Single mum who got £2,000 into debt wins landmark Universal Credit court case to get childcare paid upfront
A SINGLE mum on Universal Credit has won a landmark court case to get childcare costs paid for upfront.
Sun columnist Nichola Salvato, 49, took the government to court after getting into £2,000 worth of debt trying to pay for childcare.
It's a huge win for The Sun's Make Universal Credit Work campaign, which played a big part in supporting the court case's defence.
It could set a precedent for half a million other working parents on benefits who can't afford to stump up the cash to pay for nursery or childminder fees.
The decision will help stop mums and dads being pushed further into debt when trying to find a job or go to work.
Nicola said: "It’s an absolute win for The Sun’s campaign. Its support helped us secure today’s ruling and we couldn’t have done it without them.
“I’m overwhelmed. It’s fantastic. It is ridiculous that the most hard-up families have to pay childcare upfront, costing sometimes thousands of pounds a month.
"Even on a full-time salary it’s very hard to find the spare cash to pay for childcare upfront.
"The government now needs to take action on this and makes it easier to support working parents with families."
"Stuck in a cycle of debt"
Working parents on Universal Credit can claim up to 85% of childcare costs.
You get £648 for one child and up to a maximum of £1,108 for two children.
But parents can't claim the money without proof of payment. The cash is also paid in arrears, putting even more pressure on hard-up households.
Nicola, who lives in Brighton, regularly writes a column for us answering readers' questions on Universal Credit.
He added that the system discriminated against women in particular "because women as a group earn substantially less than men as a group."
Mr Justice Chamberlain said: "It follows that women are substantially more likely than men to be denied access to the [childcare costs element] because they do not have enough money to pay childcare charges out of their own funds before being reimbursed."
It's the second legal blow suffered by the DWP over Universal Credit this year.
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In June, three judges ruled the Universal Credit assessment dates as "irrational and unfair"after four mums took the government to court.
The ruling could potentially help around 85,000 claimants who are left skint and out of pocket because sometimes two paydays falls into the same assessment period.