Universal Credit

(asked on 19th October 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of protections in place for joint claimants of universal credit when one partner is in a relationship where he or she controls the other claimant.


Answered by
Damian Hinds Portrait
Damian Hinds
Minister of State (Education)
This question was answered on 24th October 2017

There is support in Universal Credit to help those in domestic abuse situations. For example the payment can be divided between two members of the household. This is known as a Split Payment and it is designed to prevent hardship to the claimant and their family. It is considered in certain specific situations such as domestic violence or where financial abuse occurs and one partner mismanages the UC payment. In cases where the UC payment includes housing costs, a split payment would be accompanied by a Managed Payment to the landlord to safeguard the home and provide greater assistance for the claimant’s household.

Furthermore, work coaches receive guidance and training on domestic violence situations and can remove any work related requirements on the victim and refer them to external, expert support.

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