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<p>A claimant’s Universal Credit award will reflect individual circumstances, topping
up any earnings or other income that they may have, so Universal Credit may constitute
only a proportion of their total income.</p><p> </p><p>Our deductions policy is designed
to protect vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort method for arrears of essential
services which might otherwise result in those services being cut off, or being evicted
from their home. Under Universal Credit there is a structured approach to deductions
from benefit, which simplifies the current complex arrangements of the legacy system.
This policy also enables social obligations to be enforced when other repayment methods
have failed or are not cost effective.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant is in financial
difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the
Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered. Any adjustment
to the rate of repayment will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.
To support this intention, from October 2019 we are reducing the maximum rate of deductions
to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period
for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p>
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