A woman on Universal Credit (UC) was alarmed after the recent problems surrounding the benefit plan persists. Metro reported that Gayle Paterson usually received £650 every month but a conflict in her receipt of wage and benefits resulted in the UC cutting her monthly UC payment to a measly £64.
According to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), her payments are cut because she received her wage from work within the assessment period in which she is supposed to receive the £650 benefit. The assessment period is from November 8 to December 7, while she received her wage for the period between November 8 to December 6.
Mirror said that DWP took this as Paterson being paid twice. This is despite the fact that she received her payments in different months.
Paterson works as a part-time home shopper for Asda. Paterson said that if only Asda paid her one day later, she would have received the UC payment. Instead, she is left to allocate £64 to get through the holiday season.
Paterson got in touch with DWP to clarify the matter but was told that there is nothing the people at DWP could do. Mirror also reported that the Department refused to give her a Universal Credit loan as she “earns too much.”
In the past, the mother uses her wage to pay for her rent and car bills in half. She uses the Universal Credit payment to pay for the other half of her expenses.
The mother lives with her two children, aged 20 and 18. Both children are studying and working part-time to help pay for household expenses. According to her she and her children have to “go to bed early on a night so it’s warm because [they] can’t afford to put the heating on.”