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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit administration  →  Thread

Four weekly pension payments

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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We know that someone working and being paid on a 4-weekly cycle will have regular problems whereby they receive two lots of wages in one monthly assessment period and thus end up with low or no UC entitlement.

Is this also a problem for other income such as pensions? Someone asked me yesterday and I didn’t really have an answer. We’re particularly thinking about mixed-age couples when they are forced to claim UC instead of PC with the older person receiving 4-weekly payments of State Pension. I’m sure there are other similar scenarios. The regs simply seem to say all unearned income received during an assessment period is taken into account.

So I’m assuming they will, indeed, be caught and subject to the same difficulties. Thoughts?

Daphne
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Unearned income is worked out as a monthly amount under reg 73 of the UC regs - ie 4 weekly payments multiplied by 13 and divided by 12 so shouldn’t be a problem I think

Unearned income calculated monthly
73.—(1) A person’s unearned income is to be calculated as a monthly amount.
(2) Where the period in respect of which a payment of income is made is not a
month, an amount is to be calculated as the monthly equivalent, so for example–
(a) weekly payments are multiplied by 52 and divided by 12;
(b) four weekly payments are multiplied by 13 and divided 12;
(c) three monthly payments are multiplied by 4 and divided by 12; and
(d) annual payments are divided by 12.

(2A) Where the period in respect of which unearned income is paid begins or
ends during an assessment period the amount of unearned income for that assessment
period is to be calculated as follows:
( M x 12
N x 365 )
where N is the number of days in respect of which unearned income is paid that fall
within the assessment period and M is the monthly amount referred to in paragraph (1)
or, as the case may be, the monthly equivalent referred to in paragraph (2).
(3) Where the amount of a person’s unearned income fluctuates, the monthly
equivalent is to be calculated–
(a) where there is an identifiable cycle, over the duration of one such cycle; or
(b) where there is no identifiable cycle, over three months or such other period
as may, in the particular case, enable the monthly equivalent of the person’s
income to be determined more accurately.
(4) This regulation does not apply to student income.

Gareth Morgan
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Paul_Treloar_AgeUK - 10 November 2017 11:09 AM

So I’m assuming they will, indeed, be caught and subject to the same difficulties. Thoughts?

Not a problem as unearned income is normally averaged over an annual cycle.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Thanks both, I missed that when I looked earlier on. Phew!!!