Universal Credit is a means-tested benefit for people of working age who are on a low income.

It is payable whether or not you're in work. 

It can include amounts for housing, the costs of raising children, disability, or being a carer. Which of these you will get depends on your circumstances.

It replaces six means-tested benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Housing Benefit
• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit.

The above six benefits are also known as legacy benefits.

Universal Credit is paid monthly. In Scotland, you can choose to have it paid twice a month. Outside of Scotland, you can ask for it to be paid twice monthly but this might be refused.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) works out how much money you get in two steps:

1. It works out what it thinks you should need to live on, based on your household’s circumstances, then
2. It takes away some of the income you have coming in from the amount of Universal Credit it gives you.

Already claiming legacy benefits?

In most of the UK, you don’t need to do anything if you are already claiming existing legacy benefits and your situation stays the same. If you have had a change of circumstance, see Switching from other benefits. In some parts of the UK, people are being moved to Universal Credit. If you get a letter telling you your existing benefits are ending and you need to claim Universal Credit, it is important to make a claim for Universal Credit.

Applies to: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales

Type  of benefit: Means tested

Taxable: No

Administered by: Department for Work and Pensions

Reviewed: January 2023

Whether you can claim Universal Credit depends on your personal circumstances. If you are receiving any legacy benefits, you will lose these if you claim Universal Credit, and will not be able to go back on them.

To claim Universal Credit you must:

• Be 18 or over (some under 18s can claim Universal Credit. See our guide for 16-18 year olds)

• Be in Great Britain

• Not be in education (some people in education can claim Universal Credit. See our guides for full-time students and part-time students)

• Have accepted a claimant commitment (unless you have a terminal illness or lack mental capacity).

If you have a partner, you will make a joint claim as a couple. If one of you does not meet any of the above conditions, that person will be ignored for the purposes of calculating the Universal Credit maximum amount - although their savings/capital, income and earnings will still be taken into account.

In most cases, you have to be under pension age. If you live with a partner and one of you is over pension age and one is under, you can claim Universal Credit. However, you might have other options too. Use our Benefits Calculator to see all your options. 

What if I am ill or disabled?

Most people with illnesses or disabilities can claim Universal Credit. 

What if I am aged 16 or 17 years?

You should look at our page on claiming benefits as a young person.

If you are under 18 and want to know more about your benefit entitlement, please seek further advice from a professional advice service. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

What if I am over Pension Credit age?

Universal Credit is paid to people of working age and is not a benefit for people who have reached 66. You would claim Pension Credit instead of Universal Credit.

If one member of a couple is pension age and the other one is working age, you will usually need to claim Universal Credit. There are some exceptions to this. Use our Benefits Calculator to check which benefits you can claim.

Reviewed: January 2023

If you are already claiming any of the benefits that Universal Credit replaces, you can carry on getting your benefits. If you have any change of circumstances that means your existing claims for these benefits ends, you won’t be able to make new claims for any of the benefits Universal Credit replaces.

No one has to make a claim for Universal Credit. However, you might find that a change of circumstances means you need help that is now provided through Universal Credit.

If you have had a change of circumstances, you should speak to an adviser to find out whether this means you should make a claim for Universal Credit.

In the future, everyone will be moved on to Universal Credit through a process called managed migration. At the moment, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to complete managed migration for most people by March 2025. People who get ESA and don't get tax credits will be moved to Universal Credit by 2028.

Reviewed: January 2023

Whether you have had a change in circumstances that has meant your old benefits have stopped or you have decided you would like to choose to move onto Universal Credit, there are a few things to think about and some common questions people have.

Make sure you use our Benefits Calculator to check what benefits you can claim and how much you should get.

• What will happen to my other benefits?

• If I don't like Universal Credit, can I switch back?

• Will I be better off on Universal Credit?

• If I claim Universal Credit, will I have to look for work?

• I'm self employed. Is there anything extra for me to think about?

• Will I get paid my benefit in the same way I am used to?

• I'm paid from work weekly, four weekly, or fortnightly. Is there anything for me to think about?

• Where can I get more advice?

What will happen to my other benefits?

If you're receiving Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit, they will stop as soon as you make your Universal Credit claim. Sometimes the tax credits department of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are slow to cancel claims. This can mean you receive an overpayment of tax credits which you have to pay back.

If you're getting Tax-free Childcare, your account will be closed as soon as you claim Universal Credit.

If you are receiving any of these benefits, they will stop two weeks after you make your Universal Credit claim:

• Housing Benefit (England, Scotland, Wales) or Housing Benefit (Northern Ireland)
• income-related Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
• income-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) 
• Income Support

If you are getting Council Tax Reduction/Support, you should contact your council to let them know you've claimed Universal Credit.

Any other benefits you're getting should carry on being paid the same as usual.

If I don't like Universal Credit, can I switch back?

No. Once you have started a Universal Credit claim, you won't be able to move back onto your old benefits. 

There is an exception to this for people who have been victims of identity fraud and had claims made for Universal Credit in their name but without them knowing about it.

If this has happened to you, you should get advice on how to have your old benefits claim restarted.

Will I be better off on Universal Credit?

Use our Benefits Calculator

Some people do find they are better off on Universal Credit and some do not. The best way to check is to use our Benefits Calculator to see what you're able to get under the two systems.

Transitional protection

Although everyone will be moved onto Universal Credit eventually, this will be done through a process of invitation. People who get the invitation to move onto Universal Credit will get transitional protection payments to make sure they are not worse off on Universal Credit than on their old benefits. You won't get the transitional protection if you decide for yourself to move to Universal Credit.

How the five-week wait affects your payments

Even if your results do show you will be better off on Universal Credit, it is important to remember that you won't get any payment for the first five weeks after you make your claim. Most people find they need to take an advance to get them through this first period. An advance is a loan which has to be paid back over 24 months. This means that for the two years of your Universal Credit claim you will receive less money.

Advances are generally taken back at 25% of your standard allowance.

• For a single person under 25, this is £66 per month
• For a single person 25 or over, this is £84 per month
• For a couple where both are under 25, this is £104 per month
• For a couple where one or both are 25 or over, this is £131.43 per month.

An example

Julia is a single mum with one child aged four and rent of £180 per week. She gets Carer's Allowance and has one non-dependant. She can see that on her old benefits she is entitled to £1,495 per month but on Universal Credit she is entitled to £1,552 per month.

She decides to claim Universal Credit and takes a £1000 advance for the first five weeks. This means that for the first year of her claim she is paying back her advance at £84 per month, so she only receives Universal Credit payments of £1,468 per month. This means that though she changed benefits thinking she'd be better off on Universal Credit, for the first year she is actually getting less money than she did on her old benefits.

If I claim Universal Credit, will I have to look for work?

Under Universal Credit, more people are expected to look for work than in the old benefits system.

If you have been claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Income Support as a couple, neither of you would have been expected to look for work. Once you move onto Universal Credit, you might find that one or both of you will be expected to look for work.

Whether you have to look for work when you're claiming Universal Credit depends on each individual's circumstances. Find out more about what you have to do to receive Universal Credit.

I'm self employed - is there anything extra for me to think about?

Self-employed people can often find they are much worse off on Universal Credit than on the old benefits system. This is because of a rule called the Minimum Income Floor. 

If you usually earn less than someone working full time on minimum wage would earn, you're likely to find that Universal Credit in the long term is less generous than the benefits it replaces.

Will I get paid the same way I am used to?

Universal Credit is usually paid monthly.

If you're used to managing your budget weekly or fortnightly, or you're used to getting payments every four weeks, this might come as a bit of a change.

You might need to look again at how you manage your budget.

If you're struggling badly with managing your budget monthly, you can ask to switch to be paid twice a month. However, make sure you fully understand what this will mean for your budget before you decide to ask for this. Especially, think about how you will pay your rent if the money you get for your housing costs is split over two payments rather than being paid in one go.

Whereas tax credits are usually paid at the same amount every time, Universal Credit payments go up and down depending on how much your childcare costs that month are, and how much you have earned. You will need to pay childcare costs up front then reclaim the money from Universal Credit after the childcare costs have been used. This can be a problem  - especially if you're paying very high childcare costs during school holidays. You need to make sure you budget for it.

I'm paid weekly, four weekly, or fortnightly. Is there anything for me to think about?

Universal Credit is assessed and paid monthly.

This means that if your pay from work is not monthly (for example, if you are paid weekly, fortnightly, or four-weekly), some months it will look to Universal Credit like you have had extra pay.

For example, someone who is paid four-weekly gets 13 payments a year. This then has to be squeezed into twelve monthly Assessment Periods. This means that one month a year, Universal Credit will think that person got paid twice. 

Universal Credit will not help you with this problem. The DWP says you need to plan for and budget to account for this. 

We cannot tell you which month will have extra pay taken into account - you will need to use a calendar to mark all your Assessment Periods against all your paydays to check which months will be affected.

 

Where can I get more advice?

Citizens Advice operates a helpline for people in England, Scotland and Wales where you can get advice on whether Universal Credit is right for you.

England: 0800 144 8 444 (Relay UK: 18001 0800 144 8 444).

Scotland: 0800 023 2581

Wales: 08000 241 220 (Relay UK: 18001 08000 241 220).

In Northern Ireland, contact Advice NI on 0800 915 4604

Reviewed: January 2023

How much Universal Credit you can get will depend on the income and circumstances of all the household members. To get an estimate of what you may be entitled to when you claim Universal Credit, you can use the Turn2us Benefits Calculator.

In working out your Universal Credit award, firstly your household’s maximum Universal Credit award is calculated. This will be made up of one standard allowance and any additional elements that apply.

Universal Credit Standard Allowance

Your standard allowance will depend on whether you are single or claiming as a couple, and your age. There is one standard allowance for your household:

• Single claimant aged under 25: £292.11 per month

• Single claimant aged 25 or over: £368.74 per month

• Joint claimants both aged under 25: £458.51 per month

• Joint claimants either aged 25 or over: £578.82 per month

Universal Credit additional elements

There are additional elements that can be added to your basic allowance. Your household may qualify for more than one of these:

• Child element

• Childcare costs element

• Limited capability for work element (abolished for most new claimants from 3 April 2017)

• Limited capability for work-related activity element (LCWRA element)

• Carer element

• Housing costs element

• Transitional amount for people who had Severe Disability Premium on their legacy benefits

• Transitional amount for people who were moved to Universal Credit through managed migration.

The same person cannot get a LCWRA element as well as a Carer element even if they are eligible for both.

Universal Credit award

If your household has no earnings, other income, capital or savings, the Universal Credit award you receive will be your maximum Universal Credit award (one standard allowance plus any additional elements) unless you are affected by the Benefit Cap. ​

If anyone in your household has earnings, other income, savings or capital, these will need to be taken into account to work out the Universal Credit award you may receive.

See our Universal Credit income and capital guide for further details.

What if my Universal Credit entitlement is less than my current entitlement?

Some people find they receive less money under Universal Credit than they would have received under the legacy benefit system. 

People who are part of the managed migration on to Universal Credit will not be worse off when they move over to Universal Credit if they are entitled to less under Universal Credit than under the benefits that are being replaced by it. They will receive a ‘transitional amount’ to top up their Universal Credit to the same amount they were getting on legacy benefits.

People who make a new claim for Universal Credit, including people who need to claim Universal Credit because of a change of circumstances, will not receive any transitional amount if their Universal Credit entitlement is less than they would get under the benefits it replaces (there is an exception for people who received Severe Disability Premium on their legacy benefits). Only people transferred by managed migration will get the transitional amount.  

See our Universal Credit Transitional Protection guide for further details

Updated: April 2023

 

All of these elements are means tested. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) adds up all the elements you are entitled to. This is called your maximum amount of Universal Credit.  After that, your income is taken away from your maximum amount to work out the amount of Universal Credit you are entitled to. No element is protected from deductions. 

Carer's Element

This element is £185.86 per month.

You can get this element if you are providing care for at least 35 hours per week for someone who gets

• Attendance Allowance, or
• The highest or middle rate care component of Disability Living Allowance or Child Disability Payment, or
• Daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, or
• Armed Forces Independences Payment, or
• Constant Attendance Allowance of £83.10 per week paid with Industrial Injuries Benefit or War Disablement Pension.

 You do not have to claim Carer's Allowance to get this element. 

Unlike Carer's Allowance where you are prevented from claiming if you are earning above a certain level (£139 per week for 2023/24), for the Carer's Element your level of earnings does not prevent you from claiming. However, as the Carer's Element is a part of Universal Credit (UC), which is means tested, your earnings and other income will affect how much Universal Credit overall you are entitled to.

If you are making a joint claim, you can get a Carer's Element each if you both qualify for it. However, you cannot be caring for the same severely disabled person.

Getting the Carer’s Element of Universal Credit might affect the benefits of the person you care for. It might mean they lose their entitlement to the Severe Disability Premium (SDP).

Child Element

Your Universal Credit will include a child element if you are responsible for a child or qualifying young person who normally lives with you. You usually receive a child element of £269.58 per child per month. If your first or only child was born before 6 April 2017, you will receive a higher amount for that child of £315.00 per month. 

You will not be paid a child element for a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017, unless an exception applies. This is called the Two-Child Limit. If you have three or more children, check if you qualify for an exception to the Two-Child Limit. You should still report all the children who live with you when you claim Universal Credit.

There are also two disabled child additions:

• Disabled child addition of £146.31 per month for each child or qualifying young person that is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP), or

• Severely disabled child addition of £456.89 per month if your child or qualifying young person gets the highest rate of the care component of DLA, the enhanced rate for daily living of PIP or is registered blind.

You can still receive a disabled child addition for a third or subsequent child, even if you cannot get the child element for that child.

Childcare Costs Element

You can receive a childcare costs element if you pay for registered childcare when you go to work. There is no set number of hours you need to work. If you are part of a couple, then both of you must be in work (or treated as being in work while on statutory sick leave or statutory maternity, paternity or shared parental leave) unless the non-working partner:

• Has limited capability for work or limited capability for work-related activity, or

• Gets Carer's Allowance or the Carer's Element of Universal Credit, or

• Is temporarily absent from your household (for example, they are in prison, hospital, or residential care).

You will get 85% of your childcare costs met, up to a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children.

Housing Costs Element

For details about the housing costs element, please see our Universal Credit housing costs guide

Limited Capability for Work Element

You will get one of these if you satisfy the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). See our Universal Credit - Work Capability Assessment information.

You might get either the:

• Limited capability for work element (LCW) £146.31 per month. (From 3 April 2017, the limited capability for work element will not be available to claimants who claim Universal Credit (UC) on or after this date, unless they were in receipt of a work-related activity component in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) immediately before they claimed UC) or

• Limited capability for work-related activity element (LCWRA) £390.06 per month.

If you are making a joint claim and you both have LCW or LCWRA, your award will only include one element:

• If one or both of you have LCWRA, you will receive that element
• If you both have LCW, you will receive that element.

You may have to wait three full assessment periods from first reporting sick notes for your LCWRA element to be added on. Although there are some instances where it can be added on straight away, such as if you are terminally ill or you were entitled to one of the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) components immediately prior to your Universal Credit claim.

If you have already been assessed as having limited capability for work or for work-related activity as part of your UC claim, you can work while still being treated as having limited capability for work. If you are doing a lot of work, this might mean the DWP will want to do another Work Capability Assessment to check whether your condition has changed.

If you haven’t had a Work Capability Assessment yet and are earning more than £722.45 per month, you won’t be able to have a Work Capability Assessment unless you are also getting PIP, DLA or Attendance Allowance.

Transitional payment

People who were entitled to Severe Disability Premium (SDP) on their legacy benefits get a transitional payment in their Universal Credit.

This amount starts at the rates below but over time it will gradually be reduced.

• Single person with an LCWRA element: £132.12 per month
• Single person with no LCWRA element: £313.79 per month
• Couple, both entitled to SDP: £445.91 per month
• Couple, only one person entitled to SDP, with an LCWRA element: £132.12 per month
• Couple, only one person entitled to SDP, with no LCWRA element: £313.79 per month.

People who were moved to Universal Credit as part of the managed migration project may also get a transitional payment in their Universal Credit.

Updated: April 2023

Universal Credit is a single payment made monthly. It is paid after the end of each month when you were entitled to Universal Credit.

It will take at least five weeks for you to receive your first payment. Once you make your claim, there is a one-month assessment period and then payments are made seven days after the assessment period.  

If you are going to struggle to wait five weeks for your money, you can request a Universal Credit Advance payment, which you will then need to pay back through deductions from your Universal Credit. If you think that you might struggle to manage your money, you can use a free budget planner to understand of your money coming in and out and improve your finances – MoneyHelper Budget Planner.

Universal Credit will be paid into one bank account or other account nominated by each household. If you cannot get any kind of bank account, you may be able to get paid through the Payment Exception Service.

If you are experiencing domestic abuse and need control of some of the household income, you can ask for Universal Credit payments to be split between your account and your partner's account.

For most people, your Universal Credit payment will include money for your rent and it is up to you to make sure you pay that rent to your landlord. If you are worried you might struggle to do this, you can ask for the money to be paid direct to your landlord instead.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can pay more frequently or split payment in exceptional circumstances. If you live in Scotland, you can ask for your Universal Credit to be paid twice monthly.

Updated: January 2023

Online

You can start a claim for Universal Credit on the Apply for Universal Credit page of the Gov.UK website

In most cases, you have to claim Universal Credit online.

For more information about making an online claim, read our guide on how to claim Universal Credit

Phone

If you have a reason for not being able to apply online, you may be able to claim by phone instead. You can claim by phone if, for example, you can't use a computer or you have problems reading or writing.

To start a claim by phone, call the Help to Claim phone service:  

England: 0800 144 8 444 

Scotland: 0800 023 2581 

Wales: 08000 241 220 

Relay UK - if you can't hear or speak on the phone, you can type what you want to say:

Relay UK (England): 18001 then 0800 144 8 444

Relay UK (Wales): 18001 then 08000 241 220 

Backdating

A claim for Universal Credit can be backdated for a maximum of one month if you or your partner could not have reasonably been expected to make a claim from an earlier date and one of the following circumstances apply to you: 

• You were previously in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and were not notified that your entitlement was going to end
• You have a disability 
• You were unwell and this prevented you from claiming earlier (you will need to provide medical evidence showing this) 
•  You could not claim earlier due to a system failure or planned system maintenance, and have made a claim on the first day following this 
• You had a joint claim for Universal Credit which stopped due to a breakdown in a relationship and you are now claiming as a single person
• You made a joint claim for Universal Credit which was either stopped or turned down because your partner did not accept the claimant commitment and you have now ceased to be a couple and are now claiming as a single person.

For a practical guide to claim online, please read our guide on how to claim Universal Credit.

Reviewed: January 2023

What is a claimant commitment?

The Jobcentre might expect you to do certain things in order to receive Universal Credit. This is called your ‘claimant commitment’.

What you are expected to do will depend on your circumstances, such as your health, your caring responsibilities and whether or not you are working at the moment.

If you are claiming Universal Credit as a couple, you will each have your own claimant commitment based on your own circumstances.    

If you fail to meet your claimant commitment, you might be sanctioned.  

Situations and claimant commitment rules

Click on the links below that relate to your situation(s) to find out more about claimant commitment rules under Universal Credit.

• I'm ill or disabled

• I'm caring for someone sick or disabled

• I'm looking after a child

• I'm working

• I'm over Pension age

• None of these apply to me

• Several of these apply to me

I'm ill or disabled

If your illness or disability makes it harder for you to work, it is important to make sure the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) knows about it. When you first apply for Universal Credit, you can declare any health conditions on the application form. If you become ill or disabled while claiming Universal Credit, you should report it as a change of circumstances.

Your work coach should arrange for you to have an assessment of how your illness or disability affects your ability to work. This is called a ‘limited capability for work’ assessment.

This has three possible results: 

• You are found to have limited capacity for work and work-related activity
• You are found to have limited capacity for work
• You are found fit for work.

Limited capacity for work and work-related activity

If you are found to have limited capability for work and work-related activity, you will be placed in the ‘no work-related requirements’ group. You won’t be expected to do any activities through the Jobcentre and you won’t have a work coach.

Limited capacity for work

If you are found to have limited capacity for work, you will be placed in the ‘work preparation’ group. You won’t be expected to look for jobs or move into work. However, you might be expected to do things to prepare to be ready to move into work, like taking part in a training course or updating your CV.

Fit for work

If you are found fit for work, your work coach should still adapt your claimant commitment to suit your needs. If you do not think your claimant commitment has taken into account the impact of your health conditions, you should get advice.

Terminal Illness 

If you have a terminal illness and have less than twelve months to live, you don’t have to have an assessment of how your illness affects your ability to work. You will be found to have limited capability for work and work-related activity.

To make a claim for terminal illness in England, Wales, and Scotland:

• You need a DS1500 form if your health professional thinks you might have less than six months to live
   
• You need an SR1 medical form if your health professional thinks you might have less than twelve months to live

To make a claim for terminal illness in Northern Ireland:

• You need a SR1 medical report form completed by your doctor or another health professional

I'm caring for someone sick or disabled

If you are providing 35 or more hours per week of care for someone who gets the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment, the middle or high rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the middle or high care rate of Child Disability Payment, Attendance Allowance or Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP), you will be placed in the ‘no work-related requirements’ group. You won’t be expected to do any activities through the jobcentre and you won’t have a work coach. You won’t be expected to look for work. This applies even if you are working too much to be able to claim Carer’s Allowance.

If you are providing less than 35 hours per week of care or the person you care for doesn’t receive the right benefits, you should tell your work coach about your caring responsibilities and ask that your claimant commitment is adapted to take them into account. If you do not feel your claimant commitment has taken into account your caring responsibilities, you should get advice.

I'm looking after a child

If you are claiming Universal Credit as a couple, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will ask you to choose one of you as the ‘main carer’ for your children. The children will only affect the claimant commitment of the main carer.

Your claimant commitment depends on the age of your youngest child.

My child is under 1

If your child is under 1 year old, you will be placed in the ‘no work-related requirements’ group. You won’t be expected to do any activities through the jobcentre and you won’t have a work coach. You won’t be expected to look for work. 

My child is aged 1

If your child is aged 1, you will be placed in the ‘work-focused interviews’ group. You won’t be expected to look for work. However, you might be asked to have interviews with a work coach about the kind of work you would like to do in the future.

My child is aged 2

If your child is aged 2, you will be placed in the ‘work preparation’ group. You won’t be expected to look for work but you might be expected to take part in activities to improve your chances of getting a job in the future.

My child is aged 3 - school age

If your child is aged between 3 and school age, you will be placed in the ‘all work-related requirements’ group. You will be expected to look for work and to be available to take up a job if one is offered to you. You won’t be expected to take a job that would mean working more than 16 hours per week and you won’t need to spend more than 16 hours per week looking for work.

My child is aged school age - 12

If your child is aged between school age and 13, you will be placed in the ‘all work-related requirements’ group. You will be expected to look for work and to be available to take up a job if one is offered to you. You won’t be expected to take a job that would mean working more than 25 hours per week and you won’t need to spend more than 25 hours per week looking for work. If working 25 hours per week doesn’t fit with your child’s normal school hours, you could ask your work coach to adapt this.

My child is aged 13 or over

If your child is aged 13 or over, you will be placed in the ‘all work-related requirements’ group. You will be expected to look for work and to be available to take up a job if one is offered to you. You won’t be expected to take a job that would mean working more than 48 hours per week and you will need to spend 35 hours per week looking for work.

I'm working

You won’t be expected to do any activities at the Jobcentre if you are working and earning more per month than someone would earn working at minimum wage for the number of hours you are expected to work. This is called your ‘earnings threshold’.

Example

Alice is 29. Her son is aged 3, so she would be expected to work 16 hours per week. Because of her age, her minimum wage rate is £10.42 per hour. This means Alice’s earnings threshold is 16 x 10.42 = £166.72 per week or £722.45 per month. Alice works 10 hours per week and earns £17 per hour (£170 per week), so she is earning more than her earnings threshold and won’t have to do any activities at the jobcentre.

If you are self employed

If you are self-employed, the earnings threshold won’t apply to you. You won’t be expected to do any activities at the jobcentre or to look for work. However, you might be affected by the minimum income floor, which is also calculated based on what your claimant commitment would have been if you weren’t self employed.

Earning less than your earnings threshold

If you are working as an employee but are earning less than your earnings threshold, you might be expected to do some activities at the jobcentre. As long as you are employed and have household earnings of more than £677 per month (if you are single) or £1083 per month joint income (if you are a member of a couple), you won’t be expected to look for work or be available for work. This does not apply to income that comes from self employment or income from other sources such as pensions. You might still be asked to take part in activities to increase your chances of getting a job.

If you are working but are earning less than £677 per month (if you are single) or £1083 per month joint income (if you are a member of a couple), you will be expected to look for more work and be available for work.

There are some exceptions if your partner is not expected to work. If your partner is not expected to work (for example, because they're a carer or have Limited Capability for Work), the single person threshold will be used instead of the couple threshold. 

I'm over Pension age

If you are over Pension age, you won’t be expected to take part in any activities at the jobcentre and you won’t be expected to look for work.

None of these apply to me

If none of these situations apply to you, you are likely to be put in the ‘all work-related activities’ group. You will be expected to spend 35 hours per week looking for work and will usually be expected to be available for work of up to 48 hours per week. 

If you have recently experienced domestic violence, bereavement or have some other good reason why you can’t do what your work coach expects you to do, you should tell your work coach. If you don't feel your claimant commitment takes your needs into account, you should get advice.

Several of these apply to me

If several of the situations apply to you, you will be placed in the lowest activity group you satisfy. You should look at the claimant commitment rules for situations you fall into.

Example

For example, Elis is working, has a disability and a 1 year old daughter. Elis earns £200 per month from work, so on this basis Elis would be expected to look for work. Elis’s disability means he has limited capacity for work, so on this basis he would be expected to do work preparation. Elis is the main carer for his daughter, so on this basis Elis would be expected to take part in work focused interviews. Work focused interviews are the lowest activity group Elis satisfies, so he will only have to take part in work focused interviews and he will not have to do work preparation or look for work. 

Updated: April 2023
 

Disputes about income

If you think the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has used the wrong amount of income to decide how much Universal Credit to award you, you might need to raise what is called a Real Time Earnings (RTI) dispute. You can ask for this by leaving a note on your journal. 

Mandatory reconsideration

If you think a decision made about your Universal Credit (UC) entitlement is wrong, you can contact DWP and ask them to look at the decision again, explaining why you think it is wrong. This is called 'mandatory reconsideration'. 

The best way to request mandatory reconsideration of a decision is to write a message in your journal saying that you want a mandatory reconsideration of the decision and explaining why you think the decision is wrong. It can take a long time for messages in the journal to be read, so you should also phone the Universal Credit helpline to tell them that you are asking for a mandatory reconsideration.

If your claim has been closed, you will not be able to leave messages in your journal. If you want to challenge a decision on a closed claim (including the decision to close the claim), you will need to call the DWP helpline 0800 328 5644 and ask for the address to which to send your written request for mandatory reconsideration. You can use the Challenge a decision made by the Department for Work and Pensions form to complete your request. Make sure you keep a copy of the form you send.

You should ask for mandatory reconsideration within a month of the original decision. If you have missed this deadline, you should still ask for mandatory reconsideration. If the DWP say you have missed the deadline and they will not reconsider their decision, you should speak to an adviser.

You will receive a 'mandatory reconsideration notice' in response. The decision may be changed or you may receive an explanation of why it remains the same.

If you still think the decision is wrong after receiving the mandatory reconsideration notice, you can make an appeal to a tribunal. This means that someone independent of the DWP will look at the decision and if they think it is wrong they can change it.

Appeal

You can make an appeal to the tribunal by completing a 'Notice of appeal against a decision of the Department for Work and Pensions' form online, or using a paper form (there is a different form if you live in Northern Ireland). You will be expected to have followed the mandatory reconsideration process before appealing. You might be asked for the mandatory reconsideration notice.

You have one month from the date of the mandatory reconsideration notice to submit your appeal. If you have missed this deadline, you can still appeal but you will need to explain why your appeal is late. There is a risk that it might not be allowed to go ahead.

Some mandatory reconsideration notices for decisions on Universal Credit aren’t dated and this can cause problems with HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) (the organisation that manages appeals). If you have problems with this, you should speak to an adviser or to your MP.

If your Universal Credit account has been closed, you might have difficulty getting a copy of your mandatory reconsideration notice. You should ask your local Jobcentre to give you a copy of the mandatory reconsideration notice. If your Jobcentre can’t help, you should speak to an adviser or complain to your MP.

If you do want to challenge a decision, you can get help with this by contacting a benefits adviser. Use our Find an Adviser tool to locate one in your area.

Reviewed: January 2023