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MPs launch inquiry into how UC affects domestic violence victims
MPs have launched an inquiry into how Universal Credit is affecting domestic violence victims.
Under the rules of the new benefit payment couples must make a joint claim and a single payment is paid monthly into one bank account.
The Work and Pensions Committee of MPs has heard concerns from charities such as Women’s Aid that this single payment for a whole household gives abusive people the opportunity to exert financial control over their partner.
The withholding of funds by the partner who receives the payment can make it more difficult for victims of abuse to access money to meet their own and their children’s needs, and to leave abusive relationships. Refuge reports state that one in five women and one in seven men experience this type of “financial abuse”.
Disabled people are more likely to be affected, the select committee said.
Victims of domestic abuse can request their payments be made separately as part of the Alternative Payment Arrangements option under Universal Credit.
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However, Women’s Aid suggests that applying for separate payments forces victims to disclose abuse, which can put them at risk.
When separate payments are approved, partners are notified of the change on their online account and monthly payments are halved. The partner can also then request that the single monthly payment is reinstated. A survey by Women’s Aid showed 85% of domestic abuse survivors said that requesting separate payments would worsen the abuse at home.
The committee will look at the nature and scale of the issue, how access to separate payments could be made easier, and what more could be done to protect disabled claimants from financial abuse under Universal Credit.
The Work and Pensions Committee is a cross-party group of MPs set up to scrutinise the work of the Department for Work and Pensions.
