{"id":564,"date":"2020-02-20T11:00:43","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/?page_id=564"},"modified":"2026-06-18T14:33:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:33:43","slug":"i-dont-agree-with-the-wages-figure","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/?page_id=564","title":{"rendered":"I don’t agree with the wages figure used"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sometimes the amount that has been taken off your Universal Credit looks very different from the wages you were paid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DWP, HMRC, or your employer might have made a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or it might be correct, but is different from the amount on your wage slip because of the way Universal Credit calculates the earnings they need to deduct from your award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How the DWP works out your wages figure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wage figure the DWP will use is your wages after deductions for national insurance, tax, and payments into a pension fund – but nothing else. So if your final wage is reduced by other deductions \u2013 for example: Union fees, payments to a hospital fund, repaying your employer for an advance – these will not be disregarded from your earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the wage figure used by the DWP may be higher than the wages you were actually paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE: <\/strong>Tax Refunds, holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice all count as \u2018earnings\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s the wages you’re paid in each Assessment Period that count<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wages that are taken into account when your Universal Credit is assessed at the end of your Assessment Periods are those that you were actually paid in that period \u2013 even if they relate to a different period. See How does UC work for workers? <\/em><\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example:<\/strong>
Fiona is normally paid by her employer <\/b>on 25th of each month, for that month. Her Universal Credit Assessment Periods run from 15th to 14th of each month, so the wages she\u2019s paid for June\u2019s work on 25th June would be taken into account as earnings for her Assessment Period that runs 15th June to 14th July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Getting two monthly wages in one Assessment Period<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on your Assessment Periods, and the dates you\u2019re paid, this can sometimes happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE: <\/strong>A court has decided that it makes no sense that someone is seen as having 2 months’ wages in one Assessment Period just because one of those wages was paid early,\u00a0 and so the DWP have changed the rules. If the DWP do include two months wages in one Assessment Period, then you can ask them to \u2018move\u2019 the later payment into the Assessment Period in which it would have been paid had it not been for the bank holiday\/weekend. This way two wages aren\u2019t included in the same Assessment Period. Contact a Benefits Adviser for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example:<\/strong>
Owen is normally paid on 25th<\/sup> of each month. His Assessment Periods run from 24th<\/sup> – 23rd<\/sup> of each month. Although Owens\u2019s July wages are due to be paid on 25th<\/sup> July, as this is a Sunday they will actually be paid on 23rd<\/sup> July. So when the DWP assess his Universal Credit award on 23rd<\/sup> July if they take two sets of wages into account (those paid on 25th<\/sup> June and 23rd<\/sup> July) and his Universal Credit award will drop. But they are aware that he is usually paid monthly and so move the wages paid on 23rd July into the following Assessment Period i.e. as if they had been paid on their correct due date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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NOTE:<\/strong> If your Universal Credit award drops to nil you will need to ensure your claim remains open or make a reclaim to ensure your next payment is made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE:<\/strong> Employers can sometimes pay early or late for other reasons. They can report to HMRC the date they should have paid, so if this has affected you and you are worse off, get advice from a Benefits Adviser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paid weekly, fortnightly or 4 weekly?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re paid 4 weekly, fortnightly or weekly, then at certain points of the year, your earnings in a certain Assessment Period may be higher than usual. This can sometimes affect people paid monthly too.
See How does UC work for workers? <\/em><\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mistake by DWP or HMRC?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DWP or HMRC do sometimes make mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DWP sometimes take a Redundancy Payment into account as earnings – when it should be treated as savings, or they treat expenses related solely to work as earnings when they should be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you think the information the DWP have used about your wage is wrong, you can ask the DWP to look at the figures\/dates again by asking for a \u2018Mandatory Reconsideration\u2019, as well as asking them to raise a \u2018Real Time Earnings Dispute\u2019 with HMRC – ask a Benefits Adviser for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes the amount that has been taken off your Universal Credit looks very different from the wages you were paid. The DWP, HMRC, or your employer might have made a mistake. Or it might be correct, but is different from the amount on your wage slip because of the way Universal Credit calculates the earnings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":15753,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-564","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16914,"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564\/revisions\/16914"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}