Thousands claiming Universal Credit warned they could lose £1000 due to new rule change

Benefit claimants could lose over £1000 worth of payments if they do not adhere to new rules currently being trialled by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)at job centres in the UK.

The new scheme will require jobseekers to spend a fortnight on an intensive programme designed to get them back into work or face losing their Universal Credit payments in a bid by the government to reduce unemployment.

Universal Credit payments

If the scheme goes ahead, new plans would see Universal Credit claimants attend an intensive two week course that would include daily face-to-face appointments at their local job centre to help prepare them for new work. If they refuse to take part they could lose their standard allowance for up to three months - currently £334.91 per month, or £1,004 in total.

Currently, meetings between claimants and work coaches happen once a week for the first three months and then every two weeks after that. The new rule is currently being tested out in four areas; Crawley in West Sussex, Pontefract in West Yorkshire, Partick in Glasgow and Coalville in Leicestershire.

Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, explained the motivation for the scheme, as per The Times:

Evidence shows that the longer a person is out of work the harder it is for them to return, and it is at this 13-week point that a claimant’s likelihood of securing employment begins to decrease.

This additional jobcentre support will both improve claimants’ prospects of finding more work at a time of cost of living pressures and boost economic growth by helping more people move towards and enter the labour market.

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Department for Work and Pensions

In the UK there are currently 1.2 million people who are unemployed with another 9 million who are simply not in a job or looking for one.

The Government is hoping that the scheme could work as part of a ‘carrot and stick’ approach to encouraging people back to full-time employment. If the programme is successful it can be expected to be rolled out nationwide following the current trial.

Mel Stride pointed out that some people on Universal Credit would be exempt from the programme. This includes those who are waiting for work-capability assessments, those required to do less than 35 hours a week of work search activity and those already exempt from searching for jobs.

A DWP spokesperson supported the programme, saying as per The Mirror:

In the first half of 2022 we supported half a million benefit claimants into work and our recent changes to Universal Credit will build on this by providing hundreds of thousands more with intensive support to get better-paid work and boost long-term prospects.

Read more:

⋙ Thousands may have received incorrect benefit payments from the government, find out if you are affected

Sources used:

- The Times 'Learn work skills or face benefits cut, jobless told'

- The Mirror 'Universal Credit claimants could lose over £1,000 thanks to DWP rule change trial'