Claiming again in full service areas

The advice we were given is below:

When you become a UCFS area all UCLS claimants will start to transfer onto the full service. The transfer process is managed by UC, the claimant does not have to do anything until they are asked.  The transfer process starts approx. 3 months after offices have transitioned to full service.
Claimants will have an explanation about the transfer process, either by their work coach when they attend the jobcentre or in writing prior to them having to transfer their UC Claim. This will explain when they have to take action to transfer.
The action required from them is to complete their details on line via the full service, and then book and attend an appointment in their jobcentre.  Claimants will also be asked to provide evidence to support their identity either by successfully using VERIFY on Gov.uk or at the jobcentre.  This will ensure the most up-to-date evidence is held for the claimant.
If claimants do not comply with all the actions required to transfer their Universal Credit Claim their payments will be suspended and subsequently their claim to Universal Credit terminated.

NDG - 27 September 2017 01:37 PM

The advice we were given is below:

When you become a UCFS area all UCLS claimants will start to transfer onto the full service. The transfer process is managed by UC, the claimant does not have to do anything until they are asked.  The transfer process starts approx. 3 months after offices have transitioned to full service.
Claimants will have an explanation about the transfer process, either by their work coach when they attend the jobcentre or in writing prior to them having to transfer their UC Claim. This will explain when they have to take action to transfer.
The action required from them is to complete their details on line via the full service, and then book and attend an appointment in their jobcentre.  Claimants will also be asked to provide evidence to support their identity either by successfully using VERIFY on Gov.uk or at the jobcentre.  This will ensure the most up-to-date evidence is held for the claimant.
If claimants do not comply with all the actions required to transfer their Universal Credit Claim their payments will be suspended and subsequently their claim to Universal Credit terminated.

Can anyone provide the legislative basis for the requirement to ‘migrate’ from live to full service once full service is introduced in a particular area (and therefore the basis on which DWP can terminate a live service award if the claimant doesn’t comply)? Oxon starts to go full service next week and DWP have advised us that ‘migration’ is an ‘administrative’ process.

I assume it is provided for in the legaislation somewhere but I have lost the will to live trying to locate the specific provision!

We have queried this via stakeholders before and I have just been scouring my emails to find what they said without success but I am fairly confident what they said to us was that reg 37 of the The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 allowed them to require information and that if not provided they could close the claim. We questioned whether transferring information onto the digital system was providing information and evidence but we didn’t get any further.

They’ve said to us since that it hasn’t been an issue - people have managed to do it and got help from the work coach where necessary. However, if you have any cases where it is causing an issue please let me know as I will take it up with them.

Thanks for the responses

Another improper use of regulation 37….

1. UC is one benefit. There are two ways in which it is administered -

a) live service (where DWP works everything out on the back of an envelope and communicates by letter etc)

b) full service (where claimant has journal etc)

2. When a person has an award of UC then, due to s.8(2)(b) SSA 1998 by definition they do not have a “claim”- a decided claim ceases to exist.

3. Arguably reg. 37 of the UC etc (C&P) Regs relates to the period between when a person has made a valid claim for UC and when that claim is determined- it does not impose a duty on someone who does not have a claim but an award. In any event a failure to comply with reg 37 (even if it did apply to people with an award) does not give rise to a free standing power to end the award (R(IS)4/93 on the equivalent reg 7 of the C&P Regs).

4. That leaves the DWP with the suspension and termination powers under reg 44 to 47 of the UC etc (D&A) Regs. However, reg 45, which imposes a duty to provide information to those with awards, can only be used where info is needed to determine whether an award should be revised or superseded. The termination under reg 47 cannot follow if there was never a power to get the info under reg 45. In these cases, the issue that arises is the SSWP wants to use a different system to administer the award- she does not have any issue about whether to revise or supersede. As such these provisions also do not give a power to terminate.

Given it is the most vulnerable people who won’t do as they are requested and fill in the online form then the process should be challenged. The SSWP cannot use her desire to switch an award over to full service administration to knock out awards because a claimant does not join in- I can’t see why the SSWP cannot populate the fields on the online system herself and then write to the claimant communicating their password and username etc.

Martin

If it helps this is a copy of the letter they send -

Its not just the requirement to in effect make a ‘new claim’ for FSUC but also attend a new claim / proof of ID appointment as well (when this has already been complied with). It’s as if the LSFC claim never existed (like deportation targets in the HO or sanction tagets in Jobcenters?).