Universal Credit claimant review

Your claim can be reviewed at any time to make sure your circumstances are up-to-date and to make sure you're getting the correct amount of Universal Credit. Claims are not identified based on protected characteristics like age or disability.

Most Universal Credit claims will be reviewed over time and they could be reviewed more than once to make sure the circumstances are still correct.

There's no set timescale for how long it should take. The average time is six to eight weeks, but will vary depending on your claim, circumstances or needs.

As part of the review you'll be asked to provide evidence and take part in a phone appointment. If you don't provide the evidence, attend the appointment or respond within the time stated, your Universal Credit claim may be suspended and, eventually, potentially closed.

If, after reviewing the evidence and interview responses an agent identifies that the claim entitlement was incorrect, they have discretion to close the review, require you to update your claim or, as with other benefit reviews, refer the case to a fraud department for further action if potential fraud has been identified.

Yes, you'll need to share documents about your circumstances.

This is to make sure your circumstances are accurate and up-to-date on the claim. You'll be given information about how and when to provide requested information.

If you're unsure how to do this, you can't find the requested information or you're unable to provide it by the requested date, please contact your claim review agent through your online journal before the deadline for submission for support.

Reviews are carried out under specific regulations that allow agents to request information or evidence as required in relation to a continuing award of benefit.

These powers require you to supply information or evidence in connection with the claim, or any question arising out of it.

Bank statements enable an accurate assessment of your current circumstances, making sure you're receiving the right level of entitlement.

If discrepancies are identified, they can be quickly sorted to make sure you receive what you're entitled to.

It's important that banks statements are not altered in anyway. Redacting information on bank statements, such as descriptions of transactions, prevents the Department determining if you're now in receipt of any other income or have outgoings which could impact the amount of Universal Credit you're entitled to.

Yes. Section 8 of the Data Protection Act 2018 and Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR allows for the Department’s processing of personal data that is necessary for the exercise of a function of a government department, in this case establishing that a claim for benefit remains, as set out in the 2013 Regulations.

While the information or evidence required may include personal data, you would not be breaching any data protection legislation when providing that personal data (including that of third party) in response to the Secretary of State.

Yes. The documents provided are secure and are not retained beyond the purpose of the review - to inform the review and make sure of the correctness of the Universal Credit claim.

Documents that are provided as evidence on the Universal Credit system remain available for up to 90 days, unless a claim is referred to counter-fraud colleagues.

To protect your privacy and to minimise access, once documents have been uploaded as part of a claim review, they are limited, using technical controls, to a small audience based around the agent conducting the review.

Once the evidence has been removed from the claim it is not recoverable or viewable on the Universal Credit system.

While a standard review process is followed for everyone, agents can tailor their approach to the review on a case-by-case basis and decide the correct course of action.

For example, recognising if someone is at risk or has complex needs that may impact their ability to take part in a review without additional support.​

Additional support may include advising you on how to upload requested information and/or providing further time to supply requested documents.

Jobcentres are unable to advise about reviews. If you have any questions or need support, please raise with the review agent through your online journal so that you can discuss further.

Yes, this should be used. If your claim is not managed online, please contact your agent using your usual contact method.

Review agents will reply to your message as soon as possible - but there is no set time for a reply as reviews will vary depending on your claim, circumstances or more.