The Universal Credit Regulations 2013

CHAPTER 3 U.K. HARDSHIP

Introduction U.K.

115.  This Chapter contains provisions under section 28 of the Act for the making of hardship payments where the amount of an award is reduced under section 26 or 27 of the Act.

Conditions for hardship payments U.K.

116.—(1) The Secretary of State must make a hardship payment to a single claimant or to joint claimants only where—

(a) the claimant in respect of whose sanctionable failure the award has been reduced under section 26 or 27 of the Act is aged 18 or over;

(b) the single claimant or each joint claimant has met any compliance condition specified by the Secretary of State under regulation 104(2)(a)(i);

(c) the single claimant or either joint claimant completes and submits an application—

(i) approved for the purpose by the Secretary of State, or in such other form as the Secretary of State accepts as sufficient, and

(ii) in such manner as the Secretary of State determines;

(d) the single claimant or either joint claimant furnishes such information or evidence as the Secretary of State may require, in such manner as the Secretary of State determines:

(e) the single claimant or each joint claimant accepts that any hardship payments that are paid are recoverable;

(f) the Secretary of State is satisfied that the single claimant or each joint claimant has complied with all the work-related requirements that they were required to comply with in the 7 days preceeding the day on which the claimant or joint claimants submitted an application in accordance with sub-paragraph (c); F1 ...

(g) the Secretary of State is satisfied that the single claimant or each joint claimant is in hardship[F2 ; and

(h) the daily reduction rate in regulation 111(1) applies for the purposes of the reduction in respect of the claimant under section 26 or 27 of the Act.]

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(g) a single claimant or joint claimants must be considered as being in hardship only where—

(a) they cannot meet their immediate and most basic and essential needs, specified in paragraph (3), or the immediate and most basic and essential needs of a child or qualifying young person for whom the single claimant or either of the joint claimants is responsible, only because the amount of their award has been reduced—

(i) under section 26 or 27 of the Act, by the daily reduction rate set out in [F3 regulation 111(1)], or

(ii) by the daily reduction rate prescribed in regulations made under section 6B(5A), 7(2A) or 9(2A) of the Social Security Fraud Act 2001 M1 which is equivalent to the rate referred to in paragraph (i);

(b) they have made every effort to access alternative sources of support to meet, or partially meet, such needs; and

(c) they have made every effort to cease to incur any expenditure which does not relate to such needs.

(3) The needs referred to in paragraph (2) are—

(a) accommodation;

(b) heating;

(c) food;

(d) hygiene.

Textual Amendments

F1 Word in reg. 116(1)(f) omitted (28.4.2014) by virtue of The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/597), regs. 1, 2(12)(a)

F2 Reg. 116(1)(h) and word inserted (28.4.2014) by The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/597), regs. 1, 2(12)(b)

F3 Words in reg. 116(2)(a)(i) substituted (28.4.2014) by The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/597), regs. 1, 2(12)(c)

Marginal Citations

M1 2001 c.11. Section 6B was inserted by section 24(1) of the Welfare Reform Act 2009 and subsection (5A) by paragraph 58(3) of Schedule 5 to the Welfare Reform Act 2012. Subsection (2A) of section 9 was inserted by paragraph 61(4) of Schedule 2 to that Act.

The period of hardship payments U.K.

[F4 117.— (1) A hardship payment is to be made in respect of a period which—

(a) begins with the date on which all the conditions in regulation 116(1) are met; and

(b) unless paragraph (2) applies, ends with the day before the normal payment date for the assessment period in which those conditions are met.

(2) If the period calculated in accordance with paragraph (1) would be 7 days or less, it does not end on the date referred to in paragraph (1)(b) but instead ends on the normal payment date for the following assessment period or, if earlier, the last day on which the award is to be reduced under section 26 or 27 of the Act or under section 6B(5A), 7(2A) or 9(2A) of the Social Security Fraud Act 2001.

(3) In this regulation “the normal payment date” for an assessment period is the date on which the Secretary of State would normally expect to make a regular payment of universal credit in respect of an assessment period in a case where payments of universal credit are made monthly in arrears.]

Textual Amendments

F4 Reg. 117 substituted (29.4.2013) by The Universal Credit (Consequential, Supplementary, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/630), regs. 1(2), 38(9)

The amount of hardship payments U.K.

118.  The amount of a hardship payment for each day in respect of which such a payment is to be made is to be determined in accordance with the formula—

where A is equal to the amount of the reduction in the single claimant's or joint claimants' award calculated under regulation 110 for the assessment period preceding the assessment period in which an application is submitted under regulation 116(1)(c).

Recoverability of hardship payments U.K.

119.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), hardship payments are recoverable in accordance with section 71ZH of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 M2 .

[F5 (2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to any assessment period in which—

(a) the single claimant, or each joint claimant, falls within section 19 of the Act by virtue of regulation 90 (claimants subject to no work-related requirements – the earnings threshold);

(b) where regulation 90 applies to one of the joint claimants only, the joint claimants’ combined monthly earnings are equal to or exceed the amount of the individual threshold; or

(c) where regulation 90 does not apply to the single claimant or to either of the joint claimants, that claimant or the joint claimants’ combined monthly earnings are equal to or exceed the amount that a person of the same age as the claimant, or the youngest of the joint claimants, would be paid at the hourly rate specified in regulation 4 or regulation 4A(1)(a) to (c) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations for 16 hours per week, converted to a monthly amount by multiplying by 52 and dividing by 12.

(3) Paragraph (1) ceases to apply where, since the last day on which the claimant’s or the joint claimants’ award was subject to a reduction under section 26 or 27 of the Act—

(a) the single claimant, or each joint claimant, has fallen within section 19 of the Act by virtue of regulation 90 (claimants subject to no work-related requirements – the earnings threshold);

(b) where regulation 90 applied to one of the joint claimants only, the joint claimants’ have had combined monthly earnings that are equal to or exceed the amount of the individual threshold; or

(c) where regulation 90 did not apply to the single claimant or to either of the joint claimants, that claimant or the joint claimants’ have had combined monthly earnings that are equal to or exceed the amount that a person of the same age as the claimant, or the youngest of the joint claimants, would be paid at the hourly rate specified in regulation 4 or regulation 4A(1)(a) to (c) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations for 16 hours per week, converted to a monthly amount by multiplying by 52 and dividing by 12,

for a period of, or more than one period where the total of those periods amounts to, at least 6 months.]

Textual Amendments

F5 Reg. 119(2)(3) substituted (25.7.2016) by The Social Security (Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/678), regs. 1, 5(11)

Marginal Citations

M2 1992 c.5. Section 71ZH was inserted by section 105(1) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c.5).