Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claimants are (a) repaying an advance payment and (b) also repaying other debts through the deductions system.

For Universal Credit claims due a payment during May 2020, 40% had a deduction:

• 34% were having only advance repayments,
• 4% were having advance repayments and deductions for other debts (e.g. third party deductions)
• 2% were having only deductions for other debts.

New claimants do not have to wait for their first regular Universal Credit payment if they need up front support. All new UC claimants are able to request a new claim advance during the first assessment period of up to 100% of their estimated monthly award. Advances can be repaid over the following year, allowing new claimants to receive 13 payments during the year instead of 12. We are extending the maximum repayment period to two years from October 2021 to reduce the impact of taking an advance even further, and the reduction of the deductions cap from 30% to 25%.

For those who find themselves in unexpected hardship, advance repayments can be deferred for up to three months in certain cases.

Notes

1. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.

2. Figure rounded to the nearest 1,000.

3. Third party deductions were suspended due to covid-19 from 10th April to 10th May and ‘other deductions’ (excluding advance repayments) were suspended for three months from the beginning of April, therefore these figures may not be representative of the full cohort of claims which would otherwise be having deductions.

4. Other debts include Universal Credit third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.