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<p /> <p /> <p>Housing payments are not administered by Local Authorities under Universal
Credit. All claimants in Universal Credit are offered practical help and advice on
budgeting and money management early on in their claim alongside being advised of
their responsibility to pay rent to their landlords. We make an initial judgement
on each claim as to whether the claimant is at risk of default. If so we can put them
on managed payments immediately. Any representations received from the landlord will
be taken into account when reaching this judgement.</p><p> </p><p>If it is decided
to pay the rent direct to the claimant then we have two safeguards in place. First,
we will review our initial decision if we are advised that arrears have reached the
equivalent of one month's rent. Second, if direct payments have continued, we will
move to payment to the landlord if we are advised that arrears have reached the equivalent
of two months' rent.</p>
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