Universal Credit delay left me so poor I have to beg strangers for cash to feed my toddler
WITH her 18-month-old son asleep in the only bedroom in her flat, Farzana Miah desperately scoured the empty cupboards in her kitchen for something - anything - to feed him for breakfast.
But with bare cupboards, the single-mum-of-one from Ealing sat down at her computer, swallowed her pride, and begged strangers for cash on the crowdfunding website
Just last year Farzana, 25, couldn't have imagined she'd be relying on the charity of strangers to feed her son Keyaan.
She was working at Sainsbury's earning £400 a month for working 12 hours a week, but had to give up the job in September, when she was moved onto Universal Credit and suddenly had to pay childcare costs upfront.
Under Universal Credit you get 85 per cent of childcare fees covered by the Government, but they must be paid upfront by parents and can take up to six weeks to claim back.
Farzana isn't the only mum to fall foul of the new Universal Credit system.
The Sun has been campaigning for childcare costs to be paid upfront by the government in our Make Universal Credit Campaign - helping parents like Farzana get back to work.
Farzana says she is now £4,500 in debt, behind on bills and has to rely on foodbanks to put meals on the table.
She feels that crowdfunding is now her only option to help repay her debts and raise cash to enrol on a beauty course so she can work around childcare, to get her out of the cycle of poverty.
"Asking for money so publicly has made me feel so low," Farzana told The Sun. "I feel disgusted that I’ve had to do it but what choice do I have?
"The only hope I have of ever paying it off is by getting a job but I can’t afford childcare on Universal Credit so I’m trapped. I can’t see a way out.
The Sun wants to Make Universal Credit Work
UNIVERSAL Credit replaces six benefits with a single monthly payment.
One million people are already receiving it and by the time the system is fully rolled out in 2023, nearly 7 million will be on it.
But there are big problems with the flagship new system - it takes 5 weeks to get the first payment and it could leave some families worse off by thousands of pounds a year.
And while working families can claim back up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, they must find the money to pay for childcare upfront - we’ve heard of families waiting up to 6 months for the money.
Working parents across the country told us they’ve been unable to take on more hours - or have even turned down better paid jobs or more hours because of the amount they get their benefits cut.
It’s time to Make Universal Credit work. We want the government to:
- Get paid faster: The Government must slash the time Brits wait for their first Universal Credit payments from five to two weeks, helping stop 7 million from being pushed into debt.
- Keep more of what you earn: The work allowance should be increased and the taper rate should be slashed from 63p to 50p, helping at least 4 million families.
- Don’t get punished for having a family: Parents should get the 85 per cent of the money they can claim for childcare upfront instead of being paid in arrears.
Together, these changes will help Make Universal Credit Work.
Join our or email [email protected] to share your story.
"I’ve never been in debt before and it really frightens me.
"Having to tell strangers my story is embarrassing and I know they will judge me, but I feel like I have to suck it up and take the hit to protect Keyaan’s future.
"I’m doing everything on my own. My son is my main priority, my rock, but if it wasn’t for my son, then I don’t think I’d be here."
Farzana was abused when she 16 and put into care, and has been living in temporary accommodation - a converted shipping container - for the past two years.
'IF IT WASN’T FOR MY SON, I DON’T THINK I WOULD BE HERE'
Farzana was able to return to work over summer while her sister looked after Keyaan for free. But come September, she returned to college and Farzana couldn’t afford to put her son into childcare.
Are you on Universal Credit? Tell us your story. Email: [email protected] and join our
While at work, Farzana’s Universal Credit payment was hit by the taper rate - a figure set by the Government to reduce your benefits if you earn more than a set amount.
For every £1 she earns over £198, 63p is deducted from their benefit payment. It meant that Farzana’s £400 a month wage reduced her benefits by £252.
Farzana added: "I'm not left with enough to buy food for my son as well as pay back these debts.
"I want to go back to earning my own money. I loved working and I hate doing nothing but who can look after my son?
What are Farzana's income and outgoings?
FARZANA Miah, from Ealing, recently turned 25 meaning that her payments will go up by £66.05. But this is what she has been living off until her birthday this year:
Universal Credit
- Standard allowance: £251.77
- Child: £231.67
- Housing: £1,013.04
- Deductions for overpayment: £37.77
- Total entitlement: £1,496.48
- Total left over (after housing): £445.67
Outgoings
- Credit card: £80 a month
- Food bill: £200 a month
- YMCA Hostel bill: £48 a month
- Phone bill: £20
Total left to live off: £97.67
"I miss the independence and the social of having a job but it's just not possible. I don't have any cash to spare to put Keyaan in childcare."
In total, Farzana is entitled to £1,497 a month Universal Credit but once she’s paid her rent and bills she has just £97 live off.
A dispute between Ealing Council and the Department for Work and Pensions meant that Farzana’s housing costs were overpaid by £1,950 back when she first applied for Universal Credit.
Her rent is paid directly to the council, so despite the extra money never actually reaching her bank account she is having to repay the cash from her Universal Credit.
Around £38 a month automatically deducted from her payments to cover the costs.
On top of this, she also faces repaying £2,502 housing debts from when she was living in a hostel whilst in care four years ago - a bill she was unaware of until January this year.
'IT WILL TAKE ME 10 YEARS TO CLEAR MY DEBT, I’M BROKEN'
She’s currently paying the council £48 a month to cover these costs.
If she continues paying back what she owes at the same rate then it will take her over four years before she’s debt-free.
The DWP offered Farzana an interest-free budgeting loan of up to £812 to help her manage the costs, which she turned down to avoid spiralling further into debt.
"If I could work then I would be able to pay off the debt sooner," she explains. "But I can’t while I have to money to pay for Keyaan’s care.
MAKE UNIVERSAL CREDIT WORK
An Ealing Council spokesperson said: "No-one is charged to be in foster care although we do charge working age adults rent. This is a complex case and we appreciate Ms Miah's frustration.
"We will be writing to Ms Miah in order to offer her advice and support. However we strongly encourage her to get in contact with us as a matter of urgency so we can explain the actions she needs to take to resolve this issue."
How is Farzana Miah doing now?
SIX months on from the launch of our Make Universal Credit Work campaign, we've revisited some of our most hard-hitting stories.
We spoke to Farzana again in June 2019, four months after we first published her story, to get an update case.
She told us that after her story featured in The Sun in February, readers kindly donated £650 via her Just Giving page.
Farzana used all of the funds to clear some of the housing debt she’d acquired during her time living in a YMCA hostel when she was in care as a teenager.
She still has £853.84 left to pay off, on top of her other debts.
Since we last spoke to Farzana four months ago, the council moved the family out of short-term temporary accommodation in Ealing to a two-bed flat nearby so her and one-year-old Keyaan can have his own room.
But the flat is let as a non-secure tenancy agreement, which means she could be kicked out at any time without “valid notice”.
It also means that her rent has gone up from £303.24 a week to £349.33 a week.
The dispute between Ealing Council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over who is funding Farzana’s housing costs is ongoing and since moving home in March this year, her housing element of Universal Credit has stopped completely.
The mum-of-one says she has been sent back and forth from the council to the Jobcentre trying to get her payments sorted but to no avail.
It means her Universal Credit entitlement has dropped from £1,496.48 a month to just £549.49 a month. She’s been unable to pay her rent since moving in.
“It makes me so anxious that I don’t like to think about it,” Farzana told The Sun. “I keep calling Universal Credit who tell me that it’s the council’s responsibility to cover my housing costs and then the council send me back to Universal Credit.
“I just keep getting asking to write in my journal or wait a few weeks for an update.
“But in the meantime I can’t pay my rent.
“I explained this to Universal Credit and asked what happens if we get kicked out of the flat?
“They told me I would be able to go back to the homeless shelter but I don’t want to do that because it’s taken me this long to get away from there.
“I don’t want to go back.”
Farzana is still unable to get a job at the moment while she gets help with her mental health and because she can’t afford the upfront costs of childcare.
When Keyaan turns two, he’ll be entitled to up to 15 hours a week free childcare which she believes may help her get back into work eventually.
“I do miss work, I miss the social side of it but it’s just not something that feels possible for me right now,” she added.
“I hope that I can get back to it in the future though.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “As Ms Miah has confirmed she’s living in temporary accommodation her housing costs are expected to be paid by her local council through housing benefit.
“If that has changed she should speak to her work coach so we can pay her housing costs through Universal Credit.
“Ms Miah receives ongoing support, we’ve made her aware of further support and have offered help with her up-front childcare costs to remove any barriers to work.”
A spokesperson for Ealing Council said: "We do not discuss individual cases, but we can confirm the issue of the responsibility for housing costs has been resolved in this case.
"The rules around housing costs and whether DWP or the council pays them are complex.
"These rules changed last year so there are some individuals who will have housing costs paid through Universal Credit and others through Housing Benefits."
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