Universal Credit is a payment to help with your living costs. It’s paid monthly - or twice a month for some people in Scotland.
This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).
You may be able to get it if you’re on a low income or out of work.
Whether you can claim Universal Credit depends on where you live and your circumstances.
If you live in Northern Ireland, go to Universal Credit in Northern Ireland.
If you already get benefits Universal Credit will replace the following benefits:
Child Tax Credit Housing Benefit Income Support income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Working Tax Credit If you currently receive any of these benefits, you cannot claim Universal Credit at the same time.
Universal Credit is being introduced in stages across the UK. You do not need to do anything until you hear from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about moving to Universal Credit, unless you have a change in circumstances.
universal Credit has been and is subject to many criticisms. Louise Casey fears recipients could become homeless and destitute. According to official figures 24% of new claimants wait over 6 weeks for full payment and many get behind with their rent. Twelve Tory MPs including Heidi Allen wished the rollout delayed. Local Authorities and recipients of Universal Credit feared claimants will become homeless in large numbers.
Stephen Bush in The New Statesman maintained that the group currently in receipt of Universal Credit was unrepresentative, consisting mainly of men under 30 who were more likely to find work as they did not have to juggle work obligations with dependent needs. He also argued that men under 30 were also more likely to be living with parents so delays in payments affected them less. Bush believed that when Universal Credit is extended to older claimants and women with dependents, fewer would get back to work easily and there would be more hardship.
Johnny Mercer said, "Universal credit has the potential to help people out of poverty by removing the disincentives to move into work in the previous system and allowing them to reach their full potential. A modern compassionate Conservative government simply must get it right though. This government can make the system better by smoothing the path from welfare into work with a fresh investment in universal credit in this budget." Mercer backed calls to increase funding for Universal Credit by stopping a plan to cut income tax. Some claimants on Universal Credit feel they cannot get enough to live without resorting to crime. One in five claims for Universal Credit fails because the claimant does not follow the procedure correctly and there are fears this is because the procedure is hard to understand.
Food bank use has increased since Universal Credit started. Delays in providing money force claimants to use food banks, also Universal Credit does not provide enough to cover basic living expenses. Claiming Universal Credit is complex and the system is hard to navigate, many claimants cannot afford internet access and cannot access online help with claiming. A report by the Trussell Trust says, "Rather than acting as a service to ensure people do not face destitution, the evidence suggests that for people on the very lowest incomes … the poor functioning of universal credit can actually push people into a tide of bills, debts and, ultimately, lead them to a food bank. People are falling through the cracks in a system not made to hold them. What little support available is primarily offered by the third sector, whose work is laudable, but cannot be a substitute for a real, nationwide safety net."
The National Audit Office maintains there is no evidence Universal Credit helps people into work and it is unlikely to provide value for money, the system is in many ways unwealdy and inefficient. There are calls for delays and for the system to be fixed before it is rolled out to millions of further claimants. Margaret Greenwood said, “The government is accelerating the rollout in the face of all of the evidence, using human beings as guinea pigs. It must fix the fundamental flaws in universal credit and make sure that vulnerable people are not pushed into poverty because of its policies.”
Whistleblowers maintain the system is badly designed, broken and glitches regularly lead to hardship for claimants. Hardship can involve delays in benefit payment lasting weeks or reduction in payment by hundreds of pounds below what a claimant is entitled to. A whistleblower said, “The IT system on which universal credit is built is so fundamentally broken and poorly designed that it guarantees severe problems with claims.” he maintained the system is too complex and errorprone affecting payments and correction was frequently slow. “In practical terms, it is not working the way it was intended and it is having an actively harmful effect on a huge number of claimants.” Errors and delays add an average of three weeks to the official 35 day wait for a first payment forcing claimants into debt, rent areas and to food banks. Campaigners fear the situation could worsen in 2019 when 3 million claimants are moved to the new system. The Department of Work and Pensions is accused of being defensive and insular. One whistleblower said design problems existed due to failure to understand what claimants need, particularly when they do not have digital skills or internet access. He said, “We are punishing claimants for not understanding a system that is not built with them in mind.”
וואשינגטאן האט געשריבן:
does someone knows whats this all about?
In short -
Instead of dealing with local council for housing benefit and then dealing with HMRC for tax credits and childcare We will deal with 1 office for all these benefits Its called UNIVERSAL CREDITS
Its coming in slowly slowly Not everyone at once
Will we get more benefits, or less benefits then till now ?? Its hard to know, depends how kids you have and depends how much you earn So every family is different
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לייף אינשורענס אן קיין בלוט-טעסט גרינגערהייט. רופט/טעקסט די ווארט INFO צו 718-480-0545#קהלֵב
וואשינגטאן האט געשריבן:
does every one have to apply? i saw a letter from belsky that its coming into effect?
It came into effect in stamford hill that allNEW APPLICANTSfor housing benefits will go through the UNIVERSAL CREDITS and not through the local council
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לייף אינשורענס אן קיין בלוט-טעסט גרינגערהייט. רופט/טעקסט די ווארט INFO צו 718-480-0545#קהלֵב
גוטע נייעס פאר די מענטשען וואס זענען אויף Universal Credits
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has now delivered his second budget of the year. Although, there were less tax related changes than we have seen in previous budgets, there were still several important points to note.
Below we set out some of the relevant changes as well as points to consider.
At present for every additional £1 that an individual earns, their UC is reduced – or tapered - by 63p. The Chancellor has announced that this taper will be reduced to 55p by the beginning of December.
The Chancellor also announced that the Work Allowance - the amount that households with children or a household member with limited capability for work can earn before their Universal Credit award begins to be reduced – will be increased by £500 a year.
There was a lot of pressure on the Government in the build up to the budget to ensure that the temporary £20 a week uplift awarded to UC claimants during Covid, would be made permanent. By making the above changes to UC, the Chancellor has ensured that UC claimants who work should effectively end up with more than £20 extra per week, by being penalised less for their earnings.
The changes to UC could mean that some of those currently within the Tax Credits regime may be better off financially by moving over to UC. This will most likely be the case for those currently claiming Housing Benefit as well as Tax Credits.
However, it is important to bear in mind that due to the tighter eligibility rules for UC, many people who are currently eligible for Tax Credits will not be eligible for UC.
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לייף אינשורענס אן קיין בלוט-טעסט גרינגערהייט. רופט/טעקסט די ווארט INFO צו 718-480-0545#קהלֵב
בעלזא אייניקעלהאט געשריבן:↑מיטוואך נאוועמבער 08, 2023 10:21 am
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to check the bank accounts of people on benefits monthly to prevent fraud. This reform could save £500 million in the first five years and aims to identify fraud risks through regular data checks, ensuring claimants meet the eligibility criteria of having £16,000 or less in money, savings, and investments to claim Universal Credit.
