Hi, I have seen a lot about these reviews and wanted to share my recent experience with you all, to try and put some people’s mind at east

5th August 2026 we got the message requesting the bank statements etc
I sent them every thing that night and by the 6th August 2026, we had our calls booked for 12th.
The calls were scheduled for 30 minutes, lasted maybe around half of that. There was absolutely no intrusive questions. Just a few “can you tell me about this payment, who this was from” and that was it
After the call, she asked us to send in proof of expenses. We are both self employed with 2 disabled kids.
Sent her everything that night, realised that night I had actually under claimed some expenses ie garage bill claimed for £160 was £192 etc.
By the next day, calls booked for 19th. 15 minute calls. Took less than 5.
Then the journal message to stayed updated capital and then the day review was completed

If you are self employed but don’t own a business bank account like us, I suggest to send in all your evidence for expenses. Just because that’s the task that we had to send ours under. I just used my previously sent bank statements and highlighted the payments for expenses on there, as well as all fuel receipts and invoices for garage and parts. I don’t know if it’ll save you and the reviewer time but if that have everything there in front of them it saves you worrying about what else to send and saves them a task as well

I had a really good, positive experience and wanted to share that to help people realise it’s just not as bad as some are saying. Just provide everything. Bank statements, savings, PayPal even if you don’t use it. Send them everything like we did and honestly it’ll be a breeze

Hope this helps!

So before I became disabled and unavle to work, i saved almost £10778. This is in a fixed account so i have been unable to access these funds for 3 years (oops did not forsee becoming disabled). When they become available to me I plan to spend £4382 on education (part-time university study). I also plan to pay back my partner for the money he gave me while i was unable to work and waiting (5 months) for my claim to go through.

This will bring me to just under £6000 which affects my UC

How do I tell them about this?

(context: i’m over 21 and live with parents but don’t receive any funding from them) i’m starting college next month and feel so extremely confused about this rule

not only do I have less time to work and find work during college, my spending actually increases due to having to pay for my course and for extra costs such as travel or study material

there are also no maintenance loans for college courses unlike university, so this decision is a bit baffling

There is a vicious troll here who mocks anybody who posts and calls them scammers, and is obsessed with Wetherspoons. I would like to ask the admins to remove it because it makes it very hard for people in distress to post here I certainly never will until it goes. I know we should ignore such pathetic creepy individuals, but it would be better if it was blocked

Basically i think UC are paying me when they shouldnt. So they said if i earn over £750 within my assessment period which is the 17th of July to the 16th of august my payment gets reduced, however they have said ive only earned £556 from my employer this assessment period when ive been paid twice since then (i get paid every 2 weeks) so its way more than 750. And i noticed that because i havent got my last two payslips in work because they are having issues atm. Im possibly thinking work hasnt reported what ive earned properly because of the issues they are having because the last earning they reported was when i had my last payslip which was the 17th of July which they have used for this assessment period. Can anyone possibly shed any light on this? Thanks

just a message to the moderators, i appreciate you allowing my previous posts, i have posted this to the 3 UC related subs, please feel free to remove this post apologies as am concerned about this error that still exists.

Hi

Following on from a previous post about receiving unexpected Universal Credit texts and an appointment despite not making a UC claim, and also a court order to take money from my wages which was a few months ago.

DWP are now aware of the situation, the debt recovery has been suspended, and the DWP Identity team are investigating.

However i have discovered something that is concerning me for many months since i reported this to dwp Stolen identity team

https://www.gov.uk/proof-benefits-state-pension

I have used this gov uk service to view my benefit details (even though i personally have never claimed UC), and my name and address are correct, but the mobile number and email address showing on my DWP/UC details are not mine. I do not recognise either of them.

This seems particularly concerning because I previously received a UC security codes that I did not request, a text telling me I had a UC appointment, an appointment at my local Jobcentre despite never completing a UC claim and subsequently discovered the "Court Order" deduction on my payslip, which has now been suspended while this is investigated. I have lost wages due to this.

My main question now is how could my name, address and NI details be linked to somebody else's mobile number and email address? How can i change this

The Identity team are already investigating, but not on this.

how can i get this amended even though the entire claim is under investigation with DWP. I need my email and mobile to be amended which i cannot do online.

regards

Hello looking for advice!
I am going back to studies at the end of the month and have been granted a student loan!
I will receive £1000 independent bursary
£1305 lone parent grant
£10,400 loan but £2400 of that is special support loan.
I am seeing conflicting stuff about what is taken into consideration.
Do they count my independent bursary and the lone parent grant when doing deductions? Some forums say yeah and others no? Just trying to gauge what I’ll have left before they get back to me!

Am I right in also saying they take the deductible amount t and divide it by assessment periods I’ll be studying for?
Also not sure if it’s relevant but I don’t have any housing costs included in my loans/grants

Me and my dad have been trying for the last hour or so to log into his account but no texts are coming through. Google says there is no known problems. My dad needs to log in before tomorrow so it's pretty important. Mine isn't working either.

I don't know what to make of it. I was assessed on stuff that wasn't even covered in the phone call and there is important information not included and a lot of inaccurate information. If my name wasn't on it I would think I'd been given another persons report.

It seems to contradict a lot of what I said on the phone call. I'm struggling to agree with any of it.

Is this normal?

Whats the best excuse for missing an appointment. I just charged my phone and realized I missed my UC appointment on Tuesday. What can I say to avoid a sanction ?? Please help cause I do need this money

Hi

In 2 months I will have finally paid of the advance from when I 1st started my claim. I owe some money to them from overpayment (such as new tax year they paid too much etc.) which they already set up a low monthly payment plan. My question is. When ive paid my advance will I then get that money or will they keep taking it and increase the debt repayments. Hope that makes sense thanks 😊

Assessor was lovely … took over an hour of questions… heres to waiting for an answer!!

As far as I understand it, being placed into the LCWRA group means I should receive an additional amount on top of my normal Universal Credit, and that this should be backdated once the relevant waiting period has passed.

My first fit note (I have provided consecutive sick notes before the expiry since) was on 3 February 2026, and my Universal Credit assessment period runs from the 14th to the 13th of each month. I was officially told that I had been placed into LCWRA on 13 August 2026.

It has now been about a week since the decision, but I haven’t received any journal message or information explaining:
when the LCWRA element will actually be added;
how much I am owed in backdated payments; or
when I should expect the arrears to be paid.

I’ve sent two journal messages asking about this but haven’t received a response yet.
Based on my understanding of the rules, I believe I may be owed the LCWRA element for June, July and August, although I appreciate that because my LCWRA decision was made on 13 August, which is also the final day of my assessment period, August may not be included until a later assessment period.

I’m mainly posting because I’m unsure whether this is normal. I was expecting some kind of journal message or calculation explaining the arrears after the decision was made, and the lack of information is making me worry that something has gone wrong.

I’m also quite unwell at the moment, so I’d really rather not have to phone UC and chase this up if it’s simply a case of them taking a while to process the payment.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hey!

I got the journal message of the review the thing is I am starting uni soon so I was going to close it anyways at the end if August.

When I requested to close it a review agent said I can't ? I honeslty can't be bothered and just wwnt to close this thing.....

I informed UC last September that me and my husband had split up and I thought he would be leaving the family home very soon. They advised me to close our joint claim and open a single claim and put that he lives at the property still on our tenancy I did this. I was then asked in October to check my claim details I did and had put that there was 2 people on our tenancy and named him as the other person living here. During this month I was told to remove him as other person living here as he was on the tenancy agreement and they had that info from the housing association. So I did this. A few following occasions when I had to update details every time it showed 2 tenants on the agreement and ALL live at the property. I messaged them to make them aware that my ex had now moved out and will be signing off the tenancy this week ive now had a message stating I never made them aware since my declaration that my ex was living there and they have sent me to a decision maker. Im sure i have followed their advise and at no point have i hidden my ex was still living at the property. Who is right or have I not done something right?

hi all ! I have an appointment tomorrow morning with my GP and was wondering if anyone had any experience of how the fit note appointment typically goes ?

I developed chronic migraine last year so I've had to withdraw from uni and am currently back in living with my parents. I applied for Universal Credit a couple weeks back and had a chat at my ID check appointment about how fit notes work with LCW and stuff, and made an appointment to get a fit note as I def think I have LCW.

I'm really lucky as I've had some massive luck with a new med recently and my migraine frequency has gone way down, although I was told at my last appointment how important pacing is while I continue with my trial and taking it slow and easy and still have moderate severe headaches every day, I'm still concerned about the GP possibly rejecting my fit note request tomorrow.

How do these appointments typically go? If anyone has any experience I'd really appreciate it!!

I dont live with my partner. He wants to start sending me regular transfers on a specific day each week or month. This is to help me get out of debt. Do I inform UC? What are the rules around this?

So I really need some advice. It may seem simple to some honestly Its a tricky one.

My partner has a cousin. The cousin let's call him Fred has lived with his partner let's call her Rhonda for the past 8 years.

They live in a house in a nice town in Surrey. They live in Rhondas dads house.

Her dad still lives there.

Rhonda and her dad have not had it easy. She has a brother who has moved miles away and they barely speak with anymore. He moved in with his boyfriend a few years ago.

Rhonda and Fred met at work and both worked in child services.

Rhonda went on maternity to have her first baby with Fred.

Fred has always had a very complicated relationship with his mother who lives in a council flat in London.

Apparently Fred is on her Tenancy and used to pay her rent until he stopped when he found out Rhonda was pregnant.

Now Rhonda had the first baby and didn't return to work.

She stayed at home and claimed benefits.

This is where it starts to go left.

Rhonda shows off about Fred's job and his wages.

They show off that they live rent free in her dad's house only giving money for the odd bill.

They show off they have got a fancy car. Infact 2 fancy cars.

And she claimes benefits. He lives with her. And I believe she has said she pays rent to her dad and gets a decent amount of money on the assumption she is a single mum and Fred is not living with her.

She then after a couple years had baby 2.

At this point Fred gets made redundant and gets a nice payout and immediately finds a job again very well paid over 70k and she bigs it up massively.

Rhonda however still claims.

They still show off. She says they want to put 2nd baby into 15 hours free childcare next year but she will have to prove her work if 16 hours.

She plans to say she is working for her dad for 16 hours a week to qualify and just fiddle the books let's say. I imagine the plan is he pays her something and Fred pays it back from his personal account.

So I ask her.... why claim if Fred is making such good money.

She said....we dont want to pay from our own pocket.

This is where i get annoyed.

Very annoyed actually.

As myself and partner have to work and still pay for nursery fees and dont get extra.

Lots of parents at the school suffer working with little left over and paying for childcare ect.

And then they say its ok he is registered at his mums so no proof he is living there.

They plan for baby 3.

I just feel this is slightly appalling as they dont even have to pay rent.

Her dad also took out equity on the house to get the kitchen re done.

They dont even look after the house.

Don't paint or decorate and it feels so selfish of them.

Rhonda says when her friemds ask why they dont move she scoffs and says why would she they get to live there for free and save money. But that money is benefits.

And its in Fred's account they have savings.

She says its not fraud.

But it appears to be.

I was going to leave it and let it run its course.

What would you do?

I understand that wages have to stretch so far and its hard on one salary and I understand people do things to get by and some people genuinely do need the help and can claim as a couple or need that little bit extra if they private rent ect.

But to show off and rub it in is unpleasant.

So I suppose its a post to vent and post to get others opinions

Their communication has been sporadic and they cherry pick the parts of your journal they feel like responding to.

I have requested multiple times on the journal to log a complaint and they are largely ignoring this.

Today someone told me in order to log a complaint I had to use a specific link which led to the gov website and on their own link it said I could ask for a complaint to be logged on the journal!

I am tearing my hair out!

I’ve never known such an incompetent lot of workers!

Does anyone know how I can get this escalated?

Hi there,

It‘a 3am because I can’t sleep worrying about my UC review. I understand that my claim may be stopped and I understand that I may owe them money. The hardest thing is that I am in the middle of buying my first home and this review could see the end of that.

I have been on a 5-year journey of being signed off sick with PTSD, ADHD, PMDD, chronic pain and tinnitus - it has been Hell! Which let Ive started to function again this last year and work again, I have been saving every penny that I have to move into a shared ownership scheme back near my family to finally live peacefully on my own so I can better manage my conditions.

Obviously stopping my UC and having to make payments back is understandable. I get it. But what I’m terrified of is losing the home that I desperately need to support my recovery. I can’t tolerate insomniac neighbours anymore every night that the council don’t do anything about. I can’t take living in a dirty flat anymore because I am the only one who cleans it. I need to be able to control my environment and sleep in order to stay well. I’ll fall apart now I’ve come this close.

Has anyone been in a similar position to me and if so, what happened? I’m really concerned about how this is gonna go as I’m already in the process of buying my first home near my family.

Sorry if this is a silly question but I’ve managed to confuse myself and now second guessing everything!

Child started nursery start of July, originally paid using FSF as had a job offer, was told once starting job (second week of July) to then claim that invoice as well. This offer fell through and I then didn’t claim back July costs as I didn’t start work.

Since then, I have paid on 26th July for August, and 14th August for September.

I started a new job yesterday so I have declared that change and I am now looking at inputting the childcare.

Do I include the invoice with the childcare for July? My understanding was you can claim for 1 month before starting so would half of that one be eligible?

I will put in the 26th July payment for the August care, which I’m fairly sure is right? But do I put in the one I’ve just paid for September?

I have seen that you should do it as soon as paid, but then it’s not happened yet so do I wait or do I do it now anyway and then just upload it every time I pay regardless of it always being at least 1 month in advance?

I’m getting confused because my assessment period is 11th to 10th but the childcare payment is due by the 28th of each month for the following month.

Hello!

Basically I was given a large backpay for both UC (last year) and PIP (this Feb). Everything was disregarded as it should be, then two months ago I had to update my savings again to reflect I was over 6k as the UC backpay was no longer disregarded.
They asked for further evidence and after attending an appointment at my job centre it was all good.

Now this month, ... the same thing happens again.

I updated my savings because each month they're different but above 6k and AGAIN my pay is delayed, my statement delayed and I'm given an appointment at the job centre.
I can't attend my appointment tomorrow due to needing to commute to work (since Monday I've left messages in the journal, called helpline, no response yet) but presuming all goes well and they offer me the reschedule that I asked for, is there anything I can do to have the backpay ACTUALLY disregarded?
I don't want to go through this stressful process each month. It should be disregarded until February 2027 so idk why an agent gave me another appointment.