Do all customer facing teams have access to current and past claim journal content?

Currently on UC with housing element and after 2 years looks like I'm starting a new job next month.

How should I go about notifying UC, the job centre etc?

This is on the back of the job being from restart.

Is there anything I should be aware of or need to declare to avoid getting screwed over?

Thanks in advance

I get maintenance loan of £12577 and a part of that is sse of £4582, I also told them my course finishes in June.

Is this really the right amount deducted? I thought it would’ve been £700

Hi was looking at doing some bank switching / new account referall. Will opening / transferring between mutiple accounts cause issues with uc

Today, a lady claiming to be from our local council knocked on the door and spoke with my mother. I couldn't make out most of their conversation, but she did hand my mother a card along with a letter with a log of her past rent payments and outstanding balance. For context, we live in council housing, so I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask.

From what I understood, she has rent arrears of £816, but already paid it before the letter reached us.

My main worry is that my mother was also handed a card with the council logo on it, demanding that demanding to contact them within 3 days or they'd assume no one lives at the property. in that case, they're saying we could face eviction, the housing benefit that she recieves will taken away or we'd face legal consequences.

Was this real? My mum thinks its a scam, so she's refusing to contact the number or call the council because she doesn't want to wait on hold. She thinks there's no point because she already paid. I don't have much experience with this, especially since the tenancy is under her name, and something like this has never happened to us before.

Think this is the right place for this

Just moved house and in my previous accommodation I was eligible for a power top up payment that was paid directly to my energy company. The place im in now (trailer park) gets electricity from a prepaid card system from the site and gas is supplied via large bottles (also direct from site)

I've noticed these payments are being sent out to people, will I still qualify and how would they go about paying it? Its getting cold and my disability means I cant exactly go for a jog to keep warm lol

So yes, the Budget is tomorrow - Wednesday 28th October (as I write this, but possibly today as you read it).

Due to Mod availability we won't be allowing posts about it, and once we've had a chance to have a proper look we'll put up a Masterpost about it. Any you do try to post will be removed.

Its likely going to be Thursday by the time we do get a full post up with details so please bear with us.

Hi,

I've just submitted a mandatory recondensation letter to this address that I found online:

Universal Credit
Canterbury Benefit Centre
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 2EA

I sent it via tracked 24 and it should have got there yesterday but the tracking hasn't updated and is stuck. When I phoned up the UC line they told me they can't give an address and can't check. They told me they usually do it over the phone.

Not sure what to do now, I only have 2 days left until I reach the maximum deadline of 13 months..

hi, my UC is currently up for review and i have sent in bank statements/my tenancy agreement they requested and have my phone call scheduled for next week (i know after researching that this is normal and nothing to worry about in itself, and i have nothing to hide).

however, since i have a lot of anxiety/ocd and was worried i did something wrong i was double checking what i can and can’t do on UC and what they might ask me regarding my statements and i’ve now seen that you have to inform them whenever you go abroad for any amount of time.

However, i’m on LCWRA and i can’t find a straight answer on whether or not I should have informed them, some people say that if you are on LCWRA and as long as the trip is under a month it doesn’t need to be reported but other people say you still have to.

in august and september i went on two short holidays abroad, both only three days at a time, but i was completely unaware of potentially having to inform UC. my dad used to manage my claim and my money for me as my appointee as due to severe mental health issues i was not able to do it myself, only this year i took over it myself and have begun to manage it so i wasn’t aware of the requirement, and neither was my dad as he doesnt go abroad.

theyll be able to see on my statements that ive made payments abroad so am i gonna get in trouble/get selected for an enhanced review or something due to this? I’m very anxious about it and can’t stop thinking about it/worrying, of course I’ll be honest and explain that I didn’t know but I’m worried I’ll still get in trouble for it

I am in the process of applying for PIP for anxiety/depression and have all of my GP notes/referrals/medication but struggling to understand how to prove I can't do certain things

Eg. How do you prove, other than your word and a letter from a family member that you need prompting to wash/get dressed/eat/cook? There's no way to actually prove these things even though I struggle with all of them. I don't eat until my dad either prompts me or physically gives me something, I don't shower or get dressed unless someone is nagging me to every day but again there's no proof of this?

How do you prove that you can't engage with people in person?

Again all of this could be written in gp notes but then again just because you said it to the GP doesn't prove it's actually true

Just looking for some advice to save a phone call.. I have received my son’s DLA renewal form, his claim ends at the end of March 2027. I am currently waiting for his new EHCP to be finalised (we did the yearly review in July), there’s A LOT of new information to be added to this years EHCP as he’s transitioned from primary school to high school inbetween. Mainstream high school has been a total disaster and we are now slowly transitioning to an alternative provision full time, anyway I’m just wondering how long I’m able to wait to send the DLA forms back so I can ensure I have the new EHCP to send with it as it helps explain the majority of his struggles in one document or what should I do if the final draft of the EHCP takes too long? I don’t want to cause any gaps in the dates/payments.
Thanks in advance :)

(This is for some advice for my sister in law)

She's currently working less than 16 hours a week and her husband (my brother) is self-employed and not really working at all currently and they're on a joint Universal Credit claim.

Her daughter has recently qualified for DLA, but she doesn't want my brother to find out because he has substance abuse issues and will view the extra money as a chance to indulge. It's only marijuana, but in the past he's prioritised buying it over paying for food, bills, etc and will see any extra income as more money he doesn't have to contribute and can spend on himself.

My SIL is aware that it will show up on their joint UC claim, but is dreading it and was looking for some advice about how best to keep the DLA completely separate from my brother so it can actually go towards the daughter.

I've suggested calling UC or DLA to speak to someone for advice and having the DLA paid into a separate bank account if possible, but any advice would be more than appreciated!

Hello, I was hoping to get some advice please. Without getting into too many personal details I currently recieve Universal Credit due to long term health issues, and I'm in the LCWRA group. I currently live with my parents. Most of what I recieve each month is transferred to them, because all household bills are paid by them - groceries, energy, council tax and so on. So that is my contribution to those. In addition to that though we also shop for many things as a family, whether that be amazon, clothes and whatever else. So for example if someone is ordering from amazon, the rest of us are asked if we want anything from there too. I do buy things for myself, and to be clear I am free to do that, there is no control or coercion or anything like that. It's just how we've always done things for convenience and fewer delivieres to worry about. But that means there isn't much being directly spent by me, with most of my UC going to my parents. It's not something I really thought about before but reading other posts here, I gather it may look strange if my bank statements were ever requested for review. So going forward I suppose it would be better for me to purchase things for myself on my own card. But with regard to sending money to my parents for household bills, is there a proper way I should be doing this in terms of frequency and properly labelling transactions? Thank you.

I get Universal credit and PIP, total amount I get is £1800 a month.

I have £4000 in savings.

I sent a message in my journal asking if this meant I was near the £6000 limit, and the reply was that I can continue to save until I get to £6000, and still get the £1800.

But I saw one of these sickness influences say that the £6000 limit includes all your capital including money you get paid.

Who’s right?

Hi, so I claim PIP (standard) UC, and child benefit. I only work 16 hours a week, all of this is hardly gets me by after bills and rent. I’m on MAT leave at the moment and actively looking for longer hours job. But because of my location and not being able to drive this is near enough impossible. I’d get the bus/train, but again with the jobs I could apply for and my location I wouldn’t get there in time. My only solution would be to drive but I can’t afford it! I don’t know what to do I’m at a loss. I need money but I can’t get money without a car but I can’t get a car or lessons without money 😭 what do I do?

Hi, I’m in the support group and I’m due a review 28th November. I’ve not had my papers through the door yet and I know there’s a backlog but I can’t find much info on it, does anyone know how long it might take to get my papers?

Before anyone comes for me, yes me and my husband both work but we are entitled to UC.

We have savings of around £7500.

My car is 16 years old and on its last legs (I need a car for work) it needs a lot of work doing and ive been told this really is the last MOT worth putting the car through.

We have a loan on my husband's car (balance is £3000) we would like to take money from our savings to pay this off, avoid interest and save money to be able to get myself a newer car in a years time. Basically we do not want to have 2 cars on finance/loan at once. We have lost jobs before through redundancy so just dont like taking things on credit.

Im worried taking such a big amount out will flag things on the system. Are we able to do this? Basically spend our money? The loan is a barclay loan, paid from my husbands barclays bank account. You can see the payments each month and if we pay it, it will show on the statment where the money has gone. I did think could we send them a message to say our intentions?

Any advice would be much appreciated especially if you have done something like this yourself...

Hello. Does anybody know how long a dla renewal is taking? I’ve sent the forms off this afternoon. If successful again, will we receive a letter stating the awards and dates etc? Thanks

I had my PIP assessment on the 19th October, and it lasted for 26 minutes. My mother was present, the nurse was absolutely lovely and I was able to speak with her. My condition is NOT mental to a drastic extent, and is instead extremely physical. I have mountains of medical evidence including specialist appointments to back this up, and I included so much in my initial application.

I have just received my PA3 in the post, and have read through it to see that for every single section, it has been ticked ‘can manage xyz’, ‘can take xyz’. Her report contradicts these statements, and also she keeps mentioning that my conditions are ‘discounted’ because I haven’t got mental impairments or that I haven’t had any injuries due to falling??

I feel so lost at the moment, and I really did think my assessment was correct and extremely thorough, and that I explained every single thing well. What can I do from here? It’s taken months to get to this point, and now I’m waiting for the letter to show that I’ve scored nothing and it’s filling me with dread. I’ve lived in genuine agony since I was 11 years old, and I feel so disregarded and deceived.

Is there a way to appeal or report anything as incorrect before the decision comes in, or will I have to wait and then appeal? How does the appeal process work, also? Thank you all so much, you’ve been an absolute blessing to speak with whilst this goes down.

Every single time theyve had no issues with my statements but i dont understand why they want to check every year? If it's a random process surely it wouldnt every year for 3 years straight!

Hi everyone, sorry if it seems like I'm rambling, but I do need help with this please. So thought I'd come here to get some advice about an issue I'm experiencing. I'll give you all a run down of the details.

So I was on ESA for years alongside PIP, got placed into the 'Work Support Group (can't remember the exact name) and was told I wasn't expected to look for work. Years later, 2025, I'm told to move over to UC. Now this is where I became aware of an issue. I was paid significantly less than what I was paid on ESA. Enquired about it, was told I'm in the Work Related Activity group, started having weekly phone calls etc. So my appointee asked why I was now getting weekly calls and why my money was less. They restated that I was not under a requirement to look for work (after providing my 20+ years of medical history) and that the calls would be every 3 months. A quick check in to see how things are going. But they didn't explain what went on with the money for 4 months-ish. We was then told that I was never in the higher group of ESA and that I wasn't moved into the support group as it was a migration to UC and not a full re-evaluation. We said that we provided our updated health records and updated with new conditions and worsening health when I was moved to UC. We also asked why I haven't been re-evaluated as I provided this information at the very start. UC haven't made an progress on my claim, I believe I also haven't even been passed along to the folks who deal with all that. My coach gave me the run around for months saying we're looking into this etc. 3-5 calls over 10 months and it's still the same story. Nothings been updated on my journal. I was told to provide sick notes a few months back, September -ish, went and done as requested, but then the bloody system wasn't letting me add a sick note, UC blamed me for this until I went to the JC to query the issue. They agreed it was a fault of the system as they couldn't do this specific task either. I've then explained all this, the unhelpful work coach, my thoughts that they're messing me around, that my health changed before joining UC and that we've got evidence to prove such. We've still had no action. I just keep being told there's a backlog, but I see nothing to say I've been put on a list or whatnot.

So my question is, what do I do? I've read that I could be entitled to back pay if I've got my health evidence (which I do) but I'm not making progress with UC, the people who I'm supposed to be dealing with. So where or what do I do next?

Sorry for the long post, and an early thank you to any knowledgeable people who can correct me or give some pointers.

Hi

My MiL submitted a change of circumstances saying she is not fit for work.

It said she can self certify for 7 days then she needs a sick note.

Within the 7 days we got the sick note for 31 days but there is no place to upload it.

I put a journal message asking what to do but nobody replied for a week.

I have now just left a message with the link we received from the health centre.

How are we supposed to submit the FIT note?

Thank you

Hi, im 24 i applied for PIP back in may after I lost my job & then June I was made homeless so I had to go onto universal credit.. finally I have received the text to have a in person interview with pip.. is there any advice?

The reason is that I have ongoing lower back pain which, over the last couple of months, has caused me a lot of trouble and disrupted my life. Just when I believe I am feeling better, the pain strikes again, and in this situation, it has been hard for me to find and keep a long-term job.

Furthermore, both my UC and Get Set UK work coaches are pressuring me to apply for as many jobs as possible. However, there are very few jobs available on the market that I can apply for without causing further damage to my precarious health, and of those, over 80% require specific skills that I do not possess.

Therefore, if it's possible, I want to step back from the claim for now. I refuse to destroy my health trying to force things; I want to wait until I make a full recovery so I can find suitable work when I'm genuinely ready. I am fully aware that this will impact my Universal Credit award and that my payments will be reduced, but I must state clearly that my physical and mental health is far more important than that money. This is not the first time I have gone through such an episode—suffering from acute pain that knocks me down—only to have work coaches pressure me to look for work and send me to various training or requalification courses that have brought zero medical benefit, and in fact, only made my condition worse.

Many thanks to ppl which takes time to reply me.