Adequate Maintenance Scenario Help
Hi all,
I just wanted to sanity check an adequate maintenance calculation (Appendix FM route, not the £29k requirement), as I’ve gone through it with a few different tools and just want to make sure I’m not missing anything.
Situation:
Sponsor receives Carer’s Allowance: £86.45/week
Universal Credit currently £110.15/month (after deductions) — this is before any employment income
Sponsor is about to start a job earning £130/week (net)
No housing costs (rent = £0)
Threshold (Income Support for a couple): £153.61/week
Understanding:
Since the job hasn’t started yet, the UC figure doesn’t include earnings, so we’ve assumed the 55% taper applies, meaning only 45% of earnings effectively increases total income.
So roughly:
UC weekly ≈ £25–£27
CA = £86.45
Earnings contribution after taper ≈ £58.50 (45% of £130)
Total weekly income ≈ £170–£172/week
Threshold = £153.61/week
So it looks like there’s a buffer of around £16–£18/week.
We also worked out that the minimum earnings needed would be around £90–£93/week once taper is applied.
Question:
Does this approach look correct for adequate maintenance?
Specifically:
Is it right to apply the UC taper in this scenario (since earnings aren’t yet in the UC statements)?
And does this look like a safe pass, or borderline in your experience?
Appreciate any thoughts — just want to be 100% sure before relying on this
Thanks!