Universal Credit
(asked on 19th November 2018) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new claims for universal credit were processed (a) within five weeks, (b) between five and ten weeks and (c) in ten weeks or longer in the most recent 12 months for which data are available.
We published statistics on payment timeliness for new claims on 9 July 2018 which found 95 per cent of eligible claims (new claims that were due a payment in February 2018) were paid in full within five weeks of the payment due date.
Our latest internal data shows that for claims due their first payment in July 2018, 94 per cent of claims were paid in full within five weeks of the payment due date, with close to 99 per cent receiving at least a partial payment. Further details for claimants due their first payment in July 2018 can be seen in the table below. Subject to some fluctuation, this has been broadly consistent for every month for which the data has been requested.
| Within 5 weeks of payment due date | 6-10 weeks after payment due date | More than 10 weeks after payment due date |
Received Payment in Full | 94.3% | 3.1% | 2.6% |
Received a Partial Payment | 98.6% | 1.0% | 0.4% |
In many cases where full payment is not made on time, it is due to unresolved issues such as: claimants not accepting their Claimant Commitment or passing identity checks, satisfying the Habitual Residency Test, or having outstanding verification issues, such as housing costs and self-employed earnings.