Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18747, whether people are made aware of advance Universal Credit payments being made available to them at the initial work search interview.

Priti Patel

To be eligible for a Universal Credit (UC) Advance payment, the claimant has to have an underlying entitlement to UC, be in financial need, and be able to afford to repay the Advance. These criteria are contained within the Social Security (Payments on Account of Benefit) Regulations 2013.

If during the initial work search interview, a work coach identifies a claimant is in financial need, or cannot manage until they receive their first UC payment, they will advise them about advance payments.