1. Universal Credit



What's new?

• the government removed the seven-day waiting period for Universal Credit (UC) from February 2018, reducing the overall wait for a first payment from six to five weeks (if paid on time);


• from January 2018 the amount of advanced payment that can be requested while waiting for the first payment increased from 50% to 100% of estimated entitlement;


• from April 2018, in-work households can no longer claim help with paying their mortgage (and the benefit also changes to a loan from this date); and


• the government introduced a means test for eligibility for free school meals for families on UC. From April 2018, the children (in Year 3 or above) of those earning more than £7,400 from work will no longer be entitled to free school meals..