UC signing off/final payment?

When you sign off UC do you still get a "final payment" paid at the daily rate like JSA used to? If so when would i get this?

My assessment dates run from 11th-10th of the month and my next payment date is 17th april.

HOWEVER I need to close my claim by 24th april so would I get any money for the days from 11th-24th april (close of claim)?

Or absoloutely nothing? if i had to wait untill my usual payment date of the 10th of the month i wouldnt mind at all as long as i knew something was coming but i have a funny feeling i wont get anything for it. Does anyone have some good news for me?

Just so I get this clear:

You would expect to be paid on 17th April, and you need to close your claim by 24th April. Is this because that is the date you start a job?

I presume you will not have any payment from an employer before 24th April.

From how it looks, you should get a payment for any complete assessment period that your claim is still open, but I am not sure about what arrangements are in place if you close a claim during an assessment period.

I hope someone else will have more information about that. I am just seeking to clarify the query ahead of someone else taking a look at it.

Caker wrote:You would expect to be paid on 17th April, and you need to close your claim by 24th April. Is this because that is the date you start a job?

The reason I need to close my claim on 24th is because I have a temp job abroad lined up and this is the date when I leave the country.

I wish to maximise my UC whilst not commiting benefit fraud. If it was a job in the UK I would just let the claim run and let it automatically close if/when my earnings got too much. But as it's abroad it's a bit of a grey area.

Caker wrote:I presume you will not have any payment from an employer before 24th April.

Correct.

Oh! I see.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/481413/response/1160526/attach/html/3/Going%20abroad.pdf.html

This is all that I could find, sorry that it is not more helpful but I really hope someone with better knowledge will be on the forum soon.

No, thanks for making the effort its appreciated. Thankyou!

I'll be getting my final full payment on the 17th anyway for sure, but the extra 12 days or so of money accumulated before I close the claim would be most welcome. Just trying to find evidence backed up by the guidelines so I can kick off if i don't get it, or know for sure that i'm not entitled to it and forget about it.

All my searches have yielded conflicting opinion. Some forum posts suggest you do get paid for the "odd days" but not until your usual payment date. Some others suggest that you don't get anything for an incomplete assessment period. But crucially no proof from dwp guidelines has been provided either way.

https://respectfulbenefits.forumotion.com/t3350-when-should-i-close-my-claim-to-guarantee-payment

All the best in your new job.

......yes, all the best.

Thankyou thats dissapointing but i was half expecting it. i wish i had been cleverer and got an alternative payment arrangement in place for fortnightly/weekly payments and i'd have probably been ok.

I really hope Labour get in and do something about universal credit this can't go on

I am not sure that different payment intervals would make the difference since UC is based upon everything that happens within the assessment period. Under those circumstances I would expect that anything paid weekly would result in an 'over payment' being raised if there was a change of circumstances within the same assessment period.

In any case, it looks like you can be abroad with a UC claim in place (for up to 1 month) for any reason AFAIK.

Nothing stopping you ending your claim after you have left the country but before you actually start work, from how it appears to me. As long as you have access to the Internet, you could inform of your job start / claim end from anywhere.

This is just my interpretation of the situation. It may be something to look into.

Caker wrote:In any case, it looks like you can be abroad with a UC claim in place (for up to 1 month) for any reason AFAIK.

Nothing stopping you ending your claim after you have left the country but before you actually start work, from how it appears to me. As long as you have access to the Internet, you could inform of your job start / claim end from anywhere.

This is just my interpretation of the situation. It may be something to look into.

This is something I did look into briefly but again it's a bit of a challenging one in terms of possible benefit fraud or complications if/when I need to claim UC again in the future.

I have read you are allowed a "temporary absence" of up to 1 month abroad for any reason, but only if this is not expected to exceed 1 month. Unfortunately it is expected to exceed 1 month and the Jobcentre are aware of this fact.

I can't just go either and worry about it later because...

Benefit fraud

You’re committing benefit fraud if you:

   do not tell the office that pays your benefit you’re going abroad, even if it’s just for a visit
https://www.gov.uk/claim-benefits-abroad

Fair comment D. I was assuming that you were going to sign off completely when work started, so on that basis you would have declared going abroad and then 'suddenly' finding you had been offered a job (what a lovely surprise) signed off completely  

With no claim in place you can be anywhere you want.