How the leap year will affect your Universal Credit payments

FOR some low-income families, the short month of February means that welfare payments don’t need to stretch as far. But 2020 is a leap year meaning that there’s an extra day this month – February 29 – but how does this affect your Universal Credit payments? Does it mean that I’ll get less money? The […]

FOR some low-income families, the short month of February means that welfare payments don’t need to stretch as far.

But 2020 is a leap year meaning that there’s an extra day this month – February 29 – but how does this affect your Universal Credit payments?

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Does it mean that I’ll get less money?

The DWP says that the standard monthly allowance stays the same every month, regardless of how many days there are.

These are currently set at £251.77 for single people under 25 or £317.82 for those 25 and over.

If you’re in a couple and both under 25, you’ll get £395.20, while couples where one or both partners are 25-years-old are entitled to £498.89.

February is always a shorter month than most, typically with 28 days, meaning that you won’t have to make your payments last so long.

For example, someone who gets £500 a month in total will be able to budget £16.13 a day in January when there are 31 days, but in February they can budget £17.85 a day.

As there are 29 days in February 2020, you’ll need to make your payments stretch further than you would normally need to in the shortest month of the year.

This works out at £17.24 a day for a £500 monthly payment.

The amount that you’re paid for other elements, such as housing, child and income support, will also be the same.

It also means that there will be one less day in the assessment period but it will not affect March’s payment either.

What happens if I’m normally paid on 30 or 31 of the month?

If you’re benefits are normally paid into your bank account on 30 or 31 of the month then you’re going to get it earlier than usual this February.

You’ll be paid on the last working day of the month, which is Friday February 28, instead.

What does the extra day in the year mean in the long term?

The National Housing Federation (NHF) has previously warned that hundreds of claimants will miss out on a week’s worth of rent this year.

The administrative loophole will affect those who pay their rent at the start of every week.

This is because monthly Universal Credit payments are worked out based on 52 weeks in the year – but this year there will be 53 Mondays.

Despite this, claimants will still receive the same amount as if there were only 52 Mondays, leaving society’s most vulnerable at risk of falling into rent arrears at the end of the year.

Even though an extra week in the tax year occurs every five or six years, this will be the first time so many claimants will be affected since the scheme launched in 2010.

Chief executive at NHF Kate Henderson warned that tenants will “need to find other sources of income” to foot the shortfall or risk falling into arrears.

But the DWP doesn’t agree. At the time we reported the issue, a spokesperson told The Sun: “Having 53 rent days does not mean paying more rent over a year as most of the final payment will cover the first week’s rent for the following year.”

If you’re worried that you won’t be able to pay the bills this month then you can apply to the jobcentre for a budgeting loan.

This government will lend you money to help pay for costs related to moving house, travelling to and from work or putting towards the rent, interest-free.

But you must remember that you have to pay it back and repayments will automatically be deducted from your next Universal Credit payout.