<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Situation one: You’re on Universal Credit when you finish work<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If your job ends you must report this to DWP, on your online account. If you cannot access this you can phone the UC Helpline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t report ending work within 5 working days you could be sanctioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your Claimant Commitment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Because you are no longer in work you will probably need to agree a new Claimant Commitment with your Work Coach. You must agree to the revised commitment within 7 days or the claim could be closed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are fit for work and have no caring responsibilities this will probably mean having to look for work for 35 hours a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the first 4 weeks you\u2019re out of work your Work Coach might let you limit the type of work you have to look for, or how much you earn, if they think it\u2019s reasonable and that you have reasonable prospects of getting that type of work soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do my final earnings affect my Universal Credit?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though you\u2019re no longer working, your final earnings from work (which could include holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice, tax refund) will <\/mark>be taken into account in the Assessment Period you receive these payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/strong> See <\/a>How income affects an award<\/a><\/em> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if I get a Redundancy Payment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Statutory and contractual redundancy payments, whether paid as a lump sum or over a given period, don\u2019t count as earnings but as capital\/savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the effect on your Universal Credit depends on how much redundancy pay you get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See How savings affects an award<\/a><\/em> <\/em> <\/a>for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if I still have to pay for childcare?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have had a Childcare Element in your Universal Credit award while you were working, and you are still paying for childcare (for example because your childcare provider requires payment for a notice period or you hope to find a new job quickly and want to keep the place open) you can still have the Childcare Cost Element included for the Assessment Period in which the job finishes, and in the following Assessment Period. Make sure you continue to pay for and report the childcare in the normal way. I know that while I was in work the Benefit Cap didn\u2019t apply to me \u2013 will it apply now I\u2019ve stopped working?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not everyone has their Universal Credit reduced by the Benefit Cap \u2013 but some do. If you\u2019re worried about the Benefit Cap, speak to a Benefits Adviser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See Benefit Cap<\/a><\/em> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Situation two: You’re making a new claim for Universal Credit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re finishing work, then you may need to claim Universal Credit. You make your claim in the usual way – see How do I claim?<\/a><\/em> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Final earnings \/ payments from work<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You may need to think about when to claim, especially if you are still due some payments from work. This is because earnings are taken into account when your UC award is assessed and can reduce how much Universal Credit you can get. Even though you\u2019re no longer working, your final earnings from work (which could include holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice, tax refund) will <\/mark>be taken into account in the Assessment Period you receive these payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So if you know you\u2019re going to receive a payment from work in a few days, it can be worth delaying claiming until after you\u2019ve got these final earnings so they\u2019re not taken into account. But obviously if it could be a while before you receive this payment or if it’s just for a small amount, then it may be better claiming straight away. Speak to a Benefits Adviser if you want to work out what\u2019s best for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if I get a Redundancy Payment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Statutory and contractual redundancy payments, whether paid as a lump sum or over a given period, don\u2019t count as earnings but as capital\/savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the effect on your Universal Credit depends on how much redundancy pay you get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See <\/a>How savings affects an award<\/a><\/em> <\/em> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can my children get free school meals?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The local authority can grant your child\/children free school meals if you\u2019re on Universal Credit and, in your last Assessment Period, you earned less than \u00a3616.67 (England and Wales). If it\u2019s higher than this but was previously lower, the DWP can take the average earnings of the last 3 Assessment Periods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Scotland all children in years 1-5 can get free school meals, after that the earnings threshold if you get UC is \u00a3796. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have finished work, you may need to wait until an Assessment Period has included earnings below the limit, before you can start getting free school meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Situation one: You’re on Universal Credit when you finish work If your job ends you must report this to DWP, on your online account. If you cannot access this you can phone the UC Helpline. If you don\u2019t report ending work within 5 working days you could be sanctioned. Your Claimant Commitment Because you are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":15753,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-568","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/568","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=568"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16919,"href":"https:\/\/ucpages.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/568\/revisions\/16919"}],"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=568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Chloe has been getting Universal Credit to top up her earnings from work. Her Assessment Periods run from 24th of one month to 23rd of the next. Her 12 month contract ends on 31st<\/sup> July and she gets paid her final wages. Nearly four weeks later, on 27th August, she receives a further payment of \u00a3280.00 for holiday that she is owed. The DWP will take the \u00a3280 into account as earnings when they assess Chloe’s Universal Credit award for the Assessment Period 24th August to 23rd September even though she did no actual work during that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
See Help with childcare costs<\/a><\/em> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve been in work for at least 12 months, you may be entitled to a 9 month ‘grace period’ when your job ends, to protect you while looking for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n