Incorrect Universal Credit payment

If your Universal Credit payment is wrong, here is a sensible approach to resolving it:

Check your statement first:

Log into your Universal Credit online journal and look at your latest statement. This will show how your payment has been calculated, including any deductions, sanctions, advances being repaid, or earnings taken into account. Sometimes what appears to be an error is actually a known deduction you may have forgotten about, or the DWP applying the surplus earnings rule or an earnings estimate from your employer's Real Time Information report to HMRC.

Common reasons a payment may be wrong:

1. Your employer reported earnings to HMRC at the wrong time or for the wrong amount, which then fed into your UC calculation.
2. A deduction has been applied for an advance, overpayment recovery, third-party debt, or sanction.
3. A change of circumstances was not reflected correctly.
4. Housing costs were calculated incorrectly, for example the wrong local housing allowance rate or a bedroom tax reduction applied in error.
5. Childcare costs or other elements were not included.

Steps to take:

1. Write a message in your online journal clearly explaining what you believe is wrong and why. Be specific about which element of the payment you are querying and what you think it should be. Keep a copy or screenshot of everything you send.

2. If you do not get a satisfactory response through the journal within a reasonable time, telephone the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 5644.

3. If after raising it you are told the payment is correct but you disagree, you have the right to request a mandatory reconsideration. You must normally do this within one calendar month of the date of the decision you are challenging. Put your request in writing via the journal and explain clearly why you think the decision is wrong.

4. If the mandatory reconsideration does not resolve it, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber). There is no fee for this. Appeals must usually be lodged within one month of the mandatory reconsideration notice, though late appeals can sometimes be accepted up to thirteen months with good reason.

Practical points:

If you are in financial hardship because of the wrong payment, ask your work coach about a short-term advance or hardship payment while the dispute is resolved.

If the error relates to earnings reported by your employer, you may need to ask your employer to correct their Real Time Information submission to HMRC. The DWP will not generally override what HMRC data shows unless it is clearly wrong and corrected at source.

If deductions for debts or overpayments are causing hardship, you can ask for the rate of deduction to be reduced. The maximum deduction rate is currently 25 per cent of your standard allowance, though in practice the DWP can sometimes apply up to that limit across multiple debts.

Keep a clear written record of all communications. If your complaint is about maladministration rather than a legal entitlement decision, you can also complain through the DWP complaints process and ultimately to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman via your MP.