People call me a ‘scrounger’ for claiming Universal Credit when I own a house – I put down £60k but still need benefits

PUTTING out one of the cigarettes that keeps her chain-smoking habit at bay, Erica Cartier, 44, looks around at her £200K home and feels so lucky.

While the average UK rental cost are £1327 per month, she pays just £100 because the rest is covered by her Universal Credit payment and, to make life even better, she owns 30% of her dream pad too.

Erica Cartier

Erica Cartier

She revealed people call her a scrounger for her financial situation[/caption]

But despite having worked hard to co-own her home with the council, Erica still gets blasted by trolls for being a ‘scrounger’ and slammed for ‘not needing’ benefits because she lives so comfortably.

“It makes me laugh when trolls say they pay taxes to the Government to fund my benefits,” says Erica. “But the truth is I worked hard for my bungalow and that doesn’t mean I should no longer get benefits.

“Universal Credit and ESA (Employment and Support allowance) is my main source of income as a carer for my disabled boyfriend and the fact I am unable to work full time due to my psychosis. 

“I receive £911 a month for rent, bills, food and everything else, and my cigarette fund eats up most of that.

“But I managed to buy my house as a shared ownership property because I was able to put down £60,000 that was tied up in an existing mortgage.

“Now the £370 a month rent I pay is in part covered by my Universal Credit, £271 a month. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do this.”

Before Erica signed on to contribution-based ESA, in 2014, she had a year working a job as a comment moderator at a big newspaper and was able to save because she was earning a London salary but paying Stoke-on-Trent rent, which is where she lived.

We have a lovely view of woodlands through those patio doors and a nice large garden to the front and back.

Erica44

“I took home £1870 a month for around one year, ” she explains. “I shared rented accommodation in a cheap part of Stoke-on-Trent (£250 a month) at the time and my outgoings were no more than £1000 a month so I was able to put away £870 every month for just over a year.

“I saved a lot in Stoke. I also saved some surplus student loan from a year studying at the local university totalling £6K and a further £7K from working from home 3 days a week as the editor of a journal during a 7-month maternity cover.”

It wasn’t until 2019, after a brief spell trying to work in an office, Erica was moved onto Universal Credit.

But before that, in January 2019, aged 38, Erica bought a two-bed cottage just outside Stoke for £87,500.

“I was lucky I was able to access unlimited savings when I was on Contribution-based ESA before I was moved to UC, where savings are capped at £6K. But this meant I had managed to save up just under £28K for a deposit so I could buy.

“I was on contribution-based ESA when I purchased my cottage and back then I was able to secure a mortgage from Natwest for £60,000 with my mix of benefits (PIP and the ESA) and self-employment. My income wasn’t more than £16,000pa when I applied. I paid this off monthly, £228 so didn’t get housing benefits for this.

“Sadly, the new rules around UC make it hard for people to save until the next big benefits review by Government honchos.

Erica Cartier

She says her previous mortgage never classed as income[/caption]

“This is because Universal Credit is paid month-by-month, depending on your circumstances only during this month.”

Erica sold her cottage for £110,000.

“When I moved here, the money went from property-to-property and never reached my own bank account. So UC never classed it as ‘income’.

“While I was looking to move, I’d hoped to get a £20,000 mortgage to meet the 40 percent share the bungalow was originally advertised at £80,000.

“Note: it was impossible!

Erica Cartier

She said no bank would accept UC as income[/caption]

“The DWP staff who manage my UC account refused to confirm to any bank that they’d be able to continue my unemployment payments if or when I moved.

“I didn’t then know if I could even afford to move – it was a leap of faith.

“I sent the banks general guidelines printed from the .Gov website to try to convince them I was entitled to £600 a month income from UC, but no bank would accept this – it was agonizing!”

For a while, it looked like it would be impossible for Erica to move and that she would lose the £500 securing deposit she put into the property she’d fallen in love with.

However, as she was able to make £20K on the sale of her terraced cottage this was put this into the bungalow.

“In a remarkable turn of events the council who share ownership of my lovely bungalow, reduced the percent I could buy to 30 percent as a goodwill gesture to apologise for a mistake they made on the bungalow’s boundaries.

“This saved my sale,” says Erica.

“I hadn’t anticipated that all my mortgage applications would be rejected so I had already put the holding deposit down.

“Had the council not reduced the asking price halfway through the sale, I wouldn’t have been able to afford my percent.

“So today, I’ve a share in the property, and a smaller than average rent to pay, I’m getting along here well and love it – it’s the best of both rental and home owning worlds!

“My boyfriend Paul moved in. He uses a wheelchair and as a further goodwill gesture about the boundary issue, the council has installed a ramp to the bifold doors so Paul can access our home at the back.

“While we’ve compromised on location, living on the edge of a large and scruffy council estate, and also in Britain’s smelliest village, we have a lovely view of woodlands through those patio doors and a nice large garden to the front and back.

“A friend visited us for drinks recently. She’s doing her PhD and excited about getting a home herself “with a big swimming pool”.

“She asked us about our dream living situation?

Paul and I synchronised our answers – looking outside, before we both said at the same time: ‘This is!’”