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Universal Credit changes in October

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From October 2019, the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from Universal Credit, to repay an advance payment, will be reduced from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance of Universal Credit.

What does this actually mean?

When you claim Universal Credit, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can take up to 40% of your allowance to repay things like advance payments or rent arrears.

This is being reduced to 30%, which should reduce some of the financial hardship placed on benefit recipients.

Is this good?

For some people, this is good news as it means the DWP can take less of their benefits each month.

However, if you have taken an advance and you won't be able to repay it in time, the DWP might carry on taking deductions of more than 30% of your standard allowance. At the moment, the DWP expects advances to be paid back within 12 months.

We at Turn2us are trying to persuade the government to remove the five week wait for Universal Credit and increase the generosity of Housing Benefit (and the housing element of Universal Credit) and limit the use of benefit sanctions.