Councillor Phil Bateman said today – “Wednesfield North & Wolverhampton residents who claim any of the below benefits will find them wrapped into one benefit from the 8th February. This newly packaged Government policy will be called Universal Credit”
Your Benefits Will be Paid Together into your bank account
A new type of benefit, for working age people only, called Universal Credit, is coming on February 8th 2016 . It will bring together the main out of work benefits:
- Housing Benefit
- Income Support
- Job Seekers Allowance
- Income Related Employment and Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit.It will be paid once a month into your bank account, in the same way as a salary.You will no longer be paid housing benefit and you will need to arrange to pay your rent yourself. You will need to make sure you can pay all your bills. Paying your rent is a priority payment because if you do not pay it, and get into arrears, you could lose your home.
- What can you do to get ready?
- It will be introduced from 8th February 2016 for single people who are claiming for the first time.
- Get Online – you’ll need to apply and manage your benefits online. You’re reading this so job done!
- Start saving up to pay your rent – Universal Credit will be paid to you in arrears, so you’ll need to pay your rent before you get your first benefit payment.
- Open a bank account or credit union account – ready for your Universal Credit to be paid into.
Find out what you need to do to get ready by answering a few questions on the Getting Ready for Universal Credit Planner
