Deductable payments

If you owe money or have a fraud penalty or sanction, this may be deducted from your U. C payment to pay back the owed money. Circumstances that might garner this response are: 

• Paying back a Universal Credit advance;
• Paying back a hardship payment;
• Paying a fraud penalty;
• Paying back money to a third party, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) may deduct money to send directly to a third party such as the council or utility supplier (they are also known as the Last Resort Deduction) The DWP does not need permission to set up these deductions which are usually for things like utility payments, rent arrears, rates arrears, child maintenance payments and so on: and 
• Paying back a benefit debt or overpayments.

 

Repaying debts if Universal Credit stops

If you stop getting U.C payments, the DWP can seek to recover these repayments. We would always suggest that you be perfectly honest with the DWP. They may agree to a repayment solution with you or seek to recover the funds via a ‘Direct Earnings Attachment’ (taking money directly from your wages) or through debt-collection agencies.