UC benefit cap

kano7481

Hi everyone,

I have a question about universal credit benefit cap please... If a claimant has never worked in the last 12 months and have £0 earning from work can he be exempt or get the 9 months grant from the benefit cap ? This is the situation of a friend the first month he got the full amount of the benefit but the second he had deductions applied ... When he called them he was told it doesn't matter if he was working or not or how much were his earnings from work he still be affected by the cap ... Which is confusing.... should he call again and speak to another adviser or write a mandatory reconsidiration letter ? He has already left many messages about it in his journal but no reply.

Any advices please ?

Thank you

Adrian_Scope

Hello @kano7481. If the household income from earnings for him for the last 12 months wasn't above the threshold amount (£604 since April 2020, £569 before that) then unfortunately he won't be entitled to the grace period from the benefit cap.
You have to have worked and earned over that amount for the previous 12 months for the grace period to apply.

There are other exemptions to the cap such as being in receipt of PIP, DLA, AA, Carer's, LCWRA, ESA Support Group or earning over £604 a month. 

Unfortunately UC don't always apply the cap correctly. It's often missed on a claimants first payment and not applied, or applied when it shouldn't be, so it's always worth checking if there are other exemptions. 

I hope that helps but any other questions please ask.