcams, cleaning work etc. So yes, theoretically you can manage all your self employed incomes through one self assessment with HMRC. When you do the claim on UC, they just ask for a grand total of earnings, and then ask for your expenses to be named separately. For paperwork purposes when doing my self assessment with HMRC, for my cleaning work for instance, I just bill under my own name rather than my design business. I can still list them with HMRC and UC as part of my overall income. I hope that makes sense. Let me know if I've confused the issue. :)
@@workinprogresssince1974 That is really helpful, thank you so much for your reply … I think this is definitely that way forward. Keep the videos coming. Really helpful 😊
Are they paying 368.74 in total ! or plus 190.99 transitional protection 559.73 total
It depends on the month and what I earn. Across all the months I've been on UC I get an average of £370pm in total, that's 'income', the protection of 190, the portion of the rent minus what I lose against income earned and deductions for savings. So realistically I don't get the 368 or the 190. I get £370 pm in total.
Hi dear thanx.can you help qith that that how they verify these expense details ,do they ask for bank statements and how often do they do that? Thanx already helped us lot.waiting for response
Since I started doing my monthly calculations they have never asked me for proof of my numbers. They could but they haven't. Also, this may be a quirk of the protected year. In normal UC they might ask you to bring your evidence of expenses at every work coach meeting. That said, as a self employed person, you do a self assessment every April, so they may match it up against that with HMRC. As a self employed person, you should always keep receipts and other evidence of both income and outgoings.
great video. what do you use your shopify to sell? thanks
I make clothing, jewellery and hand braided coasters. Not a great market in a cost of living crisis, which is why other side hustles are so useful!
@@workinprogresssince1974
thanks. Sound interesting.
my understanding is that esty has become quite expensive to sell on ?
Just watched this again to check if you put expenses for “doing business at home”. UC page says to use a flat rate of £10. Do you still not claim that. Should I? Lol
Is that against the energy bills or in general? I've not heard of a flat rate before. For energy you're supposed to take the number of rooms that are living rooms and divide it for usage against a home office. For everything else I put in the exact expense accumulated. I have about 6 or 7 different expenses against my self employment per month and I put them in individually.
@@workinprogresssince1974 Yeah there’s a flat rate option called Simplified Expenses or a “work out the exact amount” option. If you work 25 to 50 hours it’s £10, 51 - 100 is £18, 101 or more is £26
@@workinprogresssince1974 It’s for energy, water, internet- the cost of doing business at home basically
What about your stock ? if you are selling items then surely you must have cost of sales for an expense ? Do you attend a self employment review every month also ?
I have a review with the DWP every 3 months. I only sell on Vinted when I am having a clear out of my own wardrobe (personal) or someone has had a clear out and wants to give the stuff to me because they can't be bothered to do it themselves (which I declare). I would never buy stock to sell on Vinted. There's no profit margin in it. On Vinted buyers pay for postage so there is no cost to me.
@@workinprogresssince1974 I see, I was thinking that you re-sold items that were purchased. Good to hear that the review is not every month. Job centers used to be a nice place to visit where you were not put under constant pressure to take any job thrown at you. Thanks for the video!
I occasionally do Vinted if someone I know has had a big wardrobe clear out and just wants it gone. But it's a very tiny side hustle along side a bunch of other side hustles I do. :)
@@workinprogresssince1974 Well, if it keeps you in work then anything is better than nothing. I buy alot of charity stuff and then resell them for some profit. I didn't think there was much to be made but was surprised how much some niche items sell for. 🥰
Hi..Would you put in your gross figures or net figures after say online selling fees etc?
Everything is gross. They ask for your expenses and I add fees in there.
thank you for your reply :)
We were wedding photographers self employed.I wonder if we would have been allowed to claim travel expenses to the weddings.
Of course. If you have to drive to get to the wedding to do your job and therefore get paid, then it's a business expense.
My work colleague relied too much on his family to help our small business financially. We should have registered with Universal credit, I would have been more protected when we parted.
@@Theycallmemister It's a constant learning curve. Noone really prepares you for setting up your own business. No qualifications needed. You kind of just have to find your own way and it can be tricky.
@@workinprogresssince1974 it's very hard to run a business. What I really liked was the feeling of feeling protected from potential fraud and abusive employers or co workers. You still have to be careful with the accountant, better and cheaper to do your own accounts unless you are a big business. I think we were really over taxed as a small business so please make sure you don't. Anyway bla bla bla 😁 😂
@@workinprogresssince1974 for us we had studied photography for 3 years at the University of Central Lancashire and my friend said to me he had student loan to pay back. He was angry at me towards the end and seemed to want to hold me responsible for his problems when I actually had more problems than him. 😂 Better to run a business on your own
Can I claim the electric for my wheelchair.......I do use it
Do you only use it for business? If you work from home you can claim a percentage of your energy bills.
UC is just nasty