JOBLESS DAD LEFT WITH NO MONEY BECAUSE OF NEW CREDIT SYSTEM
Alex forced to borrow from his friends and go to food bank
“Perhaps 2,700 people in Wales will claim Universal Credit in the run-up to Christmas and have no money until after Christmas,” he said.
“They might be claiming housing benefit, and then have a child and go to claim child tax credits, and they’ll be told they have to go onto Universal Credit.”
That will trigger waiting period. “It’s very bad,” Mr Atkinson said. “For anyone having to wait six weeks without any money, it’s a massive stretch.
“You’re looking at placing people six weeks in rent arrears which is a bad situation.”
Many on Universal Credit have no savings, Mr Atkinson said.
It was announced in the recent Budget by Chancellor Philip Hammond that the six-week wait will be cut to five. But this doesn’t kick in until February.
“This is not just affecting the unemployed,” Mr Atkinson said.
“It affects people who might be working full-time minimum wage jobs but because their income is so low they claim working credits.”
In the latest twist, thousands of the six-week families because weekly.
The DWP says that around 67,000 claimants are paid weekly and 25,000 may be affected over the Christmas because of when their assessment periods fall.
Assessment periods for Universal Credit run for 30 or 31 days like a calendar month, instead of the 28 days used by the child tax credit system.
So some months, depending on what date a family first make a claim, people who are paid weekly get paid five times instead of the usual four. Universal Credit looks at this as if a claimant has done extra work and stops their claim.
“People will not be able to put the heating on, they will go into rent arrears, they will have to make decisions to cut back,” Mr Atkinson said.
“They may be driven into the hands of loan sharks, which could put them into a debt spiral.”
People could be evicted from their homes, he warned.
“If you are a landlord and you’re not going to get money for six weeks you’ve got a business to run and face a bleak Christmas of workers being paid you have got to make a decision.
“If a tenant is already behind with their rent they might be in trouble, especially if your landlord is not understanding.”
Mr Atkinson “welcomed” the reduced waiting period but wanted it cut to four weeks.
He called on the Government to “immediately pause” the Universal Credit rollout.
“This pause should be used to review and amend the significant issues with the policy, including reducing waiting time to four weeks and ensuring that claimants receive payment as soon as housing costs are verified,” he said.
Sue Leader, of the union Unite, said the chancellor had only “tinkered around the edges” with Universal Credit.
“When Universal Credit is rolled out across Cardiff in spring, some of the poorest families will have no cash for five weeks,” she said.
“Meanwhile, there are others who have nothing this Christmas.
“The idea that people can ‘borrow’ money from the Jobcentre completely ignores the fact that so many are already in debt.”
She said a “record amount” of food vouchers had been handed out from one community centre in Ely, Cardiff.
“And it has a record take-up for their discounted fruit and veg box scheme,” she said.
“The Government says that Universal Credit is supposed to help people into work.
“Well, let me tell you, nobody has time to find work when they’re queuing at the food bank or terrified about where they’re going to find their next meal.”
A DWP spokesman said: “No one who needs support has to wait six weeks. In December, claimants can request an advance of up to 50% of their first payment and a further 50% in January if they need it, repayable over 12 months.
“Universal Credit lies at the heart of our commitment to help people improve their lives and raise their incomes.
“It provides additional, tailored support to help people move into work and stop claiming benefits altogether.
“And it’s working. With Universal Credit, people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer than under the old system.”