If you claim online, your date of claim is normally the date on which the claim is received by the DWP; this is when you click the ‘submit claim’ button on the online claim. However, if you receive help from the DWP* to claim online, your date of claim will be the date that you first asked for such help. You should keep a note of when you asked for the help and, once your claim is submitted, record it in your online journal and ask for your claim to start from that date.

For telephone claims, your date of claim is the date of your initial call to the helpline, as long as you provide the DWP with all the information they need during that call or, where this is not possible, within one month of that date.

* this does not include the Citizens Advice Help to Claim service

Defective claims – If your claim is not completed according to the DWP instructions, it is ‘defective’. You should be informed of this. As long as you complete the claim properly within one month, your claim