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Households suffering from wide variations in Universal Credit payments, warns charity

People are suffering from wild variations in their Universal Credit payments, according to research by a charity.

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A study published by the charity Child Poverty Action Group found individuals were having caps put on their payments through the benefit system due to fluctuating circumstances.

One couple with two children earned a broadly steady amount over six months but – seemingly due to the way their pay days fell within their Universal Credit assessment periods – they received a varying total through the benefit system each month, from £0 to £1,185.


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Changing rent payment dates – for example when moving house – can also cause major fluctuations in the amounts of Universal Credit received, according to the charity.

Its report, Rough Justice, analysed cases brought to its attention through the charity’s early warning system.

“Claimants whose circumstances change near the end of an assessment period, for example becoming a student, moving to a cheaper property or seeing their children move out, can lose out on significant amounts of money as their circumstances and needs earlier in the month are ignored,” said the study.

“Many working claimants are seeing their Universal Credit awards rise and fall month by month purely because of when their paydays and assessment periods fall, making budgeting extremely difficult, while others lose hundreds of pounds a year because of the knock-on effects of these mismatches on work allowances, the benefit cap, passported benefits and discretionary housing payments.”

Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said the system wasn’t working for people who worked.

“Our early warning system shows claimants are often left flummoxed by how much – or how little – Universal Credit they will receive from one month to the next,” she said.

“But we believe most of the problems created by the monthly assessment system can be fixed relatively easily if the political will is there. The mass migration of families on to Universal Credit should not begin until these fundamental problems are resolved.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “We are listening to stakeholders’ concerns and working on issues regarding payment cycles and we will consider this report carefully.”

Read our article looking at how Universal Credit could be made to work

Update: at 10:05am 06/08/18 a statement from the DWP was added to the story.

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