Posted on 12/03/2017 8:31:34 PM PST by nickcarraway
No presents or money for Christmas dinner – The grim reality of the festive season if you're on Universal Credit
Dad-of-one Alex Fennell is penniless and dreading Christmas
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Facing a mountain of debt and coping with depression, Christmas is looking bleak for Alex Fennell.
The 47-year-old was working at Amazon when his contract came to an end. He thought he would go back on Jobseeker’s Allowance.
But he had a nasty shock when he realised he was being put on Universal Credit and would have to wait six weeks before getting any cash.
The dad-of-one was plunged into a debt spiral.
“Coping with that was pretty hard going,” he said.
“I was borrowing off friends and family which was a bit awkward.”
Previously rent would be deducted automatically from housing benefit payments. It’s not under the new system.
Alex has arranged for his rent to be deducted.
“I would have ended up spending it so it goes straight to my landlord now,” he said.
“I’m in arrears. All in all I owe nearly £2,000 in rent.”
Alex’s next payment is on December 7.
“I’ve got no money now,” he said.
“I’m borrowing off friends.”
Alex, who lives in a one-bedroom flat in Mountain Ash , can’t even afford to visit his family in Merthyr Tydfil .
Alex says he is desperate for work (Image: Rob Browne) READ MORE These are the next areas of Wales where Universal Credit is being rolled out “The stress has driven a wedge between me and my family,” he said.
“I don’t go to see them because I can’t afford it.
“I could go away to Newport to work. But I cannot even afford to catch the train there to suss out where I would stay.
“It’s money, money, money all the time.”
He has gone knocking on friends’ doors he has been left so cash-strapped.
“It’s degrading because I would like to get by myself,” he said.
“I don’t like to ask. The amount of courage I have to pluck up to ask you would not believe.
“It upsets me. There’s a lot of pride to swallow.”
Alex’ plight has left him with nothing to eat.
“I’ve used food banks before now and that is another thing,” he said.
“I don’t like doing that, it feels a bit embarrassing, even though they say you’re not the only one in that situation.
“And they only run certain days of the week and in certain areas. You need a vehicle to get to them or you have to catch a bus to get to them.”
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CLICK TO PLAY WHAT IS UNIVERSAL CREDIT? Christmas is unlikely to be merry.
“I’m dreading Christmas coming up because of the situation I’m in,” Alex said.
“I’m not going to be able to enjoy it not knowing where the next money is coming from.
“I don’t know if I will get any presents. I’ve a 15-year-old son but he doesn’t live with me.
“I’ve not even been able to buy him anything.
“I doubt I’ll have a turkey. I’ll probably have a steak and kidney pie and chips or something.”
Alex holds licences to drive HGVs and buses.
The 47-year-old can't get to interviews and shifts because he has no car (Image: Rob Browne) READ MORE Universal credit will leave working families in a Welsh city '£42-a-week worse off' But because he does not have a car he’s unable to get to work and shifts often start too early to use public transport.
“I sold my last car because I could not afford to keep it. There were things I needed to do to it and I couldn’t afford it.
“People say ‘Why don’t you try that company?’ and you say to them ‘They’re in Cardiff .’
“They say ‘You can get down there can’t you?
“But I can’t when shifts start at 2am.”
Alex’s situation has not helped his mental health.
“I’m on anti-depressants,” he said.
“I take so many tablets in the morning I’m surprised I don’t rattle.
“I’ve to take eight every morning.”
He began taking the pills in his 20s.
“I attempted suicide as a kid but not recently,” he said.
“But it goes through my mind all the time.”
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CLICK TO PLAY THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE LIVING WITH UNIVERSAL CREDIT He claimed he was “stuck in a vicious circle”.
“Every time I think I might have got somewhere everything just goes pear-shaped,” he said.
“It’s like there is someone out there trying to stop me from doing okay.”
Community Housing Cymru represents more than 70 not-for-profit housing associations. The organisation’s Will Atkinson was concerned thousands would be left penniless over Christmas because of Universal Credit.
“Perhaps 2,700 people in Wales will claim Universal Credit in the run up to Christmas and have no money until after Christmas,” he said.
“They might be claiming housing benefit, and then have a child and go to claim child tax credits, and they’ll be told they have to go onto Universal Credit.”
That will trigger the six-week waiting period.
READ MORE Paralympian's specially adapted car was taken away after nearly 20 years because of benefit changes “It’s very bad,” Mr Atkinson said.
“For anyone having to wait six weeks without any money, it’s a massive stretch.
“You’re looking at placing people six weeks in rent arrears which is a bad situation.”
Many on Universal Credit have no savings, Mr Atkinson said.
It was announced in the recent Budget by Chancellor Philip Hammond that the six-week wait will be cut to five. But this doesn’t kick in until February.
“This is not just affecting the unemployed,” Mr Atkinson said.
“It affects people who might be working full-time minimum wage jobs but because their income is so low they claim working credits.”
In the latest twist, thousands of families face a bleak Christmas because of workers being paid weekly.
The DWP says that around 67,000 claimants are paid weekly and 25,000 may be affected over the Christmas because of when their assessment periods fall.
Assessment periods for Universal Credit run for 30 or 31 days like a calendar month, instead of the 28 days used by the child tax credit system.
So some months, depending on what date a family first make a claim, people who are paid weekly get paid five times instead of the usual four. Universal Credit looks at this as if a claimant has done extra work and stops their claim.
“People will not be able to put the heating on, they will go into rent arrears, they will have to make decisions to cut back,” Mr Atkinson said.
“They may be driven into the hands of loan sharks which could put them into a debt spiral.”
People could be evicted from their homes, he warned.
“If you are a landlord and you’re not going to get money for six weeks you’ve got a business to run and you have got to make a decision.
“If a tenant is already behind with their rent they might be in trouble, especially if your landlord is not understanding.”
Mr Atkinson “welcomed” the reduced waiting period but wanted it cut to four weeks.
He called on the government to “immediately pause” the Universal Credit rollout.
“This pause should be used to review and amend the significant issues with the policy, including reducing waiting time to four weeks and ensuring that claimants receive payment as soon as housing costs are verified,” he said.
Universal Credit has been criticised for making people's lives worse (Image: Rob Browne) Sue Leader, of the union Unite, said the chancellor had only “tinkered around the edges” with Universal Credit.
“When Universal Credit is rolled out across Cardiff in spring, some of the poorest families will have no cash for five weeks,” she said.
“Meanwhile there are others who have nothing this Christmas.
“The idea that people can ‘borrow’ money from the Jobcentre completely ignores the fact that so many are already in debt.”
She said a “record amount” of food vouchers had been handed out from one community centre in Ely , Cardiff.
“And it has a record take up for their discounted fruit and veg box scheme,” she said.
“The government say that Universal Credit is supposed to help people into work.
READ MORE A little boy asked his neighbours to help hungry families and their response was just lovely “Well let me tell you, nobody has time to find work when their queuing at the food bank or terrified about where they’re going to find their next meal.”
A DWP spokesman said: “No-one who needs support has to wait six weeks. In December, claimants can request an advance of up to 50% of their first payment and a further 50% in January if they need it, repayable over 12 months.
“Universal Credit lies at the heart of our commitment to help people improve their lives and raise their incomes.
“It provides additional, tailored support to help people move into work and stop claiming benefits altogether.
“And it’s working. With Universal Credit, people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer than under the old system.”
The 47-year-old was working at Amazon when his contract came to an end. He thought he would go back on Jobseeker’s Allowance.
But he had a nasty shock when he realised he was being put on Universal Credit and would have to wait six weeks before getting any cash.
“Coping with that was pretty hard going,” he said.
“I was borrowing off friends and family which was a bit awkward.”
Previously rent would be deducted automatically from housing benefit payments. It’s not under the new system.”
All that Socialism and you’re still broke?
Guess he has no “Emergency Fund”.
Why can’t he go get alms from the local mosque?
Santa Claus won’t be coming this year. Several elves have accused him of sexual harassment. One elf said he asked her if she’d like to see his toy wooden soldier.
Not a fan of Dave Ramsey...
Poor Alex. So many excuses not to work.
“Guess he has no “Emergency Fund”.
I was born in The Great Depression————we always had an emergency fund. Always.
This guy is an idiot.
.
My wife and I put up 6 gallons of soups and stocks today. Our all in cost for everything was less than $30.
3 Gallons Chicken Stock
1 Gallon Turkey Soup
1 Gallon Split Pea with Ham
1 Gallon Chicken Pozole
That’s enough food to last this slug a month. Everything was made with leftovers from our Thanksgiving meals. We wasted nothing.
People like this leech make me so mad I could spit.
L
Is that you, Dave Ramsey?
That all sounds goood! I love leftovers and using up everything I can. I haven’t made stocks, though. Kind of a lost staple.
I gotta ask, is this like a triple socialist Amazon job or what? Who the heck loses their Amazon job just before Christmas? Did the person simply assume they’d get job seeker’s allowances and not save a penny of his wages for the lean times to come if he failed to renew his contract?
Honestly, it really reads like someone who’s habitually unemployed (or employed JUST long enough to get the most benefits) who can’t save a dime and lives well beyond their means.
“I haven’t made stocks, though. Kind of a lost staple.”
Learn how to make and preserve them. There’s absolutely nothing like it.
L
Thanks. I hope to add that to my kit.
When you die, your heirs don’t have to pay your debts, although they could, or maybe even should. A rise in suicide rates would be a terrible result of all this consumer debt.
The truth comes out in the story, perhaps. He’s addled on numerous legal prescription drugs to the point he can’t function. How he held down a job for any length of time might in fact be admirable.
The US has literally millions of people like this on disability. And then the heroin addicts who have discovered their own solutions outside the medical system, later on.
I don’t hear him saying anything of the kind.
what does that even mean? I can’t understand British English
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