Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2021 to Question 2925, whether his Department has made an assessment on how an urgent universal credit payment in the form of a loan affects (a) people who are already in debt and (b) domestic violence survivors who are often already in debt due to economic coercion by their abuser.

Advances are not loans. They are a claimant’s benefit entitlement paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront. With an advance, claimants receive an additional UC payment, resulting in 25 payments over a 24-month period. We have also reduced the normal maximum rate of deductions in Universal Credit from 30% to 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance enabling claimants to take home more of the award.

Where a partner in a joint benefit claim is being financially impacted as a result of coercive control, it may be possible to arrange for payments on a joint claim to be split between two parties. If a Universal Credit claimant has been forced into claiming an advance through domestic abuse, we would urge the claimant to talk to the Department about this.

A range of other support is available across the Department for those impacted by domestic abuse.