Universal Credit (UC) has now fully replaced Working Tax Credit, which ended in April 2025. For self-employed people, the rules are different from employees and often less favourable. We first reported on UCSE and its shortcomings in 2013. 12 years later, this scheme is still not fit for purpose, though if you are struggling to start or maintain a business on a low income, it may be better than nothing.
Here’s how the system works in 2025.
Gainful Self-Employment
Self-employed people who make a claim for Universal Credit will be invited to a ‘Gateway Interview’ to assess whether their self-employment is ‘gainful’. What the assessors will be looking for is evidence that your self-employment is well-organised, developed and regular and that you are, or have good prospects of, making a reasonable profit. They will also want to see that it is your ‘main’ source of employment, either in terms of taking up most of your working week, or delivering the larger part of your income. If they aren’t convinced that you are ‘gainfully’ self-employed, then you’ll need to ‘look for and be available for other work’.
The Gateway interview will also consider any special circumstances, such as disability or caring responsibilities, which they may be able to take into account when they set the number of hours they’ll be expecting you to work.
Claimants have reported that proving gainful self-employment can be stressful, particularly if income fluctuates. As one self-employed hairdresser explained: “DWP kept asking for more invoices, even though my earnings vary each month. It feels like they don’t understand small business cash flow.”
Start-up Period
If you are newly self-employed, you may be given a 12-month start-up period.
During this time, you don’t have to meet the Minimum Income Floor (see below), your UC is based on your actual earnings, and you don’t need to look for other work, but you must show you are building your business. Normally, you can only have one start-up period. A new one may be granted if at least 5 years have passed and you are starting in a different line of work.
Many new business owners find this period helpful but short. “The start-up year helped me survive the first few months, but after that the Minimum Income Floor hit hard — even on months when I had very low sales.”
Minimum Income Floor
If you are self-employed on Universal Credit, the DWP may not base your payment on what you actually earn. Instead, they often assume that you are earning at least the equivalent of the National Minimum or Living Wage for the number of hours they expect you to work. For most claimants, that means 35 hours a week, every week of the year — with no allowance for holidays, sickness, or seasonal ups and downs. In 2025, this works out to an assumed income of around £1,626 a month after tax and National Insurance. This assumed figure is called the Minimum Income Floor (MIF).
If you have caring responsibilities, a disability, or other circumstances that reduce the number of hours you are expected to work, the MIF may be set at a lower level.
The crucial point is this: the MIF applies whether you actually earn that much or not. If your profits fall below the MIF in a given month, UC does not “top you up” to cover the gap. You simply receive a lower UC payment, calculated as if you had earned at the MIF level. There is also no option to average your earnings out over the year. A bumper month and a lean month are each looked at in isolation.
This rule is perverse and frustrating for many businesses. As one claimant puts it: “This rule has hurt my company as I can’t keep money to place large orders from my suppliers. If I have excess income in my account on the report date, it is classified as my earnings. So they take UC off me. Even though the business needs it to function.”
The MIF only applies to the self-employed. Employees on UC always have their entitlement worked out from their actual pay. For the self-employed, however, “assumed earnings” are built into the rules.
Many small business owners see this as unfair. A government-commissioned study found that almost all self-employed people expected to be negatively affected by the MIF, with only one out of 45 businesses saying their income never dipped below the assumed level. Most said their earnings varied seasonally or depended on client payment schedules.
As another claimant says: “Because of the bumper sales, Universal Credit seem to think those profits go straight into our personal bank. They don’t … they sit in our business account to cover quiet times. Then the next month, they slash the award.”
Reporting Your Income
If you are self-employed and claiming Universal Credit, you must report your earnings and expenses to DWP every month. This is called “real-time monthly reporting.”
You have up to 14 days after the end of each assessment month to submit your figures, report online through your UC account, and your UC payment is then worked out and paid directly into your bank account, usually within 7 days. The amount you receive may change from month to month, depending on your actual profit and whether the Minimum Income Floor is applied.
DWP’s rules are not the same as HMRC’s. This means you may have to keep two sets of accounts — one for HMRC and one for UC, and DWP does not allow all the same expenses that HMRC accepts, so some costs that reduce your taxable income may not reduce your UC profit.
“Keeping two sets of accounts is exhausting. What’s allowed for HMRC isn’t allowed for UC, and it takes hours to prepare my monthly claim.”
The Capital Limit
Universal Credit is means-tested, and that includes your savings and capital. In 2025, if you have more than £16,000 in savings or investments, you are not eligible for UC. Between £6,000 and £16,000, your UC is reduced, with DWP assuming a tariff income of £4.35 per month for every £250 above £6,000.
Both personal and business savings may count toward this, though funds genuinely held in your business for running costs or tax payments are sometimes ignored. Many self-employed claimants find this confusing.
If You Have a Disability
If you have a disability, UC may provide extra support. The Limited Capability for Work (LCW) or Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) elements can increase your payments. You must submit medical evidence and may be assessed (soon replaced by PIP assessments for new claimants after 2028).
The MIF still applies, but DWP may reduce the expected hours you are required to work if your disability limits your ability to trade full-time. Claimants report mixed experiences: “My arthritis makes it impossible to work full-time. The MIF was initially applied, but after submitting medical evidence, they lowered the hours. It helped, but it took months.”
Single Parents
Single parents on UC receive additional support for childcare. UC includes a child element for each dependent child, and up to 85% of eligible childcare costs can be reimbursed. Single parents may also get a lower Minimum Income Floor, reflecting reduced working hours due to caring responsibilities.
This can be especially important for self-employed parents trying to balance client work with school runs and care obligations. Many single parents note that while the support is helpful, the monthly reporting and MIF calculations can still make finances unpredictable, particularly if business income is irregular. One single parent reported: “It’s a constant juggling act. Some months I earn just under the floor, others above. UC changes each month, which makes budgeting hard.”
Part-Time Businesses
Not all self-employed people work full-time. Part-time businesses are common, especially among students, carers, or those testing a new trade. UC expects self-employed claimants to work the hours required for gainful self-employment, which may be adjusted for part-time businesses.
The Minimum Income Floor may be lowered if DWP accepts that you are genuinely trading part-time. However, DWP can be strict; they may ask for evidence of effort and organisation to make sure part-time trading is genuine and sustainable. Part-time claimants often find that UC payments fluctuate sharply month to month, as low-profit months are treated as if they earned the adjusted floor amount, while high-profit months can reduce their entitlement. A claimant said: “I work two days a week in my freelance business. Some months I earn nothing, and the floor is adjusted but still stressful. Payments fluctuate a lot.”
Changes in 2025
- Working Tax Credit has ended: as of April 2025, everyone must claim UC instead.
- Debt deductions reduced: from April 2025, no more than 15% of your UC can be taken for debt repayments (down from 25%).
- Standard allowances increased: in April 2025, a single claimant aged 25+ gets £340.50 a week; joint claimants get £483.88 a week.
- Health and disability changes ahead: from April 2026, new claims will receive reduced support for sickness or disability. Existing claimants will keep current rates, but they are frozen. The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is due to be scrapped by 2028, replaced by PIP-based assessments.
In Summary
Universal Credit for the self-employed is harsher than for employees. The Minimum Income Floor means your UC is often not based on your actual income. Reporting is monthly, and DWP’s accounting rules don’t match HMRC’s. While recent changes like lower debt deductions help, most self-employed claimants still find the system unfair — particularly because it ignores the reality of fluctuating business income. In 2013 we reported that this scheme showed a government that was not serious about ‘enterprise for all’. In 2025, sadly, nothing has changed.
This article is for information only. For full information, see the Government website.
We first published this article in 2013. It has been updated several times since then. Many of the comments below will now be out of date.
CAB have put together an information sheet on self employment and universal credit http://t.co/C3xSjZQaBb
RT @womeninspire: CAB have put together an information sheet on self employment and universal credit http://t.co/C3xSjZQaBb
RT @womeninspire: CAB have put together an information sheet on self employment and universal credit http://t.co/C3xSjZQaBb
Thank you for this information, it’s scary!!!
RT @WomensBiz: Universal Credit will hammer the self-employed. Here is what to expect and what you can do.http:/ http://t.co/LtzpbVSGgI
Thank-you. A very informative (and worrying) article. I will share with colleagues and networks.
“Your minimum ‘assumed’ earnings will be £957 per month.”
is this before or after expenses? As this makes a huge difference.
thanks
regards
Hi Rosa
The assumed ‘minimum income’ is the assumed income after expenses. It’s the figure they use to calculate entitlement – not what you receive. If your earnings are below that level, then for UC purposes your expenses are irrelevant.
“what can you do” – War on the poor ? 11 months time vote this shower OUT!
This is absolutely ridiculous. You’d think they would have done some research into this before implementing such policies. I went into self employment because I was so ill I could barely walk but according to the government I wasn’t disabled enough even though I could hardly stand up. They would have given me DLA if I had been depressed though. Anyway I got myself through it and work from home on the phone earning about £100 a week or thereabouts. The work just doesn’t bring in anymore. What do they want us to do? Register as unemployed and continue working on the side or something?
I take it you never been depressed let me tell you that this illness is terrible and also I can’t get any benefits because of my illness so don’t you dare bring people down that have this illness . I didn’t choose to be like this it’s people like you that have a cold and make out it’s a hundred times worse and get all the benefits . You should be ashamed !!!
Hi this is a joke. I am a single father and got into wedding photography to work around my daughter. Its hard to live at the moment I was told on Friday I would have to find other work as I don’t bring in the required amount of money. I was told I would have to go from self employed to unemployed and look for other work. By doing that I will be worse off. Its hard to find work that fits around my daughter so it would have to be part time if I can find any part time work. But that would bring in less than I am getting now so why are they doing this
I have just found out about the UCLE and it’s absolutely frightening. It means both my partner and I will have to stop working as self employed and look for other work. But there is no other work! We both have a disability but been self employed for two years as was given the opportunity to develop our businesses through the tax credit system. We feel like we have been doing all we can to move forward with our disadvantages but now we are kicked back to where we started. This is not OK. This is playing with people lives! I hope more and more people will realize what is happening and there will be a massive outcry. I think people are not aware yet, otherwise how could they vote for them again???
My son who has been operating as self employed as a stonewaller, a situation in which he often works for someone else who removes 20% of earnings for the tax office each time he is paid, is currently unemployed as there is no work available. shockingly it looks as if he will be unable to receive any financial support while he seeks more work, added to which the experience and implications of the demands on those who genuinely wish for work from the job centre are punitive in the extreme. My son additionally has bi-polar disorder which makes consistency at work problematic.
what is likely to be the result of this for him and so many others?
Seems to me we are going backwards as a society and moving towards the equivalent of the workhouses which is where help for the unemployed came in to prevent such appalling poverty circumstances, ill health and early death.
I am a pensioner in my 70s and will do what I can to inform others of the effects of the changes.
I cannot believe that many people would support such practices and policies if they knew what the effects were, and the effects are what count at the end of the day.
I will contact my MP. If there is anything else I can do to bring attention to this plight of so many please let me know.
As a self employed taxi driver in wigan I am in the same boat
Since the closure of one the main ranks in the town and the closing of two major retailers the majority of the town’s taxis now park on the other main taxi rank.
The dwp now won’t accept my expenses and get no payments.
Think that they who are on 30k a year should try working hard graft for a living and see how long they last
Blimey I’m not the only one commenting on this article years later. Yes this is very scary stuff. It’s a huge stress.
I’m a self employed performer so my work is seasonal and payments come in blocks – sometimes half a years income in a single payment for a contract done over months! I don’t earn enough to meet the ‘minimum income floor’ so if I’ve not boosted my business by the time I’m pushed off Tax Credits I’ll have to quit.
The really sad thing is my plan for leaving support completely was maybe only 1 year from fruition… I’m bi-polar and quite proud I’ve carved my own job that I’m capable of sustaining. I’ve gone from being on the dole, claiming housing benefit, unable to fit in anywhere, to almost standing alone through what I’ve achieved for myself. It’s taken me a decade but it’s all been in the right direction and I could see the end in sight. Till now….
As you’re allowed to save on Working Tax Credit I’ve been living as frugally as possible to keep enough to make a mortgage deposit on the cheapest run down shoebox (with one half coming from a parental loan). Because the monthly mortgage repayment would be half of what I pay on rent, that saving would negate my need for Working Tax or any other credit. I’d achieve my dream of having my own place and being self sufficient. My latest date forecast for that momentous change was April 2017 but maybe as early as May 2016!
…But now I’ll never get there as I don’t earn enough to get UCSE, so I’ll have 6 months to save myself before I’ll have to start paying the rent with what could have been the mortgage, before I’ll have to ditch 10 years of hard work…. so I’ll become unemployed (and possibly unemployable),… so then I’ll have to claim Universal Credit including the housing element.
Great.
If it wasn’t already so hard for a self employed person to get a mortgage I’d never have even read this article as I’d not be claiming. The whole system’s stacked against.
This website is designed for use for self employed and universal credit.
Please read and see how we can help you
Please could you provide a reference for the statement:
“The DWP says: “In future, if you are self-employed and on Tax Credits, you may be moved onto Universal Credit if your circumstances have not changed for some time. If this happens, you will not be subject to a minimum income floor for the first six months of your claim.””
This is really important information for many people if it is true, but I can’t find any trace of this policy on government websites.
I am in my second year of business and currently going through a quiet patch. I was claiming tax credits previously but decided to claim UC to get some extra help with rent. As a result of the MIF, I was awarded £0 and lost all my tax credits even though I have made a loss for these 2 months. I am technically ‘gainfully self-employed’ if you take it over the course of a year, but this won’t be of any help until October when my busy season starts. If I tell them I’m not gainfully self-employed, I have to look for another job, which means I can’t run my business (catch 22!?) As a result of UC wanting to assess accounts monthly instead of yearly like HMRC, I am seriously struggling to pay rent and eat. It is possible this will cost me my business and home (a very modest studio flat in suburbia) or at the very least leave me in massive debt which means the problems will continue into the next year.
It is disgusting how small business owners are being treated under this new scheme.
Hi James, thanks for sharing your experience of how the new UCSE rules are being implemented The statement you refer to was accurate when the article was published in 2013. I’m not sure if that is still the case, DWP may have changed the rules. Also it sounds as if you left Tax Credits for a period as you had to apply for UC. The transition rule if it still applies would have been for people who had been claiming TCs continuously. We completely agree, the MIF is a senseless and cruel measure. Do send your testimony to your local MP and any trade associations you are a member of, like FSB. Hope things work out for you, good luck.
Hello ,
I have just read your very helpful and informative article on self employment and universal credit .I am a graduate and also a start up business this year .
I am also a loan parent.
I have just lived through the process of becoming selfemployed and having to be interviewed and “processed” in order to qualify for the child tax credits which were stopped during this process leaving my children and I penniless and incurring bank charges while my business startup in the first few months was taking off…I feel I am being punished almost for trying to start up a business whilst being a loan parent …this has been the most difficult time of my life and at times my children have gone without the normal things like new shoes and clothes etc …starting up a business in the beginning will always involve costs initially ,no provision at all has been made for this in this terrible and inhumain universal credit system .I am a highly intelligent women and I have been belittled dehumanized and insulted by this universal credit system ,I have not at all felt supported to become an entrepreneur who wil;l if successful employ many others in this country ..I strongly feel that this system breaks families and people and does not encourage business in any way ,rather it channels people into becoming drones /workers for the establishment ,the system leaves families vulnerable and hungry for weeks on ends while it uses the excuse of decision making ….this is a fundamentally flawed and inhuman system which is wrong and we must lobby to have it removed completely .It does not work for business start ups or for women or for loan parents ….I would like to write a longer article on my experience so far of this system and if anyone is interested in me doing this for publication or just to include in research data please do not hesitate to contact me my email is suejmacaulay@yahoo.co.uk.I will be happy to write my experience of becoming self employed as a l;o9an parent /graduate this year 2016 .
My partner is self employed he has less earning minimum wage they calld him interview at Jobcenter like he is unemployed person we have not received any payment up to 8 weeks this must be joke and they want people to become homeless and stressed they must be stopped
I started with universal credits 2 months ago when I became unemployed. I since got a part time job and am self employed part time. last week, while I was at work, I received an email telling me I had to report my self employed income by calling the expensive ‘help’ line. I tried calling as soon as I got home from work, but in 55 minutes no one answered the phone. Now I have been told that I have missed my opportunity to report my self employed income and that my universal credit will be stopped. (Not that I’ve had a bean out of them so far anyway. Is this right?
Me and my partner have 4 children (2 of school age between us) I work part time 28h a week in the nhs on 7.84 an hour. He works part time as a taxi driver as he was widowed 10 years ago and left with a 7 year old son. I sold my house for a miniscule profit when separated and rented and got housing benefit. My partner had his own house. Received bereavement benefit. We have come together. We have lost quite a bit of money doing so. Love conquers all they say. We would have received 100 a week on tax credits on our circumstances. Now we are 6 weeks in with nothing. This minimum floor is ridiculous. How terrible they could leave people with nothing because they expect you to take No time off or holidays. I cant believe they have gotten away with this
I have been on universal credit and gainfully self-employed for 9 months now and am due to hit the end of my ‘start-up period’ in March. From that time it will be assumed that I earn just over £1000 (!!!). Yes, thats right… even higher than originally expected. I don’t even think I will be able to claim the ‘housing element’ part of my payment if it is assumed I earn that much so its looking like my choices will be 1) Stop working for myself and waste all the time and effort I have put into building my business up to this point, start being a ‘job-seeker’ again and probably get a minimum wage job somewhere 2) Continue working for myself however end up homeless thus unable to ‘work from home’ as I do now, so in essence jobless AND homeless.
Brilliant. Thanks DWP…nice one!
For the record, I struggled even before this as I am only 23 so even if tax credits were still happening I still wouldn’t be eligible to claim them for two years anyway! You think the system is rigged against the self-employed? Try being under 25 and attempting to start a business without ridiculous amounts of capital to back you. I went through a Princes Trust Enterprise Course and managed to work for an Loan to set this business up so that will have all been wasted, and then when i’m past the point where being gainfully self employed is possible I will somehow need to pay that loan back but with what? The peanuts that you get when you’re search for work? Or perhaps the pay I might get from a minumum wage job that I’ve just strived for 3 years to get away from?
What the hell!
I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, it has been operated on, but flares up if I do anything with my hands repetitively on a daily basis, eg: typing, using any sort of hand tool, driving, even stacking shelves or serving pies to people – I have ended up in sleep-depriving agony after a few weeks doing all those things full time.
Working Tax Credits enable me to work 2-4 days a week, taking time off when my hands begin hurting, which allows them to calm down before I work again. I have used lots of heavy tools in my work as a gardener for the past 5 years now and have sustained a level of self-employed income which has stopped me being wholly dependent on the state.
Universal Credit will finish me – it is being rolled out in my area soon, but hopefully I won’t be moved over to it for some time. I have worked out that I am unlikely to qualify for anything like the help I get now and anticipate losing around £400 – £450 a month in benefits with nothing to replace them.
I may find work that doesn’t involved using my hands, but the prospects are very limited. I won’t be able to continue the work that I enjoy and which fulflls me. Having had one ATOS assessment in which I score zero points, I am not confident that I would qualify for any help in lieu of my condition so it looks as though I will have to be unemployed – though it appears that I may not even qualify for that element of UC if they do not accept that I can’t do many jobs for 35 hours a week or work 5 continuous days. Terrifying.
I am a single father, had full custody of my daughter (12) and son (9) since 2011, left my job due to a back injury and took up self employment as a taxi driver in July 2014. We were not well off but we managed. I had been in receipt of housing benefit and this stopped. Upon trying to reclaim I was informed I had to claim UC.
I did some research and came to the conclusion if I claimed UC by month 3 I would run out of money. I eventually bit the bullet (no pun intended) in July due to increasing rent arrears to claim UC. I did this on July 7th. Here we are September 14th I was paid my 3rd UC payment yesterday and have ceased self employment and signed on the sick with depression. I am livid. I have worked 24 years since I left school to be put on the dole by the dole themselves. The taxi company I was paying rent to work from has an advert in my job centre for drivers!!
Laughable.
This country is no longer a welfare state. The UK has become, with the introduction of this new benefit, a nation that plunders and pickpockets the poor to pay for tax breaks and bonuses for the rich. Is this self-seeking leadership, which spits in the face of social justice, what we want? Is it what the nation needs? Is it right? Is it moral?
Expect unemployment to soar, as the above comments demonstrate. Who, without protected family capital, can now afford to create their own work, without the safety net of accessible benefits? Expect homelessness to skyrocket. Expect suicide rates to quadruple from the fear and shame of losing everything. Expect families to break up over the strain, children’s mental health problems to become an everyday reality and self-employment to be restricted to those with ample capital, private incomes and overseas bank accounts capable of quietly cushioning the blow of others’ bankruptcy.
This government has no shame. It is beyond ignorant.
I became self employed a long time ago in order to come off disability benefits and work 16 hours from home due to long term illness, true my earnings were propped up be Working Tax Credits but I was active and occupied. Since then I have had cancer and no improvement in my original condition but I still continued to be self employed. In October I was told my tax credits have stopped and now I have to sign for Universal credit – I know I can’t possibly reach the minimum income floor, so if they assume I am earning minimum wage x35hrs I assume this will affect my housing benefit and council tax reduction and therefore cannot possibly afford to be self- employed. Instead I will have to sign on as looking for work when I am not fit enough. Looking for work after I had succeeded in creating some work for myself. Looking for work when unemployment is as high as ever. How can this possibly be cost effective for the country? Given the complexity of the reporting of income to Universal credit how can it be practical to those who continue with their self employment with so much time wasted preparing accounts in different formats! The commitments expected of you when unemployed and claiming Universal credit are ridiculous. Even though I have been submitting “fit notes” from my doctor I have had to attend many job centre appointments have been emailed/called at home. This government should be ashamed of this situation, I have been advised to apply for personal independence payment by a macmillan benefits advisor but due to the complexity of the system and the hoops you are made to jump through I don’t think my nerves could stand it at the moment. This government are saving money (maybe) by putting too many obstacles in the way of people who have tried to help themselves out of the benefit trap and restricted employment opportunities for those who try to work with a health problem by making it almost impossible to be self employed
we should vote the out with a vote of no confidants, before more people loss their home and self worth it can make strong people feel like a failure and think their no point.
we need to stand together and be heard …we not all sheeple ..that why we took the plunge to work for our self’s…
single parent women here, ive just given up my business of 5 yrs after being told yeah be self emp, build it up for when kids go to school ( my sons 5 now ) i may as well sat on the dole for the last 5 yrs then put time and effort into something (not that id have done that ), i will never make the min floor so have now applied for jobs etc as with the huge rents on the s coast ill be homeless in a month if i get money assumed when i dont get it, it sucks and v unfair, id say discriminatory against women as well :( just have to be prepared i guess and look for other work if need be, not much else we can do at this time x
I was claiming WTC as a joint claim with my wife. When we split I had to make a new claim for UC.. Being self employed I was judged to be gainfully self employed but due to the slow footfall where I trade my earnings are very low (under min income floor)
As I have no kids and being back at parents (due to split) I was told that because they had used the min income floor, that I was earning too much too claim.
So in reality I am earning too little to qualify for a benefit that is supposed to help those on low income !!
I have a small subscription business which I work with my son and daughter which although just over a year is still building and is only just paying costs not wages however has the potential to be a fantastic big business given time, my local enterprise think it is the most exciting business start up they have seen but no funding available.I suffer with complex regional pain syndrome which is highly unpredictable and working from home allows me to work when I am able . My youngest child has just left school so my Bereavement benefit and child tax credits have ended and as I am gainfully employed !! but signed off sick I should have had the foreseen the future and saved money to pay myself when off sick!! was trying to work 20 hours but that was taking into consideration that everything takes me twice as long to do things
so am entitled to no money how can people be expected to live ? I have previously been deemed as unemployable and am going through the pip assessment again . I just feel so stressed which makes my condition worse and just makes you feel that it is not worth trying I felt so proud of myself for my idea and for trying to move forward with my disability and coping with losing my Husband and now I feel that it is all pointless when I cannot afford to pay bills . so much for supporting self employed !
Hi Worried, well done for what you have acheived with your business in this first year and so sorry for your loss.
Not up-to-date on the benefits situation, and clearly you’ve hit a wall with UCSE. It may be worth asking the jobcentre about New Enterprise Allowance. Also re business funding, it may be worth checking-out the government-backed Start-up loans company. http://prowess.org.uk/your-start-up-loans-application-inside-tips/ You can’t live on a start-up loan, but you may be able to use it for business costs to build the business and then start to have some profits to pay yourself with.
Wish you well and hope you can find a way through.
I’ve just hit this problem :(
been self employed for thirty years. My net income has always fluctuated, but averaged out as “just enough” until recently.
I’m now down to the point where my regular outgoings exceed my income by quite a bit and haven’t been able to find additional work, and therefore income – so I decided to claim UC, and discovered this Minimum Income Floor.
The difference between that and my income is near enough the same as the difference between my income/outgoings, so I’m going to get almost nothing.
I’m not sure how long I can keep going like this – eventually (before the end of this year) I’ll be unable to pay my rent. I suppose I can make what little I have go further by putting as much as I can on my cards (to which I already owe a bit) but that will just make things worse further down the line.
It is now 2024 and Tax Credits are ending, DWP are now sending out the UC migration letters… Amazing. I hate the DWP, condescending, aggravating, penny pinching little *****.
It’s going to be fun at the gateway interview, for these upstarts to claim I am not gainfully employed or being told I don’t make enough look for a job instead…. For around 20 years I have had zero complaint from paying my taxes HMRC or from TC decision as far as the only power I respect is the HMRC I do not for the DWP. I am self employed. I am disgusted by how the DWP treat people, they have very little respect for you, and that’s from the limited experience I have had with them. You would think the money came out of their own pockets. Penny pinching *****. DWP are not fit for purpose!!!