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I currently recieve WTC and CTC. What I need to know, and millions of others in the UK is, Will people currently recieving working and child tax credits on a weekly basis, be paid monthly/4 weekly when the universal credit comes in, in October 2013?.
Thanks again Tory goverment, and in particular Iain Duncan Smith, for making working and even some middle class famalies lives harder work than it needs to be. Roll on May 2015, and then Apri 2016 when hopefully things will be better, because this shambles of a goverment would have been kicked out, and normal service will be resumed under Ed Milliband and Ed Balls.
Hi James,
Because you are an existing CTC/WTC claimant you will not be affected from October 2013, as this is only for new claims for people who meet certain circumstances.
Existing claimants of CTC/WTC will at some point be migrated onto Universal Credits between April 2014 – 2017. This will happen either when you have a significant change in your circumstances, or during the DWP’s phased approach (which will be completed by 2017, when CTC/WTC/JSA/IS/ESA/HB will no longer exist at all).
It is only once you have moved onto Universal Credits when your payments will change to monthly (not 4 weekly).
Hope this has helped (although I know it’s not really a help that these things are changing)
Millie
(11yrs experience as a Welfare Benefits Advisor, currently for a Housing Association)
Universal Credit System is not fully baked. It is not tested properly. Being working in this sector for more than ten years, i know there are many loop holes in the old system which needed to be rectified but changing the whole system with many but different loop holes does not make any sense. All people related to the old system are finally aware of the old sytem’s weeknesses and they know how to stop cheats claiming fake benefits. Its a different story that they stop cheats or not but they now know who is cheat or who is not.