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 allowing universal credit claims to be backdated to the starting point of each claim being made rather than the point at which a submit button is pressed on the claim.

Claimants make a claim at the point of need, not before or after. Therefore, the date of claim for an online application to Universal Credit is the date the claimant submits the claim. As such, there is limited provision for backdating claims within Universal Credit. The newly launched Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim and receive their first full payment on time.

Claims may be backdated, by up to one calendar month, in limited circumstances for vulnerable claimants who may be delayed in claiming Universal Credit through no fault of their own. Claims may also be backdated in specific circumstances when a couple separates to ensure that there is no gap in entitlement between the couple claim and the new claim made by a single claimant.

In cases where the Department have had direct contact with a claimant and have assisted them in making their applications, either by telephone, face to face contact or a home visit, the date of claim will be the date of first contact.