What to Have Ready When You First Claim Universal Credit: A Checklist

A first claim asks for a lot of detail in one sitting. Work through this checklist before you start, so the form is complete, accurate and not held up.

A first Universal Credit claim pulls together a lot of detail in a single online form, and the form comes with a deadline. Working through a checklist before you start means you can finish the claim in one sitting, answer every question accurately and give it the best chance of being processed without delay. Universal Credit, often shortened to UC, helps with living costs if you are on a low income or out of work. Here is what to have ready at each stage.

Check You Are Eligible Before You Start

Minutes spent here can save weeks of trouble, because some decisions are hard to undo once a claim is submitted.

• Confirm you meet the eligibility rules on GOV.UK before you begin. The rules differ depending on your circumstances, so do not assume you qualify.
• If you already get other benefits, work out whether you will be better off first. Some benefits might end once you apply for Universal Credit, and if the claim does not go through you cannot go back and claim them again.
• Use an independent benefits calculator to estimate what you could get before you commit.
• If you or your partner is not a UK citizen, check eligibility carefully, because applying when you are not eligible might affect your permission to stay in the UK.
• If you have left a job, wait until the day after your final wages or holiday pay. Money paid after you claim counts as income and reduces your first payment. Redundancy pay does not count as income, though it can affect your claim if it takes your savings over £6,000.
• If a Migration Notice letter has arrived telling you your current benefit is ending, write down the deadline it gives. The eligibility rules for Universal Credit may differ from those of your existing benefit, so seek independent advice before you claim.
• If anything is unclear, the free Help to Claim service run by Citizens Advice offers confidential support from trained advisers, including an interpreter if you need one.

Set Up and Verify Your Account

Claims start online, and a few choices made at this stage affect everything that follows.

• Use the official GOV.UK website to start and manage your claim. If a text message, email, website or social media account impersonating Universal Credit asks for personal details, treat it as a scam and report it.
• Create your account, set your security questions and fill in the “about you” section with your name and address.
• Once the account exists, you have 28 days to finish and send off the claim. Let that window lapse and the account closes, so you have to begin again with a fresh one. The date the claim is sent is the date it officially begins.
• Couples must claim together and each create their own account. Whoever registers first is given a linking code for the partner to use, then you complete one joint claim.
• If you have made a Universal Credit claim in the past, log into the account you already hold to begin the new one rather than setting up another from scratch.
• If going online is not workable for you, the claim can be taken over the phone instead by the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 5644. Calls are free and the line is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. In exceptional circumstances, such as a long-term condition that prevents online applications, a home visit may be possible.

Prove Your Identity

Identity checks ask two things: that you are who you say you are, and that you can prove it. There is more than one route, so use whichever matches the documents you actually have.

• Online, most people answer security questions about things such as their mobile phone contract, bank account or benefits. The questions come from credit records or information held by the Department for Work and Pensions, so the answers should be things only you know. You will typically need two records, such as recent self-assessment returns or credit card or phone contract records.
• With photo ID, such as a passport or driving licence, you can enter its details online and then have the document scanned and your picture taken at a Post Office. A national identity photocard from an EU country, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein can also be used.
• Without photo ID, you may be able to prove who you are using your UK bank account details and your HMRC tax record.
• A debit or credit card, payslip or household bill can also count as proof of identity.
• If online verification fails, you may be offered a phone interview with personalised questions or an appointment with the Universal Credit team. For an in-person check you will need to bring a single item of photo ID, a document confirming where you live and a further piece of identification. If you have none of these, other ways to send evidence exist, so ask rather than giving up.

Gather Details About Your Income, Savings and Home

The application asks detailed questions about your money and household. Writing answers down first prevents guesswork, and wrong guesses can mean wrong payments that must later be corrected.

• Your National Insurance number, where one has been issued to you.
• What you earn from employment, plus any other money coming in, such as payouts from an insurance policy.
• Details of your savings, investments and other assets.
• Any other benefits you currently receive.
• Payments into a private pension, if you have one. A workplace pension run by your employer is not included here.
• What you pay for your home, including service charges but not rates, along with your landlord’s details and the type of accommodation you live in. Have council tax details to hand as well.
• The details of everyone who lives in your home.
• Whether you have spent any time outside the UK over the past two years.
• Any health conditions, disabilities or long-term illnesses that make working harder for you.
• Copies of documents you may need to upload, such as bank statements or a tenancy agreement.

Have Your Bank Details and Childcare or Caring Costs Ready

A few extras are easy to overlook but matter for getting paid and for what your claim covers.

• The bank, building society or credit union account you want your payments paid into.
• If you do not have an account, you can still claim. The Payment Exception Service lets you collect payments without one if you cannot open a bank, building society or credit union account, and a work coach can talk you through the options.
• How much you pay for childcare, if you want help with childcare costs. You may also need to record these costs in your online account.
• Details of anyone you care for. Caring responsibilities can affect what your claimant commitment asks of you, so have the facts ready for your commitment meeting.

Prepare for Your Jobcentre Interview and Claimant Commitment

After you submit, Universal Credit contacts you rather than the other way round. The interview and the commitment you agree at it shape the claim from then on.

• Expect an interview with Jobcentre Plus, arranged within 10 working days of submitting your claim. You will be told how to book it, often through a message in your online journal.
• Check your journal and to-do list regularly and reply to messages promptly. You will be given a case manager, and possibly a work coach, to help manage the claim.
• The meeting covers your claimant commitment, the agreement recording the actions you promise to take to get ready for employment, find work or raise your earnings. Couples each have their own commitment.
• Be ready to discuss anything that could make the commitment hard to keep, such as a mental health condition or caring for someone. In an emergency, such as a death in the family or risk of homelessness, you may be able to get a short pause or change to it.
• You must accept the commitment in your online account or the claim will be stopped. Failing to do what it says can reduce or stop your payment, which is called a sanction. Miss an appointment and you will need a good reason; if it is not accepted, a sanction can follow.
• If a sanction leaves you unable to pay for rent, heating, food or hygiene needs, you can ask Universal Credit for a hardship payment.
• If you live with a disability or a health condition, a work capability assessment may be needed to look at how it affects your capacity to work. The Department will let you know whether one applies to you once you have claimed.

Know What Happens During the Five-Week Wait

Your first payment arrives five weeks after you submit the claim, often the hardest stretch of the process. Knowing what is happening, and what help exists meanwhile, makes the wait easier to manage.

• You can apply for an advance if you need help with bills before your first payment arrives. The advance is interest-free, you usually find out the same day whether you can get one, and the most you can get equals your first estimated payment. It is not extra money: you repay it, usually within 24 months, starting out of your first payment. Our article on Universal Credit advance myths clears up the misconceptions that stop people applying.
• The gov.uk example shows the sums: with a first estimated payment of £344, taking the full amount as an advance means a monthly repayment of £14.33, leaving £329.67 of the first payment for you.
• To apply, explain why you need it, verify your identity, give bank account details and explain any savings you have, through your journal, a work coach, the jobcentre or the helpline. If the repayments prove unaffordable, a request can be made to put them on hold for three months.
• If you would rather avoid deductions from your payments, other routes exist. Interest-free help with essential costs may be available through budgeting loans and advances, councils run local welfare assistance schemes that vary by area, and charitable grants for essential costs are worth checking before you take on repayments.
• Use the waiting weeks to answer anything asked of you. In the first month you will need to give details such as your rent; if you rent from a social landlord, Universal Credit may get these directly from them.
• Report changes of circumstance through your online account, never by making a new claim, which can delay your payment. Changes might include getting ill, a partner starting a job or having a child.
• Keep checking your journal. Universal Credit will contact you in the first few weeks even if you could not verify your identity online, and a message may ask for more information or an appointment.

If you have not already, work through the document list above and start collecting whatever is missing today, so your claim is ready to submit well inside the 28-day window.

Your questions answered

Q: How long do I have to complete my Universal Credit claim?

A: You have 28 days from opening your online account to finish and send off the claim. Leave it longer and the account closes, so a new one has to be created.

Q: What happens if I cannot verify my identity online?

A: You may be offered a phone interview with personalised questions or an appointment with the Universal Credit team. An in-person check needs a single item of photo ID, a document showing your address and one further piece of identification, and other ways to send evidence exist if you have none.

Q: Can I get money before my first Universal Credit payment?

A: Yes, you can apply for an advance on your first payment. It is interest-free, but you repay it through deductions, usually within 24 months starting from your first payment.

Q: What is a claimant commitment?

A: It is the agreement recording the actions you promise to take to get ready for employment, find work or raise your earnings. You must accept it in your online account or the claim stops, and not meeting it can reduce your payments through a sanction.

This guide is general information, not financial advice. Late repayment can cause you serious money problems. For help, go to moneyhelper.org.uk. We don’t arrange loans or work with lenders. Before borrowing, check the lender is authorised on the FCA register, and consider free debt advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, National Debtline or Citizens Advice.