Recommendation 23

HM Government Acknowledged

We agree it is vital claimants start an application at the point of need and would encourage people to check their eligibility online through independent benefit calculators which can be accessed via GOV.UK We published the UC Full Service Omnibus Survey in February 2019. This report presented findings from 2 waves of surveys with a representative sample of UC full service claimants. The surveys examined how well new claimants understand the UC claim process and their rights and responsibilities, with a view to meeting their information needs. The surveys found around a fifth of claimants delayed making a claim to UC, commonly because they thought they would find a job quickly or they did not know how to make a claim. Recommendations 24 and 25 We recommend that the Department review the use of evidence for backdating and works with work coaches to find a way to make the application process less burdensome on claimants. The Department should publish the information that work coaches use to advise claimants on backdating. It should work to increase awareness of the option for backdating from day one of a person’s claim, and of the circumstances in which somebody may be able to see their claim backdated. We recommend that, in specified circumstances, the Department allow backdating to the point at which the change in someone’s life occurred, rather than strictly a month before. UC support has been designed to be as quick and easy as possible for the claimant, replacing the need to contact different government departments with a single application. It simplifies the legacy system by rolling six benefits into one, ensuring they receive money for which they are entitled at the earliest opportunity. The Help to Claim programme is available for all claimants and offers independent, tailored and practical support to help people make a UC claim and receive their first payment on time and in full. We want to ensure that claimants understand they must make a claim at the point of need, not before or after. Allowing claims to be backdated for more than a month could disincentive people from making UC claims at the point of need. We are of course aware that there are small groups of vulnerable claimants who might face delays in making their UC claim. Therefore, limited provisions for backdated claims within UC are available, with mitigations in place to deal with the majority of situations. Claimants who struggle to claim online are able to make a telephone claim or seek assistance face to face in a local office or exceptionally through a home visit. In these circumstances, the date of first contact will be the date of claim.