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Documenting the lives of new benefits claimants

There have been millions of new claims for Universal Credit since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak. In Your Call Is Important To Us, 大象传媒 Radio 4’s Jess Quayle talks to a handful of those who lives have been turned upside down since the lockdown began.

For many it’s their first time claiming, and is in sharp contrast to how they expected their lives to be.

Paul

Paul is a guitarist and music teacher from Manchester, he’s 34 and lives with his wife Hayley.

He lost most of his work when the lockdown started. He’s doing some online lessons now instead, but he’s lost a lot of students. Paul was amongst thousands of people who started off his claim in March by calling the .

Paul said: "It’s worrying and it’s horrible really, we’d much rather be freeing up the time to make our business work online. It’s like a part-time job staying on top of your application and getting it processed.”

Paul and his wife Hayley

Not long after that, a note appeared on the government website, asking people not to ring but to go online instead and update their journal.

It鈥檚 like a part-time job staying on top of your claim application and getting it processed.
Paul

“Essentially that first process went on until 3am in the morning. The process was really drawn out because the system was so overwhelmed at the time. That’s why I was doing it in the early hours of the morning, to be able to navigate the system when it wasn’t quite as crowded.”

Despite the time he spent, it turned out Paul wasn’t eligible for any support in his first month, because of money he had coming in from lessons he’d billed in advance.

“After that really convoluted process and being really stressed about money, we weren’t actually eligible for anything.”

Universal Credit brings together six benefits into one, and most people wait five weeks for their first payment. Claimants can apply for an advance though, if they need it.

Jane

Jane is 62 and lives alone. She was working at an airport when the lockdown started, but she lost that job almost straight away. She has three grown-up children and was in the middle of getting her house done up when she applied for Universal Credit.

I feel slightly caught out because I wasn鈥檛 anticipating losing my job.
Jane

She said: “I feel slightly caught out because I wasn’t anticipating losing my job. Thankfully this work has been paid for, otherwise I would be more stuck than I already am.”

Jane has been working since she was 18 and has never had to claim benefits before. She got nothing in her first month’s claim, because of money coming in from a house she rents out.

“It’s a struggle because of bills I still have going out. But I’ll just have to make sure I don’t spend anything that I haven’t got.”

In June Jane got a note on her journal confirming she was going to get £401.19 from Universal Credit. She told the 大象传媒 it was a relief, because she was able to start paying some bills, whilst looking for work.

Jane

Matt

Matt is a warehouse managers from Solihull. He had just taken up a new job in March, after working for the same company for 16 years. He lives in a shared ownership house, and is shielding because he’s in a high risk category. He was born with a genetic blood disorder which affects his immune system.

Matt missed the cut-off for his new employers to be able to claim furlough, so he ended up applying for Universal Credit.

He used to make £2,000 per month, and is forced to stop any payments going out that he can.

He gets around £400 a month from Universal Credit, but it’s not enough to match what he has going out.

“I don’t like having to rely on people. You feel a little bit powerless, I suppose. I’m going to come out of this in a fair bit of debt but before I had none.”

In June, Matt got a call from his new employer saying that they were making him redundant; he had hoped to be able to go back once he was allowed.

“There’s been a fair bit of sitting and feeling sorry for myself, it’s a dent to your self-confidence and self-worth.”

Matt

He contacted Universal Credit to let them know his circumstances have changed.

There鈥檚 been a fair bit of sitting and feeling sorry for myself, it鈥檚 a dent to your self-confidence and self-worth.
Matt

“It’s been a steep learning curve, but the thought now that this might be it for the foreseeable future for me, it’s not a nice thought, there’s only so much you can take."

What does the government say?

The say is a vital safety net and that more than three million people have now made new claims since 16th March, with almost a million needing an advance.

They say they’re committed to supporting vulnerable people and that staff have been going above and beyond to process the claims in time.

They’ve put £6.5 billion pounds into the welfare system and upped the amount people can claim by just over £1,000 a year - to help those in most need. Staff have also been redeployed – there are now 13,000 work coaches with 5,000 new ones on the way.

Listen to Your Call Is Important to Us for more on Paul, Jane, Matt and others' stories

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