7. Late claims and backpayments
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7. Late claims and backpayments
Claims for universal credit cannot normally be backdated to before the date the claim was made (see 6 above ). However, a claim can be backdated for up to one month if any one or more of the following circumstances applies to you (and your partner in the case of a joint claim – see 3 above ), as a result of which you could not reasonably be expected to have made the claim any earlier:
    ■you were previously receiving an award of jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance or housing benefit and you were not informed that this was due to end before it did so;
    ■you have a disability;
    ■you had an illness that prevented you making the claim and you have provided the DWP with evidence of this;
    ■you were unable to claim online because the system was not working (and you made the claim as soon as it was working); or
    ■a joint claim has been refused or terminated because your former partner did not accept a claimant commitment, you have separated from the
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