Entering a sanctionable failure decision on
the Universal Credit Agent Portal
Summary
How to enter a sanctionable failure decision on the Universal Credit Agent Portal
Content
When a Universal Credit sanctionable failure decision is made, it is recorded on an LT54. A
decision maker (DM) uses this information to update the claimant's Universal Credit records on
the Agent Portal.
The LT54 contains the following claimant information:
name
National Insurance number (NINO)
date of sanctionable failure decision
nature of failure
reasons for decision
level of failure (higher, medium, low and lowest)
AR code
legislation details
duration of sanction
indicative daily sanction amount
name of decision maker (DM) and office location
date decision made
any compliance activity (including the date of
compliance)
If referral is from a provider, the DM provides confirmation that they have been notified of the
decision, records the form used and the date of notification.
Entering the outcome of a sanctionable failure on the
Agent Portal
To enter a sanctionable failure, the DM:
1. Navigates to the claimant's records in the
Agent Portal.
2. Selects 'Payments: Sanctions' which displays
the:
claimant's name
NINO
calculated up to date
Total Outstanding Reduction Period
(TORP) (days)
The screen also displays details of all
sanctionable decision outcomes including 'Not
imposed' sanctions with the following details:
Date of decision
Level
Sanction reason code
Status
Additionally, sanctionable decision outcomes
will show the following:
Duration (days)
Days outstanding
Rate
3. Selects 'Add new'.
4. Ensures the 'Legacy sanction' checkbox is left
unchecked.
5. Ensures the 'Manually consumed' checkbox is
left unchecked, unless a portion of the sanction
has already been consumed manually prior to
the sanction being added to the portal - for
example, the first assessment period in which
the sanction was paid manually off-line.
Decision maker does not impose a sanction
If a sanction is not imposed, the DM:
1. Selects the 'No' 'Impose sanction' radio button.
2. Populates the 'Date of Conditionality Failure' from the drop-down lists.
3. Populates the 'Date of Decision' from the drop-down lists.
4. Populates the 'Date of good reason letter/conversation' from the drop-down lists.
5. Selects the 'Sanction level' from the following drop-down list:
Higher
Medium
Low
Lowest
6. Selects the 'Reason for Sanction'. Once this is chosen, the AR code will
automatically be displayed.
7. Completes the fields within the 'Notification Personalisation' section using the information held
on the LT54. Where automatic notifications are generated by Universal Credit, the
'Personalisation' section will display fields where completion is mandatory. These can be from
any of the following:
Employer name
Job title
Name of the provider
Name of the provision
End date of the period of failure
Appointment date (the date the claimant failed to
attend)
Appointment location (the office the claimant
failed to attend)
Appointment time (the time the claimant failed to
attend)
Evidence not provided
Change not reported
Particular, specific work search action
Work prep requirement
Required action to comply
Personalisation fields must not start with a capital letter, end with a full stop or other punctuation
mark and must not contain 'you' 'your' etc. The text entered here will appear mid-sentence on the
automated notification, for example 'did not update and provide copy of CV' 'did not apply for
vacancy with Tesco'.
8. Selects 'Next'. This will display the 'Confirm add conditionality sanction' screen).
9. Selects 'Submit'. To assist with the completion of the notifications mandatory fields.
A message will appear to inform the agent that the sanction has been added and a notification
will be automatically generated by Universal Credit overnight as fellows:
Sanction not imposed UC105
Sanction not imposed - partner UC380
Decision maker imposes a sanction
If a sanction is imposed, the DM:
1. Selects the 'Yes' 'Impose sanction' radio button.
2. Populates the 'Date of Conditionality Failure' from the drop-down lists.
3. Populates the 'Date of Decision' from the drop-down lists.
4. Selects the 'Requirements met/lifted' 'Yes' radio button (if known).
5. Populates the 'Date requirements met/lifted' field (if known).
6. Populates the 'Date of good reason letter/conversation' from the drop-down lists.
7. Selects the 'Sanction level' from the following drop-down list:
Higher
Medium
Low
Lowest
8. Selects the 'Reason for Sanction'. Once this is chosen the AR code will
automatically be displayed.
9. Completes the fields within the 'Notification Personalisation' section using the information held
on the LT54. These can be from any of the following:
Employer Name
Job Title
Name of the Provider
Name of the Provision
End Date of the Period of Failure
Appointment Date (the date the claimant failed to
attend)
Appointment Location (the office the claimant
failed to attend)
Appointment Time (the time the claimant failed to
attend)
Evidence Not Provided
Change Not Reported
Particular, Specific Work Search Action
Work Prep Requirement
Required Action to Comply
To assist with the completion of the notifications mandatory fields, see Completing Sanction
Notifications - Hints and Tips.
If the sanction is higher or medium, the DM must consider if there have been any manually
consumed days (for example, because the claim has been in error state) the DM records these
when entering the new sanction in the sanction portal. The DM selects 'Yes' in the 'Manually
consumed days' field and enters the total number of days manually consumed.
The DM Populates the 'Sanction Duration' (days) field (taken from the LT54).
If the duration of the sanction is anything other than the standard number of days, the system
displays the following message: 'The sanction duration you have entered is not one of the
expected values, please check this correct before proceeding:'
the standard number of days for high level
sanctions are 91, 182 and 1095 days
the standard number of days for medium level
sanctions are 28 and 91 days
Entering a non-standard amount can only occur when entering a Legacy sanction, or the
sanction is due to misconduct or leaving voluntarily:
if the sanction is low level, the DM populates the
'Additional Fixed Period' (days) field (taken from
the LT54), and
if the sanction is low/lowest level, the DM also
enters the 'Date of Compliance' when the
claimant has complied
10. Ensures the 'Apply Standard Rules' radio button is set to 'Yes' (this is the default setting).
11. Selects 'Next'. This displays the 'Confirm add conditionality sanction' screen.
12. Selects 'Submit'. This returns the agent to the 'Payment: Sanctions' screen where the newly
added sanction will be displayed. A message appears to inform the agent if a notification will be
automatically generated by Universal Credit overnight. Automated notifications will be generated
for:
UC140 Medium High level UC sanction claimant
UC104 Medium High level UC sanction partner
UC140a Low level UC sanction claimant
UC104a Low level UC sanction partner
UC140c Lowest level UC sanction claimant
UC104b Lowest level UC sanction partner
If the system isn't able to generate the notification, a warning message is displayed and the
AD/DM must consider creating a manual notification.
Error / warning messages
If one of the following messages are displayed, the agent considers the following:
'Sanction cannot be added as TORP exceeded.
Please add as not imposed' - the agent enters
the sanction in the Agent Portal and amends the
LT54 to reflect that the sanction cannot be
imposed as the TORP is at 1095 days
'Duration adjusted as TORP exceeded' - the
system has automatically adjusted the duration of
the sanction to ensure that it does not exceed the
TORP of 1095 days (the agent amends the LT54
to reflect the amended sanction duration)
Fail to attend low level sanction imposed
When a complex decision is made and a sanction is imposed Doubt of Entitlement may also
need to be considered. This wil be when the claimant hasn’t re-engaged or reported a change of
circumstance which moves them out of the All Work Related Requirements (AWRR) group. To
determine if Doubt of Entitlement action is required in the future, a 'Termination/Suspension' task
is set.
Note: the 'Termination/Suspension' task is not required if the FTA occurred after 24 July 2017.
For these cases, the task is automatically set if the claimant has not re-engaged or reported a
change of circumstances which moves them out of the AWRR group.
The DM sets the following CAMLite task:
Task type: Termination/Suspension
Sub type: Suspension Review
Start Task From: First day of the third
assessment period following the effective date of
the relevant sanction (For example sanction
applied from 07/02/17, AP end date is 06/03/17
therefore task is set for 07/04/17)
SLA: 3 days
Notes: DoE action. Check if claimant has re-
engaged, if not book DoE (non-conditionality)
appointment, consider if complex needs.
Assigned to: UC – Work Services
The DM updates WSP 'General Notes' with: 'CAMLite task set for (dd/mm/yyyy) to check for re-
engagement/moved out of AWRR. If not to book face to face Doubt of Entitlement interview (non-
conditionality appointment)'.
Notifying a provider of a sanction decision
If the notification has not been issued automatically by Universal Credit, the DM notifies the
provider of any sanction decision manually.