Automatic reclaims for Universal Credit after nil award
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
During the pandemic, a new system of auto-reclaims was implemented in UC (Reg 32A of The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013). This system has been retained since the pandemic.
Please can you provide any information or guidance held by the Department relating to the use of this system. In particular, I am interested in whether a claimant can choose not to be treated as making a claim in a subsequent month.
The reason I am requesting this information is because in cases of surplus earnings, it can sometimes be beneficial not to claim UC immediately after a nil award - see para. 2.10(g) here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...
It is also worth noting that in para. 2.10(j) of the above document, it is suggested that a claim can be withdrawn before a decision is made on it, and that such a withdrawn claim would not cause the surplus earnings rules to apply in the month of the subsequent claim. Please also provide any information held by the Department regarding this point,.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Ellinson
Thank you for contacting the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been received by the DWP Freedom of Information mailbox and will be
processed accordingly.
Please note that this mailbox is for Freedom of Information (FOI) or
Internal Review (IR) requests only – If you have submitted a non FOI or IR
related email then we may not be able to action it.
Timescales for responding
Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests
If your email is a valid FOI request, as per Section 8 of the FOI Act
2000, you can normally expect a response within 20 working days.
Internal Review (IR) Requests
You can normally expect a response within 20 working days.
We will respond to all valid FOI and IR requests within our statutory
timescales, if we are unable to do so then we will contact you to explain
why. Please note that we are not able to process your FOI or IR request in
any shorter timescales that you may indicate.
Receiving a response from us
Please note that email FOI and IR responses will be issued from
[email address]
We recommend that you add this address to your email contacts otherwise
the response may be treated as Spam or Junk by your email account
provider.
Further Information
Should you have any further queries in connection with your FOI or IR
request please contact us.
More information on the DWP can be accessed on gov.uk here –
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
References
Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
Dear Charles Ellinson,
I am writing in response to your request for information, received 23rd
May.
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central FoI Team
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
I am writing regarding your response to my recent FoI request, which has been published here:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...
Your reference is FOI2023/39446
You have provided some relevant links to existing information, however, they do not answer the specific queries I had. I apologise if my initial request was not clear enough. Please see below the specific queries I was hoping would be clarified.
1. The auto-reclaim process provided for by Reg. 32A of the Claims and Payments Regs is expressed in a non-mandatory way, and the regulations also allow the Secretary of State to make conditions as to when it is applied. Can you provide any information which clarifies if auto-reclaims are ALWAYS treated as made and whether any conditions have been made by the Secretary of State.
In particular, will the claimant be treated as making a reclaim even where earnings in the new Assessment Period are at a level where there would be no entitlement?
2. A 'regular' claim for UC can be withdrawn before a decision is made on it (see Reg 31 of the above regulations). Will the same be true of a claim treated as made under Re. 32A?
Yours faithfully,
Charles Ellinson
Thank you for contacting the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been received by the DWP Freedom of Information mailbox and will be
processed accordingly.
Please note that this mailbox is for Freedom of Information (FOI) or
Internal Review (IR) requests only – If you have submitted a non FOI or IR
related email then we may not be able to action it.
Timescales for responding
Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests
If your email is a valid FOI request, as per Section 8 of the FOI Act
2000, you can normally expect a response within 20 working days.
Internal Review (IR) Requests
You can normally expect a response within 20 working days.
We will respond to all valid FOI and IR requests within our statutory
timescales, if we are unable to do so then we will contact you to explain
why. Please note that we are not able to process your FOI or IR request in
any shorter timescales that you may indicate.
Receiving a response from us
Please note that email FOI and IR responses will be issued from
[email address]
We recommend that you add this address to your email contacts otherwise
the response may be treated as Spam or Junk by your email account
provider.
Further Information
Should you have any further queries in connection with your FOI or IR
request please contact us.
More information on the DWP can be accessed on gov.uk here –
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
References
Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
Dear Charles Ellinson,
I am writing in response to your request for information, received 9th
June.
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central FoI Team
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now