DWP refusal to reduce deductions from UC when they reduce a claimant's UC payment to zero

You can use this template if all of the following apply:

• Your client has been awarded universal credit.
• Your client is not receiving any universal credit as their payments have been reduced to zero (ie, less than 1p) due to deductions, which include deductions for advance payments, overpayments, child support and/or to third parties.
• As a consequence, your client is no longer entitled to free school meals / free prescriptions, etc and this is causing financial hardship.
• DWP has refused to reduce their deductions.

This template assumes (so can be edited):

• Your client has deductions for 2 budgeting advances and 1 change of circumstances advance.
• Your client is vulnerable.

When not to use

Do not use this template if:

• Your client’s UC is nil due to their income or capital rather than deductions.

The main legal arguments in this template are:

• Regulation 60 Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 (as amended) ('UC (CP) Regs') provides for deductions to be made from UC awards in accordance with schedules 6 and 7 to those Regs.
• Paragraph 3(1)(a) schedule 6 and para 2(1)(4) schedule 7 UC (CP) Regs both provide unequivocally that the deductions made must not reduce the amount payable to the claimant to less than one penny.
• DWP’s operational guidance “Deductions” (V17) confirms deductions should leave one penny of UC “… so that there is still one pence of Universal Credit in payment.”
• It is unlawful to make deductions which reduce a claimant’s UC to zero.

Information about your client and their partner (if they have one)

• name
• address
• national insurance number (NINo)
• date of birth

Background facts

Such as:

• family circumstances
• any vulnerability, disability, additional costs
• specific details of all the deductions, how much they are and what they are for
• what financial hardship your client is experiencing as a result of the deductions
• what they are missing out on by not receiving any UC
• any risk that your client will be unable to afford to pay for their housing, heating or food, any need to use food banks
• any detriment to your client's health and welfare or to any of their family members' health and welfare

Information about the decision

• date your client first received no UC at all
• date the deductions are due to end
• date your client asked the DWP to reduce the deductions and what DWP said

We've created this guide to help you successfully use our judicial review pre-action letter templates: Guide to using CPAG's judicial review pre-action letter templates

Once you've finished your letter, please email it to us at: [email protected] before you send it to the lawyers acting for DWP/HMRC/your local authority. We'll try to reply as quickly as possible and will do so within 7 days.