Posted on 12/03/2017 8:31:34 PM PST by nickcarraway
No presents or money for Christmas dinner – The grim reality of the festive season if you're on Universal Credit
Dad-of-one Alex Fennell is penniless and dreading Christmas
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Facing a mountain of debt and coping with depression, Christmas is looking bleak for Alex Fennell.
The 47-year-old was working at Amazon when his contract came to an end. He thought he would go back on Jobseeker’s Allowance.
But he had a nasty shock when he realised he was being put on Universal Credit and would have to wait six weeks before getting any cash.
The dad-of-one was plunged into a debt spiral.
“Coping with that was pretty hard going,” he said.
“I was borrowing off friends and family which was a bit awkward.”
Previously rent would be deducted automatically from housing benefit payments. It’s not under the new system.
Alex has arranged for his rent to be deducted.
“I would have ended up spending it so it goes straight to my landlord now,” he said.
“I’m in arrears. All in all I owe nearly £2,000 in rent.”
Alex’s next payment is on December 7.
“I’ve got no money now,” he said.
“I’m borrowing off friends.”
Alex, who lives in a one-bedroom flat in Mountain Ash , can’t even afford to visit his family in Merthyr Tydfil .
Alex says he is desperate for work (Image: Rob Browne) READ MORE These are the next areas of Wales where Universal Credit is being rolled out “The stress has driven a wedge between me and my family,” he said.
“I don’t go to see them because I can’t afford it.
“I could go away to Newport to work. But I cannot even afford to catch the train there to suss out where I would stay.
“It’s money, money, money all the time.”
He has gone knocking on friends’ doors he has been left so cash-strapped.
“It’s degrading because I would like to get by myself,” he said.
“I don’t like to ask. The amount of courage I have to pluck up to ask you would not believe.
“It upsets me. There’s a lot of pride to swallow.”
Alex’ plight has left him with nothing to eat.
“I’ve used food banks before now and that is another thing,” he said.
“I don’t like doing that, it feels a bit embarrassing, even though they say you’re not the only one in that situation.
“And they only run certain days of the week and in certain areas. You need a vehicle to get to them or you have to catch a bus to get to them.”
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CLICK TO PLAY WHAT IS UNIVERSAL CREDIT? Christmas is unlikely to be merry.
“I’m dreading Christmas coming up because of the situation I’m in,” Alex said.
“I’m not going to be able to enjoy it not knowing where the next money is coming from.
“I don’t know if I will get any presents. I’ve a 15-year-old son but he doesn’t live with me.
“I’ve not even been able to buy him anything.
“I doubt I’ll have a turkey. I’ll probably have a steak and kidney pie and chips or something.”
Alex holds licences to drive HGVs and buses.
The 47-year-old can't get to interviews and shifts because he has no car (Image: Rob Browne) READ MORE Universal credit will leave working families in a Welsh city '£42-a-week worse off' But because he does not have a car he’s unable to get to work and shifts often start too early to use public transport.
“I sold my last car because I could not afford to keep it. There were things I needed to do to it and I couldn’t afford it.
“People say ‘Why don’t you try that company?’ and you say to them ‘They’re in Cardiff .’
“They say ‘You can get down there can’t you?
“But I can’t when shifts start at 2am.”
Alex’s situation has not helped his mental health.
“I’m on anti-depressants,” he said.
“I take so many tablets in the morning I’m surprised I don’t rattle.
“I’ve to take eight every morning.”
He began taking the pills in his 20s.
“I attempted suicide as a kid but not recently,” he said.
“But it goes through my mind all the time.”
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CLICK TO PLAY THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE LIVING WITH UNIVERSAL CREDIT He claimed he was “stuck in a vicious circle”.
“Every time I think I might have got somewhere everything just goes pear-shaped,” he said.
“It’s like there is someone out there trying to stop me from doing okay.”
Community Housing Cymru represents more than 70 not-for-profit housing associations. The organisation’s Will Atkinson was concerned thousands would be left penniless over Christmas because of Universal Credit.
“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 the six-week waiting period.
READ MORE Paralympian's specially adapted car was taken away after nearly 20 years because of benefit changes “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 families face a bleak Christmas because of workers being paid 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 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.
Universal Credit has been criticised for making people's lives worse (Image: Rob Browne) 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 say that Universal Credit is supposed to help people into work.
READ MORE A little boy asked his neighbours to help hungry families and their response was just lovely “Well let me tell you, nobody has time to find work when their 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.”
>> Universal Credit lies at the heart of our commitment to help people improve their lives and raise their incomes.
Schemes like this take the pressure off government to permit the free market economy it squanders. Ultimately, someone pays the price for the lack of productivity and the dignity that accompanies it.
The United Kingdom is a socialist shithole.
Didn’t they used to call them “Indentured Servants”?
so you might as well live it up on the way out
Two peoples separated by a common language.
L
It suggests the problem is poor money management or low intelligence that interferes with one’s ability to manage key bills.
It could be that those on Universal Credit in the U.K. are also bogged down in universal debt that always follows and never goes away. A few people in U.S. western states had a taste of it a few years ago, and it’s coming.
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