Your Universal Credit payment may stop for a number of reasons.
It could be that:
- You are no longer entitled.
See Who can get Universal Credit? for more information. - You (or your partner) failed to accept an updated claimant commitment.
See below. - You’ve failed to renew/reverify your claim.
See below. - Your earnings have increased and so your new award is nil.
See below. - You’ve been sanctioned.
See I’ve been sanctioned for more information. - You have an APA managed payment in place and your award has dropped below your housing costs.
See below.
You (or your partner) failed to accept an updated claimant commitment
Whenever you have a change in your circumstances your Work Coach will review your claimant commitment.
If it changes you will have 7 days within which to accept it – you need to login to your Universal Credit account and accept it online.
If you fail to do so, then your claim will be closed.
If this happens, make a new claim straightaway and speak to a Benefits Adviser to see if there is anything you can do about the closed claim.
See What is the claimant commitment? for more information on the claimant commitment.
You’ve failed to reverify your claim
If you’ve been on Universal Credit as a jobseeker for 12 months or more then you will need to reverify your claim.
If you need to reverify your claim, you will be sent a ‘review your details’ to-do. This will ask you to re-declare your circumstances. If any of the claim details are no longer correct, it will ask you to report this as a change in circumstances.
The to-do will include a deadline explaining that failure to complete the action (and any associated change of circumstances) within 14 days will result in the claim being suspended. A reminder email will also be sent to you at this point.
If the annual verification is still incomplete one calendar month after the claim is suspended, the claim will be closed.
If you think this may have happened to you, contact a Benefits Adviser.
If your payment stops because your earnings have increased
As your income increases, your payment will reduce until you’re earning enough to no longer be awarded Universal Credit. Your payment will then be stopped and your Universal Credit claim may be closed. You’ll be told if this happens.
If your circumstances change within 6 months of your last Universal Credit payment (for example, if your earnings go down or a change in your personal circumstances which means you need more financial help), it’s easy to re-apply. You’ll usually just need to log into your online account and confirm that the details you gave before are correct. You will keep your original payment dates.
If it is more than 6 months since your last Universal Credit payment, you will need to make a new claim.
If your award includes Housing Costs
In some cases, the total amount of Universal Credit you are entitled to will be less than the amount of Housing Costs Element include in your award to help you pay your rent (e.g. if you have income and/or their are deductions to your award).
If this happens and you have an Alternative Payment Arrangement in place to your landlord, you will not receive any Universal Credit – but your landlord will still be receiving money towards your rent.
In cases like this, if your total Universal Credit payment is reduced to less than your housing costs, you’ll need to make up the difference yourself. Your Universal Credit claim will only be closed when there is no payment to either you or your landlord.