The steps at a glance
Go up one step at a time, and stop as soon as it's fixed.
Slow or poor service at any point? Complain to DWP, or ask your MP. Still unhappy with DWP's final answer? You can go to the Independent Case Examiner within six months. It's free.
First, check what went wrong
- Compare your Universal Credit statement with your own figures. The calculators can help.
- Ask in your Universal Credit journal for an explanation. Sometimes a missed payment or document is put right without a formal challenge.
- Make sure there's a decision to challenge. Each monthly UC payment is a decision, so name the UC month you disagree with. If DWP says there's no decision, ask them to make one.
Step 1: ask DWP to look again
This is called a mandatory reconsideration. It asks DWP to look at its decision again. You have to do this before you can appeal.
- Deadline: within one month of the decision, for example the date on your Universal Credit statement.
- Late requests: you can ask up to 13 months after the decision if you have a good reason, such as a hospital stay or a bereavement. Explain the reason.
- How to ask: through your Universal Credit journal, by phone, by letter, or with the form on GOV.UK.
- What to include: the date of the decision, what part is wrong and why, and any evidence you haven't already sent. If you post documents, put your name, date of birth and National Insurance number on each page.
- What happens next: DWP sends you a letter with its answer (a mandatory reconsideration notice). Keep it, because you need it to appeal.
There's a reconsideration request template you can copy into your journal.
Step 2: appeal to a tribunal
- Deadline: within one month of the date on DWP's answer.
- Late appeals: the tribunal can accept an appeal up to 13 months late if you have a good reason.
- How: online on GOV.UK, or on form SSCS1 by post.
- Who decides: the First-tier Tribunal, which is independent of DWP. It's free.
Free advisers can help you prepare. Citizens Advice and local welfare rights services do this regularly.
Complaints are separate
A complaint is about how you were treated, such as delays, lost documents or being ignored. It doesn't change a decision, so do it alongside a reconsideration, not instead of one.
- Complain to Universal Credit through your journal or the helpline.
- If you're still unhappy after DWP's own complaints process, you can go to the Independent Case Examiner within six months of DWP's final reply.
- After that, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman can look at it. You need your MP to refer you.
If DWP accepts it got something wrong, it can make a discretionary consolatory payment under its Special Payment Scheme.
Asking your MP for help
MPs' offices can raise a constituent's case directly with DWP. It's most useful when you're stuck: no reply, repeated delays, or a mistake nobody will fix.
- Find your MP on the UK Parliament website.
- Give the facts in date order, what you've already done, and what you want DWP to do.
- Say that you give permission for the MP's office to share your details with DWP.
There's a letter template for your MP.
If it's about pension payments
The law is clear. But UC's computer can't see money you put into a pension yourself, so a person has to check your proof each month. Most problems come from someone who hasn't dealt with this before. Here are wrong answers people have been given:
| What you might be told | What's true |
|---|---|
| "Because you pay through your bank account, it isn't a deduction." | The law covers payments you make yourself (Finance Act 2004, section 188). They don't have to go through your wages. |
| "You need to bring your evidence to the jobcentre." | Agents can set you an upload to-do in your journal. |
| "A new pension provider needs a new mandatory reconsideration." | DWP has told claimants this isn't the right process. Your proof should go to the team that corrects your wages once it's checked. |
| "There's no decision to reconsider." | Each monthly UC payment is a decision. Ask DWP to look again at your UC for that month. |
Reply once, politely, quoting the law. If that doesn't work, move up the steps above.
If you're told it doesn't count because you pay from your bank account
Thanks for your reply, but I don't think that's right. Regulation 55(5)(a) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 deducts "any relievable pension contributions made by the person" in the assessment period. Section 188 of the Finance Act 2004 includes contributions paid by the member themselves. There's no requirement that they go through payroll, and Advice for Decision Making paragraphs H3170 to H3173 confirm this. Please can you refer this to a decision maker?
If you're told a new provider needs a new reconsideration
Thanks. My understanding is that DWP's process is for my earnings to be amended once my evidence has been checked, rather than a mandatory reconsideration. I've included proof that my new scheme is registered with HMRC. Please can you pass my evidence on so my earnings can be amended?
If you're told to take your evidence to the jobcentre
Could you set me an upload to-do instead, please? I need to send this evidence every assessment period, and agents have set uploads for it before.
For the monthly routine and the other messages, see reporting pension payments.
Keep a record
Save copies of your Universal Credit statements, journal messages, letters and evidence, with dates. Screenshots of journal messages are useful. A clear timeline makes every step easier.