REMEMBER: You don’t have to claim Universal Credit unless you have received a ‘managed migration’ notice or had certain changes in your circumstances. Claiming too early could mean that you lose out.
What happens after I claim online?
After you’ve made your claim there is still a lot to do to ensure your claim is successful and you get paid.
Once you’ve made your claim you will need to:
- Attend a ‘new claim interview’ – your work coach will contact you to get this booked in so watch out for messages.
- Provide all the evidence and documents requested. If you can’t, you must let your work coach know why.
- If you weren’t able to get your ID verified online, then you will need to attend an ID interview.
- Regularly check your ‘to-do’ list and journal to see if you have any outstanding actions or messages from your Work Coach.
If you are claiming as a couple, you will both need to do the above separately.
IMPORTANT: If you do not attend the new claim interview appointment when required, your claim may be cancelled.
What happens at the new claim interview?
At your new claim interview, your personal ‘Work Coach’ will talk to you about what you need to do to receive Universal Credit. They will confirm whether you are expected to prepare for and/or look for, work.
They will help you draw up a detailed ‘Claimant Commitment’ which sets out what actions you must take to prepare for/look for work. It will explain what will happen if you don’t keep to the terms of your Claimant Commitment.
They will also look at any evidence you have been asked to provide and may ask further questions to make sure the information they have about you and your situation is correct.
Make sure you tell the Work Coach about anything that might cause a problem for you in taking some sort of work. For example, tell them if you have a bad back or if you have difficulty reading or writing. Make sure the Claimant Commitment is something you can keep to.
See What is the Claimant Commitment for more information.
IMPORTANT: If you (and your partner if you have one) don’t sign the Claimant Commitment/s, you won’t get any Universal Credit.
This is what your claiming journey will look like:
