23. Universal credit

CPAG

Universal credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit paid to people who come under the universal credit system and who are on a low income.

UC replaces the following benefits and tax credits (often called ‘legacy benefits’):

•income support; and

•income-based jobseeker’s allowance; and

•income-related employment and support allowance; and

•child tax credit; and

•working tax credit; and

•housing benefit (HB), for most claimants.

If you have to make a new benefit claim and you would previously have claimed one of the legacy benefits, you will have to claim UC instead (with some limited exceptions for HB). If you are already on a legacy benefit and you have a change of circumstances which means you have to make a new claim, you will probably have to claim UC. Eventually, people who are on legacy benefits will be transferred to UC.

The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the administration of UC.

Who can get universal credit

You qualify for UC if:1ss3, 4 and 5 WRA 2012; reg 9 UC Regs

•you are aged 18 or over (although certain 16 and 17 years olds can claim); and

•you are not receiving education (although there are exceptions to this); and

•you satisfy certain residence and presence conditions, and are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefit and Tax Credits Handbook for details; and

•you have accepted a ‘claimant commitment’ (see here); and

•your savings and other capital are £16,000 or less; and

•your income is low enough.

1 ss3, 4 and 5 WRA 2012; reg 9 UC Regs »

Amount of benefit

The amount of UC you get depends on your circumstances and the circumstances of your partner, if you have one. It also depends on whether you have dependent children. The steps set out below show how UC is calculated.

Step one: capital

If your capital is over £16,000, you cannot get UC. Some kinds of capital are ignored. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

Step two: work out your maximum amount

This is an amount for basic needs. It is worked out on a monthly basis and includes a ‘standard allowance’, plus additional amounts (‘elements’) if you have dependent children, certain housing costs or some other additional expenses.

Standard allowance

Your standard allowance is paid at either a single or couple rate.

	Monthly rate
Single
Under 25	£292.11
25 or over	£368.74
Couple
Both under 25	£458.51
One or both over 25	£578.82

Additional elements

You get one ‘child element’ for each dependent child who normally lives with you (subject to a ‘two-child limit’ – see below).1Reg 24 UC Regs You get £315 a month for your only or oldest child if that child was born before 6 April 2017, and £269.58 a month each for any other child. You get an additional amount for a child who gets disability living allowance (DLA), child disability payment (CDP), personal independence payment (PIP), adult disability payment (ADP) or has a visual impairment.2Reg 24(2) UC Regs This is paid at £146.31 a month or £456.89 a month if your child gets DLA or CDP highest rate care component, PIP or ADP enhanced daily living component or is severely sight impaired or blind.

A ‘two-child limit’ was introduced on 6 April 2017.3Reg 24A UC Regs In general, this means that a child element is not payable for a child born on or after 6 April 2017 if you already have two or more children included in your UC award, unless s/he is covered by an exception – eg, in some adoption and kinship care situations. See the relevant chapter of this Handbook for more information on the exceptions to the two-child limit.

There are special rules about when the child element is paid where a child is absent from home. Whether it continues to be paid depends on the circumstances. See the relevant chapter of this Handbook for information on what happens to the child element when a child is away from home. There are also special rules which mean that some people cannot get the child element for a child even though the child is living with them.

You may get an amount for rent or certain service charges if you own your home. This is called the ‘housing costs element’. The amounts are limited and may, for example, not cover all your rent. The restrictions are similar to those in HB (see here). You may be able to get some help from a discretionary housing payment if your housing costs element does not cover all of your rent (see here). See also CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credit Handbook.

For claims that started before 3 April 2017, or are linked to a claim which existed before that date, if you have limited capability for work you get the ‘limited capabilty for work element’ of £146.31 a month. New claims made from 3 April 2017 do not include the limited capability for work element. For more details about these rules, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook. Alternatively, if you have limited capability for work-related activity, you get a ‘limited capability for work-related activity element’ of £390.06 a month. The tests used in ESA are used to decide whether you should get either of these elements.

You get a ‘carer element’ of £185.86 a month if you satisfy the rules for carer’s allowance (CA) or would satisfy them except that your earnings are too high.4Regs 29 and 30 UC Regs You must be caring for someone who is in receipt of certain disability benefits. Your caring responsibilities must be for at least 35 hours a week. You do not have to have claimed CA to get the carer element. You cannot get an element for being a carer and an element for your own illness. If you are entitled to both, you only get the one which is higher.

You get a ‘childcare element’ if you are working and have childcare costs in respect of a dependent child.5Regs 31-33 UC Regs You can get help with up to 85 per cent of these costs, up to a maximum limit. You must be in paid work and the childcare costs must be necessary to allow you to work. If you have a partner, you must both be in paid work unless your partner is ill, disabled or a carer.

You may also be entitled to a ‘transitional SDP element’ if you were entitled to the severe disability premium in your income support, income-related employment and support allowance or income-based jobseeker’s allowance in the month before you claimed UC, and certain other rules apply. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for more information.

1 Reg 24 UC Regs »

2 Reg 24(2) UC Regs »

3 Reg 24A UC Regs »

4 Regs 29 and 30 UC Regs »

5 Regs 31-33 UC Regs »

Step three: work out your earnings and how much can be ignored

Some of your earnings may be ignored for UC: this is called the ‘work allowance’. You only get a work allowance if you have a dependent child or children or if you have limited capability for work. There are two levels of work allowance depending on whether you are getting help in your UC with housing costs. If you do not have a housing costs element in your UC, your work allowance is £631 a month. If you have a housing costs element in your UC, your work allowance is £379 a month.

If your earnings are less than your work allowance, they are ignored. If they are more than your work allowance, 55 per cent of the excess counts as income. If you do not have a work allowance, 55 per cent of your earnings counts as income.

Step four: work out your other income and how much can be ignored

If you have other income apart from earnings (eg, other benefits), unless it is ignored, it reduces the UC maximum amount pound for pound. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for more details of what income is ignored. See the relevant chapter of this Handbook for more information on how specific income (eg, fostering allowances and payments from the local authority) is treated.

Step five: calculate your total income

Add together the income that is to be taken into account under Steps three and four.

Step six: calculate your universal credit entitlement

Deduct your total income (Step five) from your maximum UC (Step two). This is your UC entitlement.

Claimant commitment

You cannot get UC unless you sign a ‘claimant commitment’. This sets out what you must do to receive your UC. You are placed in one of four groups based on whether you are subject to:

•no work-related requirements – eg, if you are caring for a severely disabled person, you are the main carer of a child aged under one or you have limited capability for work-related activity;

•the work-focused interview requirement only – eg, if you are the main carer of a child aged one;

•the work preparation and work-focused interview requirements – eg, if you have limited capability for work;

•all work-related requirements, including work availability and work search requirements for most people.

See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for more details of the claimant commitment, work-related requirements and sanctions if you do not meet your work-related requirements. See the relevant chapters of this Handbook for more information about the work-related requirements for specific groups of people.

Monthly assessment period

Your award of UC is assessed over an ‘assessment period’ of one calendar month, beginning from the date your entitlement starts. Changes of circumstances generally take effect from the first day of the monthly assessment period in which the change occurs. So, a change that occurs part way through a monthly assessment period is usually treated as having occurred on the first day of the assessment period. For example, if your child stops counting as your dependant part way through the assessment period, you will lose the child element for that child from the start of the assessment period.

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