Thanks to Cornish member, Jason Morris for sharing his very positive experience in applying for Universal Credit –

I just wanted to say a little something about universal credit because having recently spoken to friends and seeing others post stuff on here it’s clear to see that the bad press it has received has put people off even making a claim.

I can’t fault the whole process at all
I admit I didn’t claim straight away. In the current situation we find ourselves in the early days were fast evolving. Lots being announced etc so I was really waiting to see what help there would be for the self employed first.

When they announced our help was coming in June that very next day I went online to submit my claim for UC.

That was a Sunday.

It was quite straight forwards. The hardest bit was doing the identity check with the 3rd party verifier.
Partly my fault. One of the checks uses debit cards and one of them i used was a business one which they couldn’t check. It slowed things down a little is all.
On the Tuesday I got a missed call from a local number.
That evening an email notification came through from UC saying they would be calling again the next day. It even said which number they would use so that I would know it wasn’t a scam caller for those worried about these things.

They used local job centre staff to call me hence the local number.  Call was bang on time. A handful of check questions. Took 5 minutes. Claim processed.
It was so easy.

However, payments go out on the 5th of each month.
I claimed too late for an April payment.  But they let you take an advance if you need to money to get you through to the next payment.  It is paid back over the next few months from your future payments. They set a limit so you can’t take too much. It’s just to tide you over.  And you can do it more than once.  I took a little at the beginning and yesterday took a little more to get me to the 5th and that money was in my bank in two days.

But it’s so easy to manage online.  If you have questions you just pop them in your journals and they are answered.  If they need info it goes there too and you get email or text notification to tell you

So if you are in doubt about making a claim. Just do it.

I get that in the early days of the system they may have had problems but our trashy press only post the bad stuff as we know. Always trying to knock things down and say how rubbish things are and that things don’t work.  Well most of the time they do.  And even now at a time of unprecedented demand.

Good luck everyone!

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Apologies for not being able to record yesterday’s training webinar on Facebook, here is the link for you to view it.

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Bus and Lorry licence renewals – I’ve now had confirmation that applications to renew bus and lorry category licences still need to be made by form D47 or D2 and posted in.  Currently you may renew your licence for 12 months without the usual medical.  All other licence renewals can be done online, and a member told us that he received his new licence within 3 days.

 

 

 

Whilst our newsflashes are normally a benefit of membership of the ADINJC, during this national emergency we want to share information as widely as possible, so please feel free to pass this on.  We are stronger together.

 

The NJC continues to be dedicated to help you in these challenging times and we hope you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy.  Please feel free to contact us for help and support.

 

ADINJC’s helpline is 0800 8202 444

The Secretary’s number is 07855 453414

HMRC Helpline:  0800 0159 559

Citizens Advice Bureau – https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/health/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-you/

Samaritans: 116 123

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The ADINJC is a national association run by ADIs on a not-for-profit basis.  We work tirelessly to inform, represent and support our members, and to promote the interests of our profession.