Floating off UC - or jumping off the lobster boat?

I have a client in a difficult position.  We are in a live service area, where the standard gateway conditions apply i.e. single jobseekers only.  My client was a lone parent who combined working 20 hours per week with being a full time student.  She received tax credits and Housing Benefit.

She then moved in with her partner, who was on UC.  They were told to claim UC and after several months of confusion and mistakes they received some payments in November and December.  In January they were told that the combination of her wages and student finance meant that her income was too high for UC this month, and this is likely to continue to be the case for the next few months.

She is desperate to get back onto tax credits.  If she was still receiving UC then we could tell UC to end the claim and make a new claim for tax credits.  However as she has floated off partially due to her earnings I suspect she is now locked into the UC system for the next six months. 

Has anyone had a similar situation, or does anyone have any suggestions?  I suppose she could leave work, which would entitle her to some UC, but given the problems she has had with the benefits system I wouldn’t want to suggest this.

this wont help but I think you are right re 6 months.

Thanks Steve,

I thought I was but just wanted to make sure…

However I think I may have found a mistake in the way her student income was calculated - if I am right then she would be entitled to a small amount of UC, so would be firmly back on the lobster boat and poised to jump off it, avoiding the six months rule.

Did someone mention that it was a simpler system?