Universal Credit

8 min read

Universal Credit is a single monthly payment to help with your living costs and provides support if you are working and on a low income, looking for work or unable to work.

The following benefits and tax credits are ending and being replaced by Universal Credit, under a

single monthly payment:

• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support
• Allowance (ESA)

Universal Credit is normally paid monthly in arrears and includes an amount to help you pay your rent directly to your landlord.

From April 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is writing to some people who receive these benefits to let them know that they need to claim Universal Credit instead. This is called managed migration.

The Department for Work and Pensions have an Understanding Universal Credit website that provides more information to support you. We also have Money Matters pages that you can visit for advice and support on a range of subjects.

On this page:

• Before you claim Universal Credit
• Applying for Universal Credit
• Universal Credit payments
• Reporting changes in circumstances
• Sanctions
• If you disagree with a decision
• Managed migration

Before you claim Universal Credit

Check if you’re better off on Universal Credit before you apply.

Use our online benefit checker to work out if you would be better off on Universal Credit.

If you are unsure, get advice before claiming Universal Credit. Your current benefits might stop and you won’t be able to reapply for them, even if you are not awarded Universal Credit.

Further information

GOV.UK provides more information on eligibility to claim Universal Credit including if you are under 18 years old, are studying or have a disability or health condition.

Applying for Universal Credit

Most people are expected to claim and manage Universal Credit online. More information on what you need to apply is available on GOV.UK’s website. You will also find an overview of the application and assessment process.

After you have made a claim

You will be told how to arrange an interview with Jobcentre Plus. You need to attend this appointment and it will be within 10 working days from submitting your application.

At your interview, you will agree a Claimant Commitment. This will list the activities you need to complete to receive Universal Credit and will be tailored to you and your circumstances. It is important for you to discuss any health condition or a disability which prevents or limits, your ability to work.

You claim will be stopped, and you may be sanctioned, if you fail to keep to the agreements made in your Claimant Commitment without a valid reason.

Universal Credit payments

Your first payment

You may have to wait for around 5 weeks from making your claim to your first payment. You can apply for a Universal Credit advance if you are unable to manage during this period.

Universal Credit is paid as a single monthly payment. You are responsible for paying your rent and other bills for the month.

Managing your money

There is help for you to manage your money from Universal Credit including Alternative Payment Arrangements like:

• paying your housing costs straight to your landlord
• deducting for rent arrears paid directly to your landlord
• more frequent payments, such as twice a month
• payments split and paid into two bank accounts instead of one

The Universal Credit website provides tools you can use to help plan your spending and advice on extra support you might be entitled to. This includes doing an online benefit check on GOV.UK to make sure you are not missing out on anything.

You can also view our money advice page for a list of national and local organisations you can receive free and confidential support from.

If you are struggling with any other issues relating to benefits, food or energy costs, your health or wellbeing or a range or other subjects, visit our Money Matters pages.

Non-dependents

This is usually an adult son, daughter, other relative or friend who lives with you on a non-commercial basis. In some situations there can be a deduction called a ‘housing cost contribution’ taken from your Universal Credit for each non-dependent. Find out more information about housing cost contributions.

Bedroom entitlement and under-occupancy

Find information on how your bedroom entitlement and housing costs element will be calculated.

Reporting changes in circumstances

It is your responsibility to report any changes in circumstances to the Department for Work and Pensions as soon as they happen through your online journal or by contacting Universal Credit to ensure you receive the correct amount, and your claim is not stopped or reduced.

The Universal Credit website provides more information on reporting a change and managing your claim.

A change in circumstances may include:

• finding or finishing a job
• changes to your earnings (only if you are self-employed)
• having a child
• moving in with your partner
• starting to care for a child or disabled person
• moving to a new address
• changing your bank details
• your rent going up or down
• changes to your health condition
• becoming too ill to work or meet your work coach

Overpayments of Universal Credit are recoverable. This could reduce the amount of Universal Credit you receive. The only exceptions are cases of ‘official error’ where you could not have reasonably been expected to know you were being overpaid.

Rent increases

You must notify the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the same day your rent changes. If you notify them before this date, your request will be rejected and you will need to do it again to make sure you receive the correct amount of Universal Credit.

Once you have logged into your journal, please select your ‘to do list’ and complete the task to update your rent charge on the day of your rent change. If you don’t have a task in your ‘to do list’ to update your rent charge, you will need to update your rent manually by:

1. Selecting the ‘home’ tab
2. Selecting ‘report change of circumstance’
3. Selecting ‘where you live and what it costs’ and following the instructions

Sanctions

If you don’t do what you have agreed in your Claimant Commitment without good reason (that you have told Universal Credit and has been agreed), your Universal Credit payments may be reduced for a set period. This is known as a sanction.

The amount of Universal Credit you receive is made up from elements. Sanctions are applied to the Standard Allowance and not the housing cost element. This means you are expected to continue paying your rent and other bills when you are sanctioned.

If you have received a sanction for not attending a work search review, the sanctions will remain until you have attended one.

Hardship payments

If you are sanctioned and cannot afford your essential living costs because of this, you can apply for a ‘hardship payment’. This will be repaid through your Universal Credit payments after the sanction has been lifted.

More information on hardship payments and how to apply is available through Citizens Advice.

Appealing a sanction

If you disagree with the sanction, its level or duration, you can challenge it. Citizens Advice have a guide on arguments for challenging a sanction.

Further information

Find out more about sanctions and the debts and deductions that can be taken from Universal Credit payments.

If you disagree with a decision

You can request a ‘mandatory reconsideration’ of a decision within a month of the decision being made. You can do this on your journal or by calling the Service Centre. Further information on requesting a mandatory reconsideration is available through Citizens Advice.

If you mandatory reconsideration is not successful, you can appeal the decision. Read about appealing a decision. Specialist local benefit advice is available if you need extra support challenging a decision.

Managed migration

Managed migration is the government’s national process of moving claimants receiving the below benefits onto Universal Credit:

• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

From April 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is writing to some people who receive these benefits to let them know that they need to claim Universal Credit instead.

This letter is called a Migration Notice and it explains what you need to do and when. It also provides information on the help available to continue receiving support from the government.

It is important that you do not do anything until you receive your Migration Notice. Once you’ve received your Migration Notice letter, you’ll need to make a claim for Universal Credit to continue to get financial support.

You will not be moved automatically. The Migration Notice will have deadline date for you to claim Universal Credit by. The deadline is 3 months from the date the letter was sent.

Your current benefits will end as soon as you submit your claim for Universal Credit. You will not be able to go back to your existing benefit once you have claimed.

What to do if you can’t claim by the deadline date

If you can’t apply for Universal Credit before the deadline date then you must ask the Department for Work and Pensions to extend the date. You will have to explain your reasons. If they agree, they will give you a new deadline date.

What to do if you miss the deadline date

You can still apply for Universal Credit a month after the deadline date has passed. This is called the ‘final deadline date’. If you apply by the ‘final deadline date’ you will receive transitional protection if you are eligible.

If you claim after the ‘final deadline date’, you can still claim Universal Credit, but you can’t get the transitional protection.

Transitional protection

Types of transitional protection for people moving to Universal Credit through managed migration:

• A transitional element
  This is a payment that will top up your Universal Credit entitlement if you were receiving more from legacy benefits and tax credits
• A capital disregard
  If you were claiming tax credits before moving to Universal Credit the £16,000 capital limit is disregarded for 12 assessment periods
• Transitional student disregard
  If you are a full time student in higher education until you or your partner finish the course
• Universal Credit if you have reached State Pension age
  Get advice if you receive a Migration Notice as if you won’t be able to build up extra State Pension or State Pension lump sum (if you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016)
  

Who is eligible for transitional protection

Transitional protection is available to 2 groups of people:

• People moved over to Universal Credit even though nothing has happened. This is called managed migration.
• People who were getting Severe Disability Premium at the time they claimed Universal Credit. More information on disability premiums. If you are not sure contact Reading JCP for advice.

How long transitional protection lasts

Transitional protection payments are not permanent. They can decrease or end if your Universal Credit entitlement increases or your circumstance change. More information on transitional protection duration.

Further information and support

If you want some help with your Universal Credit application or you’re concerned about managing your income until you receive your first Universal Credit payment, there are different types of support available including the Move to Universal Credit helpline you can call (details on your migration notice).

Additional advice and support is available from the Money Matters website.