Full list of reasons your Universal Credit payments could be cut – and how to avoid it

HOUSEHOLDS should be aware of all the reasons why their Universal Credit payments could be cut.

Universal Credit is a government benefit which you can claim if you are out of work or on a low income.

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It is paid monthly – or twice a month, for some people living in Scotland – and how much you receive depends on your circumstances.

For example, if you are single and under 25, the maximum amount you can get is £311.68. But this increases to £393.45 when you turn 25.

If you live with your partner and you’re both under 25, you will receive £489.23 in total, but this increases to £617.6 when you are aged 25 and over.

If you claim the benefit, then it is worth keeping in mind that your payments can be cut – for example, you start earning more money or you fail to pay child maintenance.

We have compiled the full list of reasons why your Universal Credit could be cut, which you can check below.

You’ve been overpaid

You can sometimes be overpaid in benefits if the office made a mistake or you did not know you had to tell them about a change in circumstances.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can look to get this money back through dedecuting the sum from your monthly benefit payment.

If you have been told that you were overpaid a benefit but you are not sure wether this is correct you should contact your local citizens advice office.

You can find your nearest by visiting the Citizens Advice website.

If you have been accused of benefit fraud you can also ask an adviser at the organisation for guidance.

The Sun recently revealed that a number of people had been asked to pay back overpayments for benefits by mistake, when they did not actually owe the money.

So, it’s worth double checking or asking for a review if you are not sure.

You are paying back an advance on a Universal Credit payment

Money can be taken from your benefits payment if you have got an advance in the past.

You can ask for an advance on your Universal Credit payment if you are waiting for your first payment to come in or you expect your Universal Credit payments to increase.

The DWP will deduct these payments from your advance until you have fully paid it back.

You do not have to pay interest on the advance.

You have more than £6,000 in savings and investments

If you have over £6,000 in savings and investments, your payment will be reduced by £4.35 for every £250 you have between £6,000 and £16,000.

Another £4.35 is taken off for any remaining amount that is not a complete £250.

You’ll usually no longer be able to get Universal Credit if you have more than £16,000 in cash spare.

If you have more than £16,000, you might be still be able to claim if you if you got tax credits and you had a letter from the DWP telling you to claim Universal Credit instead.

This is known as managed migration.

You can read more about the whether or not this impacts you here.

You owe money for Council Tax, court fines, electricity, gas, water or Child Maintenance

Organisations you owe money to can ask the DWP to deduct money from your benefits to pay back the debt.

A fixed amount is deducted from your benefits until you’ve paid off the debt you owe. Money can be deducted to pay off up to three debts at once.

You will be told how much money is being decuted by letter or in your Universal Credit journal.

You have a paid job

The DWP will deduct money from your benefits if you start working.

For every £1 you earn from working, your Universal Credit payment goes down by 55p.

However, you can earn a certain amount before your payments are stopped if you or your partner are looking after a child or either of your have a disability.

If you get help with housing costs, your payment will start to reduce when your monthly wages reach £404.

If you do not get help with housing costs, your payment will start to reduce when your monthly wages reach £673.

You would get above the benefit cap

The benefit cap is the total amount of benefits a household can receive.

It applies to people aged 16 and above who are not yet of State Pension age.

If you’re in a couple the cap is set at £1,835 a month or £423.46 a week.

If you are single the cap is set at £1,299.42 a month or £283.71 a week.

If you receive more than the benefit cap than payments are dedecuted from your Universal Credit and Houseing Benefit payments.

You should contact the DWP if you are impacted by the cap, and also reach out to your local council to see if they can offer extra assistance.

What to do if your payment has been deducted?

You can dispute dedecutions from your Universal Credit payments. This is know as mandatory reconsideration.

You can ask for mandatory reconsideration if any of the following apply:

• You think the office dealing with your claim has made an error or missed important evidence
• You disagree with the reasons for the decision
• You want to have the decision looked at again

It is free to do this, but you usually need to ask for the reconsideration within one month of the date of the decision.

You can ask for it after one month if you have a good reason, for example if you’ve been in hospital or had a recent bereavement.

It always worth using a benefits calucator if you predict your circumstances will change.

This will allow you to budget for the future and also give you a heads up on wether or not you should speak to your council to ask for advice.

There are a number of benefit calcutors online on charity websites such as Turn2us, Policy in Practice and Entitledto.

You can also visit your local Citzens Advice for any questions about how much you benefits you are owed.