Understanding DWP Advances and Emergency Help

BUDGETING LOANS - We enquired to our Member of Parliament and DWP Minister, how it is that some people can have two budgeting advances on Universal Credit while others only have one. 

The allowance is up to £348 for a single person but if you have paid much of this loan back and now only owe £50, why should you net get a second loan in an emergency?

This is the response from the DWP. 

On the matter of when Universal Credit payments are sent to those entitled, it is set very strictly in line with their Assessment Period. The Assessment Period begins on the very date someone makes a claim to Universal Credit and lasts for one month. For example - 05/01/2021-04/02/2021. This cycle would continue for every month that follows (05/02/2021-04/03/2021 etc) and any entitlement that is calculated on the end of each period would be paid 7 days later. We have worked closely with Social and Private landlords in the local area to make them aware of how this can impact tenants in respect to managing their bills.

There are 4 types of advance under Universal Credit, as follows:

• New Claim Advance - Available to those in need in the first two Assessment Periods of their claim. Mr Collyer has passed this threshold.
• Change of Circumstances Advance - Available to those who have had a verified change in their circumstances that would increase their monthly entitlement of Universal Credit. 
• Benefit Transfer Advance - Available to those who have transferred onto Universal Credit from a previous benefit (i.e. Job Seeker's Allowance), and is only available for their first Assessment Period. Mr Collyer is not eligible as he does not meet this condition.
• Budgeting Advance - Available for those who need help with domestic emergencies or for support upon the confirmation of a start date of employment. The policy with a Budgeting Advance is that if there is already one outstanding that has not been fully repaid, we are unable to offer a second. It is possible that someone may have a New Claim Advance and a Budgeting Advance open at the same time, but never two Budgeting Advances. This could be perhaps where Mr Collyer has understood people to have two advances at the same time.

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