Full text for a flyer I wrote re our basic rights on Universal Credit. Please use this as a tool for organising and to help people on benefits (please let me know when you use it! I need the encouragement to keep writing!). This was all correct and checked as of 2022, but nothing has changed so far as I’m aware…
Know Your Rights! – Universal Credit
Solidarity
We have the RIGHT to take someone with us to EVERY appointment. That can be a friend, union rep, carer – anyone. At important meetings, this shows we are not alone and will not accept being messed around. They can remind us what to ask for and give us confidence to demand our rights.
“new style” JSA and ESA
If you’ve paid some national insurance or credits then you may be able get “new style JSA” or “new style ESA”, instead of Universal Credit. This isn’t means tested, so you will be paid even if you have savings or a partner who’s working. If this applies to you, claim it!
We can ask for…
These aren’t rights, but at DWP discretion we can get:
- fortnightly payments
- the “rent element” paid direct to a landlord
- split payments for a couple
Check your money! Keep ALL your documents
Check your first payment as soon as it comes in. You can use a benefits calculator website like turn2us, or talk to citizens’ advice. Your housing allowance can change when you move house so double check your payments after a move.
The DWP makes mistakes and loses documents. If they close your claim you may loose access to your journal. It’s important to keep a COPY of EVERYTHING in case you’re short changed or need to make an appeal.
The Claimant Commitment
Everyone on Universal Credit has to sign a “claimant commitment”. If you don’t keep to the commitment then you are SANCTIONED so it’s vital to get it changed if there’s anything you can’t do. You can ask for a change any time, at the jobcentre or on your journal. See https://claimantcommitments.org.uk/ for information about what to expect and what to ask for.
You (usually) have to sign it or you won’t get any benefits. You can’t appeal the commitments, but you can ASK to get them “reconsidered”. If you refuse to sign, then unless the DWP believes you had a “good reason”, you wont get any money until the reconsideration is done. It’s usually best to sign and follow the old commitment as best you can while you wait.
Some reasons the DWP MAY accept to reduce your hours looking for work:
- you are sick or have a disability
- you have caring responsibilities
- you are pregnant and expect to give birth within 11 weeks
- you have recently experienced domestic violence
- you’re volunteering (up to 50% of your worksearch)
For the first FOUR WEEKS you can limit your search to jobs with similar skills and pay to what you had before.
The commitment can make you sign up to the Universal Credit website, but you don’t have to USE it to search for work. You can document your search other ways – on paper instead of your journal. You shouldn’t have to document what you’ve done hour-by-hour, less detail is fine. You have to take “all reasonable steps” you can to find work.
Direct Action
Sometimes our legal rights aren’t enough. Sometimes we don’t get our rights anyway, even after jumping through all the DWP’s hoops. This is where DIRECT ACTION comes in. We have seen bad decisions reversed just because people went to the Jobcentre as a group and refused to leave till their problem was sorted. If forms and tribunals aren’t working for you, we may be able to help you organise an action to set things right.
Making an Appeal
If you are sanctioned, refused a benefit, refused a “hardship payment”, paid the wrong amount, or found fit for work – you can appeal the decision. It’s a long process but a HUGE number are successful, when people see them through to the end. If you can, GET SUPPORT from an organisation like Citizens Advice, or your trade union.
If you miss the deadlines you can still start an appeal up to 13 months, if you show the DWP there’s a “good reason” you missed it. Before you send any form make a copy, and get proof of postage from the post office.
The first step is to ask for a “mandatory reconsideration”. The deadline is only ONE MONTH so get on this fast! This process is a sham BUT you have to jump through the hoops before you can make a proper independent appeal. Don’t worry if your reconsideration is rejected at first – the DWP has been caught using secret targets and rejecting tons of applications at random. They do this to everyone.
You start a “mandatory reconsideration” just by asking for it – over the phone, on your journal, in person, or in writing. In writing is best, using a form so you don’t miss any details. Search www.gov.uk for “form CRMR1”. The address should be on top of the decision letter you’re appealing. if not, phone up the DWP and ask where to send it. Make sure your application includes:
- The date of the decision you are appealing
- The reasons you disagree with the decision
- Your name, address, and National Insurance number
Next, the DWP will send you a “mandatory reconsideration notice” telling you if you were successful. If you aren’t, don’t panic – the next step is fairer and done by an independent tribunal. From the date you get your notice, you now have ONE MONTH to start your appeal.
To start the proper appeal, get “form SSCS1” from www.gov.uk. Fill it out explaining your reasons as clearly as you can, and get together any evidence that will help your case. Include evidence and your mandatory reconsideration notice, and send it to HMCTS Appeals Centre, PO box 1203, Bradford, BD1 9WP. It may take some time, but eventually you will be sent details of what happens next and when your hearing will be.
You have the best chance if you go to the hearing in person, even better bring someone with you. You can claim back travel expenses so keep receipts. They will question you about what happened – just stay calm and answer simply. DO get help from Citizens Advice or your union to prepare. Good luck!
We deserve better…
Our rights are just the beginning. Benefits were frozen from 2016 until 2020, while the cost of living went up and up. The money we’re paid is NOT ENOUGH – our benefits are now the lowest compared to wages since 1948.
There is not enough work to go around. Most of us want jobs, but searching 35 hours a week for jobs that don’t exist is impossible!
Life on benefits is hard for a reason: to keep wages down and punish unemployment. This effects EVERYONE, not just claimants. The worse life is on benefits the more people will accept bad jobs, the more people will be scared to fight bad conditions at work. Everyone is just one P45 away from the Jobcentre. We need to:
SCRAP all sanctions, benefit caps, forced “workfare” programmes, the bedroom tax, and the two-child policy
REDUCE the 35-hour worksearch, waiting times on the DWP phone system, and the wait time for payments
REVERSE the benefits freeze: increase all benefits
We can do this. The four worst unpaid workfare programmes were scrapped in 2017 because people took action to stop them. We can repeat this and scrap all the worst parts of Universal Credit – so long as we are prepared to fight for it.
This leaflet was written by claimants, for claimants. Don’t suffer alone: we are stronger together!