A Pickle with HMRC

This pickle has been a long time coming. As documented on the 8th, Working Tax Credits are stopping and being replaced with Universal Credit. 

I expected to be turned away due to savings being above the limit, but it seemed, from the government info I’d looked through, that even if my finances dropped below that threshold, I’d still be rejected on account of hours worked. Those are below the threshold for UC too. It’s my understanding that WTC could only be paid out to people working more than a certain number of hours a week. I believe it’s 25, more than what I work. 

The loophole is, if you were claiming Disability Living Allowance, you could claim WTC even if you worked fewer hours than that. With Personal Independence Payment, the replacement disability benefit, there were ways to claim WTC too, but you need a good Welfare Rights officer to explain the situation to you, and implement the necessary form filling and phone calls. No way could any regular person navigate HMRC that way. HMRC treated me (and my mum, who spoke on my behalf) with utter contempt. 

Some years ago, 2018, while UC was being rolled out and after I’d managed to get onto PIP, I fortunately found a competent Welfare Rights Officer – I referred to her as TJ - who explained how to get back onto WTC. It largely involved her bollocking the call handler at HMRC. But in the end, WTC were reinstated and financially my head has been above water since. 

The inevitable has happened, though, and I’ve been asked to apply for UC. 

On Thursday, when I was off work, I had a go online. How many hours a week to I work? Well, it’s 3 full days. Do I include lunch? I dunno. I went to entitledto, some kind of independent benefits advice page, although ran and financed by whom isn’t explained. As I went through their process, I was warned that ‘in return for my UC payment I was agreeing to look for extra work.’ Easier said than done when you’re brain-damaged, Einstein. 

Their online benefits calculator told me my entitlement was zero. 

Next I visited the building where TJ had worked, behind Oldham Job Centre – it’s shut down. I asked in the Job Centre. They told me to go to the One Stop Shop in the entrance of the Civic Centre. One Stop Shop gave me the number for Help to Claim, providing ‘enhanced, free, confidential and impartial support to help people make a Universal Credit claim.’ 

I spoke to the Help to Claim lady – we’ll call her HTCL – she was very informative and helpful, to be fair. I’ve disclosed my savings, hours to work and current benefits claimed, along with income etc. I should be eligible for UC at the standard allowance. HTCL explained that the timing is important – the moment you make a UC claim, WTC will stop. So, my claim should be made after the middle of September. 

She also explained that, because I am being moved across - under what’s called ‘managed migration’ - the £16K savings threshold won’t apply. It also seemed apparent from the phone call that my income was also too high, which is absurd as I’m a part time business support officer and my take-home monthly wage just hit 4 figures for the first time in my life. 

I should receive what’s known as a ‘transitional element’ as I’m moved across. 

There was a suggestion at this point that I make an application on Saturday (the day of writing this). HTCL then went away to do some further research and called me back a few hours later. There had been a problem, she told me, coming to a conclusion re my entitlement. She promised to forward my case over to an expert team who should get back to her – and her to me – on Wednesday. But, she suggests, I should be able to claim roughly the same weekly amount as I was getting on WTC. She emailed me to ask a few extra details; I replied after 5pm on the Friday. 

We’ve got a call booked in on Wednesday, when I’m next off work. So, it’ll be Monday at the earliest but probably Wednesday before there’s any movement, but this is progress. 

Now, I haven’t made this application today. Should I have done? I’m not sure. I would have thought not, if we’re still waiting to hear back from her colleagues. 

I guess I’ll update this next week, when things should have moved on somewhat. All of the above is based on the notes I tapped into a Word doc during the phone calls, and Teeline notes I made wandering from building to building in Oldham, and at home on the phone to HtC. 

Am I doing this right? You tell me, I’m the brain-damaged one. That’s why I’m claiming.