Universal credit

Online handbooks

Welfare Benefits Handbook (for subscribers):

Part 2: Universal credit

Articles

The most recent articles relating to universal credit (UC) from our Welfare Rights Bulletin (WRB):

Not joined up: child benefit and UC child elements (for subscribers) (December 2025)
Enhanced support journey – emergency brake? (for subscribers) (August 2025)
UC and housing costs problems (for subscribers) (August 2025)
Universal credit claims ‘closed’ due to failure to establish identity: Do you even know who I am? (June 2025)
Universal credit deductions during insolvency (for subscribers) (June 2025)
Erosion – where are we now? (April 2025)
Overpayment recoverability in the age of UC (for subscribers) (April 2025)
UC deductions overview (for subscribers) (April 2025)
UC and cancer treatment (for subscribers) (February 2025)
‘Nil awards’ of UC – a zero-sum game? (for subscribers) (December 2024)
Work, limited capability for work and universal credit (October 2024)
Not finding fault: any ground revisions (August 2024)
Tax credits after pension age – where now? (August 2024)
LCWRA and migration to UC (June 2024)
National insurance credits for limited capability for work (June 2024)
UC: claims and defects (April 2024)
Right to reside after AT (April 2024)

Earlier articles on universal credit can be found by searching on our articles page.

Tools and templates

Our universal credit tools include:

Create instructions for clients on how to get the information you need from their online universal credit account
- a tool which generates step-by-step instructions for your client explaining how to find and download information from their online universal credit account
From what date should my universal credit limited capability for work-related activity element start? (for subscribers)
Are you a student who might qualify for universal credit? (for subscribers)

We also have tools which help you draft mandatory reconsideration requests and help you check your UC work-related requirements (for subscribers):

Check our other universal credit tools and appeal submission and letter templates:

Universal Credit: tools and templates

Legal test cases

Some of our current and recent test cases:

The Court of Appeal has granted permission to appeal the High Court's decision in our test case challenging the requirement, if an exception to the two-child limit is to apply on the basis of non-consensual conception, that it is the third or subsequent child within the family that is conceived non-consensually: Two-child limit non-consensual conception exception ordering rule: R (LMN and EFG) v SSWP [2024] EWHC 2577 (Admin). (Note that the government has announced that the two-child limit will be removed from April 2026).
A Norwegian national with pre-settled status has been held to have a qualifying right to reside for the purposes of a joint claim for UC both as a self-employed person (on account of her having taken steps to set herself up as self employed at the date of her claim for UC) and as a self-sufficient person: SSWP v VB and AD [2024] UKUT 212 (AAC), 13 August 2024.
Destitute EU nationals with pre-settled status can rely on EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to obtain UC: SSWP v AT (AIRE Centre and IMA Intervening) [2023] EWCA Civ 1307, 8 November 2023. The Supreme Court refused the SSWP's application for permission to appeal this decision on 7 February 2024.
Following our successful test case regarding universal credit advances for those awaiting a national insurance number, amending regulations came into force on 1 April 2024 which reverse its effect, see: R (Bui) v SSWP [2023] EWCA Civ 566, 25 May 2023.
There is no requirement to request backdating before a claim to universal credit is determined: AM v SSWP (UC) [2022] UKUT 242 (AAC), 1 September 2022.