Universal Credit: Terminal Illnesses

(asked on 25th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants who have had their application rejected under normal rules have subsequently reapplied for that social security benefit under the special rules for terminal illness process; and what medical conditions those claimants had.


Answered by
Justin Tomlinson Portrait
Justin Tomlinson
This question was answered on 2nd April 2019

The special rules applying to people who are terminally ill were first introduced in 1990 for Attendance Allowance following a recommendation from the Social Security Advisory Committee. The rules are common to a range of benefits and are also used elsewhere, for example the Early Access to Financial Assistance Scheme, administered by the Pension Protection Fund. The design of Universal Credit for terminally ill claimants is based on this well tested process. This is not a separate entitlement; this is part of the Universal Credit process, and as such, the information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Department is currently looking into what analytical information it can publish.

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