Advance payments
[ch 4: page 40]Claimants can apply for an advance while they wait for their first Universal Credit payment. This would normally involve a face-to-face interview with the DWP, but because of the coronavirus outbreak, claimants can apply for Universal Credit and can receive up to a month’s advance upfront without physically attending a jobcentre.
However, this is a loan and they must pay it back from their monthly Universal Credit payment once they start receiving it. This means they are in debt right from the start and receive a lower amount of benefits each month. The maximum rate at which deductions can be made from Universal Credit to repay an advance payment is 30% of the standard allowance of Universal Credit. From October 2021, the period over which advances can be recovered will increase from 12 to 16 months.