Early Warning System eBulletin – March 2025
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Incorrect entitlement: superseding instead of revising
Unfortunately, it's a known issue for the DWP to incorrectly supersede awards when they should be revised. This causes financial loss to claimants because their correct entitlement is only paid from a later date, and this is particularly bad for those with a transitional element.
Supersession vs revision
In brief, a revision changes a benefit decision that was wrong at the time it was made, and this revised decision takes effect from the same date as the original decision. On the other hand, a supersession changes a decision that was correct at the time but has subsequently become wrong (for example, you've had a change of circumstances affecting your entitlement); a supersession takes effect from a later date than the original decision.
A decision can be revised on any grounds within 1 month (13 months extended time), or on certain grounds, such as official error, at any time. The rules surrounding revisions and supersessions are covered in more detail in Chapter 56 of our Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers): Revisions and supersessions
The issue
We continue to hear reports that after claimants migrate to universal credit (UC), for one reason or another, their initial award of UC is incorrect. When claimants realise their entitlement is wrong and notify the DWP, their awards are being superseded from a later assessment period rather than their original award being revised.
Example
A claimant in receipt of housing benefit had no underoccupancy deduction due to needing the extra bedroom for overnight care. After migrating to UC, the claimant’s award included an underoccupancy deduction. When this mistake was pointed out by an adviser, the DWP superseded the UC award to remove the underoccupancy deduction from the second assessment period.
This is incorrect. If a claimant notices an error within the (extended) prescribed period of 13 months for an ‘any time’ revision, provided the DWP accepts reasons for lateness, the DWP can revise the original UC award simply because it's wrong.
It's important to note that this would be the case even if the claimant had failed to provide relevant information, such as the fact they had housing costs. As long as the revision request is made within the prescribed period, why the mistake occurred is not important. For a more detailed discussion on ‘any grounds’ revisions, see our article: Not finding fault: any ground revisions.
In this specific example, even if the claimant realised the error after 13 months, an official error has arguably occurred because the DWP failed to take into account information it likely had access to. Namely, information about the claimant’s prior housing benefit award.
It could also be argued that an official error has occurred because the DWP failed to make necessary enquiries about the claimant’s entitlement to an extra bedroom before making a decision. Specifically, the universal credit application form does not ask enough questions to determine whether someone is entitled to an extra bedroom when they apply. If an official error has occurred, the original decision can be revised at any time.
Erosion of the transitional element
When claimants who migrated to UC have transitional protection, this DWP error causes further loss of income by incorrectly eroding their transitional element.
Regulation 55(2)(b) of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 states that the transitional element is to be reduced by any ‘relevant increases’ from the second assessment period.
Due to the DWP incorrectly changing awards from the second assessment period (or later), any increase in the claimant’s entitlement is treated as a ‘relevant increase’ and erodes their transitional element. If the DWP had correctly revised the original award, there would be no ‘relevant increase’ to cause erosion.
Getting the DWP to fix it
Underpinning this issue is regulation 32 of the UC etc (DA) Regs 2013 which states that a decision that can be revised cannot be superseded.
Claimants in this position could, within 13 months, request an ‘any grounds’ revision of the decision to supersede their award (the payment statement that first included the correct entitlement). If outside 13 months, the claimant could request a revision on the specific ground of official error, arguing the DWP unlawfully superseded an award when it could have revised it (as per regulation 32).
If the DWP refuses to change its decision, claimants are likely to have appeal rights. This can apply even where the DWP has refused to consider the revision request, but in this situation the rules can be complicated. See Chapter 57 of our Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers): Appealing to the First-tier Tribunal
What is CPAG doing?
We've raised this issue directly with the DWP, suggesting that at the very least a review of the guidance and/or training for DWP decision makers is in order.
We know this issue is part of the bigger picture of UC decision making: awards are often changed from the wrong date. This is sometimes because they are incorrectly superseded when they should be revised, and sometimes because they are superseded from the wrong effective date. For example, a disabled child addition not being added to UC from the beginning of a disability living allowance award.
Our policy team wrote about this issue and how the digital design of UC arguably lends itself to this error in the report You reap what you code. We'll continue to raise the issue with the UK government via the forthcoming UC review.
To support advisers, we are also hosting a webinar on Thursday 27 March 2025 about revisions where we’ll cover, among other things: an overview of the rules, lessons from the Early Warning System, and an in-depth look at official error. You can find out more and book your place here: Webinar - Benefit revisions: second time lucky.
Please continue to let us know about cases where the DWP are incorrectly superseding awards when they should be revising them, and any difficulties you have getting those decisions changed.
Do you have something to tell us?
Hearing about your cases has a profound impact on our work.
Some of the topics we are looking out for include:
- Migration notices - Have any of your clients had difficulty with migration notice extensions? Or migration notices being sent to the wrong address?
- Migration and overpayments – Have any of your clients been overpaid legacy benefits due to delays in receiving their UC payment (for example, due to delays in ID verification)? We're interested to know how this is working in practice.
- SSWP v MJ [2025] UKUT 035 (AAC) - Have any of your clients lost their carer element and transitional element after being found to have LCWRA? We're interested to know the outcomes of these cases in light of the judgment in MJ.
Submit a case online or email [email protected] to tell us more. We can also be reached by phone on 020 3955 4493.
If you know an individual who would like to contact us directly about their own case, please let them know about our contact form for non-advisers.
Do you need CPAG's advice?
Advice by telephone
020 7812 5231 Monday to Friday, 10am-12 and 2pm-4pm
Universal credit advice by email
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