Universal Credit

(asked on 7th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of moving the start date of a universal credit claim to the point when a claimant sets up as universal credit account for assessment purposes.


Answered by
Alok Sharma Portrait
Alok Sharma
COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This question was answered on 18th February 2019

Universal Credit, in common with other benefits, has a start date that is set out in regulations (The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013).

This is a fixed start date and marks the beginning of the award and assessment period. It is necessary to have a fixed start date to be able to assess entitlement and determine the amount of payment due. To do otherwise would create uncertainty for claimants and would be impractical to administer.

The effective start date of a claim for Universal Credit is normally the date on which the claim is submitted by the claimant and received by the Department.

However, in certain circumstances, where we have had direct contact with a claimant who has requested assistance in helping them make their claim, for example through requesting a home visit, the date of contact becomes the start date of their claim.

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