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UC deductions - what are you seeing?
CPAG is preparing a report on UC deductions and we’d value any contributions from advisers.
The focus of the report will be on improving the UC system without legislative change. The impact of our report will be enhanced by any case studies that illustrate where things are going wrong, or right! If you have a case that would be of interest, please comment below or submit a case to our Early Warning System: http://www.cpag.org.uk/contactEWS
Issues we’re looking at (so far):
1. Wording of online content, messages and letters
Do you have screenshots or scans of confusing letters about debts? We’d love to see them!
2. Claimant’s view of UC account
Do you have examples of claimants struggling to understand their debt deductions?
Difficulties figuring out if rules have been followed in applying max rates, priority and number of deductions?
Problems with “queued” debts being invisible?
3. Interaction with debt management
Do your clients know who to contact to sort out their deductions?
Do those routes work?
4. Interaction with other systems
Have you seen problems with UC deductions in relation to other bodies?
E.g. Passported benefit refused because UC award is wiped out by deductions
E.g. Creditors having too little information or query routes to keep track of their debt
5. Discretion
Do you have examples of the DWP exercising or failing to exercise their discretion?
E.g. recovering overpayments that remain in dispute
E.g. reducing recovery rates or pausing recovery
Case studies are anonymised for reports and we’ll notify you if yours is included in the report as an illustrative example.
As ever, extremely grateful for any input direct from frontline advisers! It makes an incredible difference to our work - thank you in advance!