Good morning When tenants make a claim for Universal Credit, it’s a condition of entitlement, they must agree a “Claimant Commitment” (CC). Some claimants, including those with severe disabilites, child care and/or caring responsibilites or earning above a prescribed threshhold, can be excused from making a commitment. More details on…

Good morning Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a number of referrals from Housing Association clients, concerned about tenants, who have recently been invited to claim Universal Credit, in Full Service areas, due to a change in their circumstances, only to have their applications refused. Why? DWP “closed” their…

Good morning In recent weeks, I’ve been asked to support two of my Housing Association clients, in Universal Credit related disputes, where DWP was either refusing to make payment of the “housing costs element” (HCE) or only paying a proportion of the contractual figure. Working together, we were able to…

Good morning In my one of my last bulletins – “Challenging & Appealing poor decisions” http://universalcreditadvice.com/housing-associations/2018/04/universal-credit—challenging-appealing-poor-decisions I referred to the fact, I had discovered, through the casework queries, I receive from clients, DWP was wrongly applying deductions to Universal Credit awards through, what DWP refers to as “Housing Costs Contributions”, which under…

Good morning Some of you may already be aware , but from the 11th of April 2018 two significant changes took place, in relation to Housing Benefit (LHA) and Universal Credit. Both beneficial, for a change! Two week run-on! Firstly, there’s now a Housing Benefit “bonus” of an additional 2…

Good morning As predicted, transitioning to “Full Service” delivery is throwing up, every day, more and more, examples of poor decision-making and inadequate IT system functionality, potentially causing tenants to lose out, on an increasing range of fronts, especially in relation to the “housing costs element” (HCE). As DWP increases…

Good afternoon Over the past few weeks, I’ve been re-orgnanising & updating the website to reflect some of the major changes that have taken place in the past 6 months or so. If you examine the Universal Credit introductory tab http://www.universalcreditadvice.com/universal-credit, you’ll find, I’ve refreshed much of the information to relect…

Good afternoon Just before you break for the Easter holiday, you’ll be pleased to learn, that earlier today, Esther McVey, Work and Pensions Secretary of State, announced, government plans to amend Universal Credit regulations to restore entitlement to “housing costs” within Universal Credit for 18-21-year olds. This U-turn will undoubtedly…

Good afternoon One of my Housing Co-operative clients contacted me earlier today, seeking advice on whether DWP could impose a “Third Party”deduction, for rent arrears, at £63.56 (20%) of their tenant’s UC Standard Allowance, even though no request had been made by my client? The tenant had run up more…

Good morning I came across a Freedom of Information (FOI) request and response from DWP. The Q & A’s cover some of the most common questions I’m asked by website members, during our daily exchanges & training sessions and should be of interest to staff making Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) requests and…