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CHANGE TO GUIDANCE: Applying for UC without a NINo

Jess Strode
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Judicial Review Project | Child Poverty Action Group

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DWP have provided a progress update on their steps to improve the access to UC for people who apply without a NINo.
If you encounter a client who wants to apply for UC and does not yet have a NINo, they should NOT apply for NINo independently; rather make the NINo application when they apply for UC.

The Jobcentre must then use the ‘dedicated form’ and send it to the ‘dedicated inbox monitored by the NINo allocations team’. 

Assurances have previously been offered that this will mean the NINo is always received before the end of the claimant’s first assessment period, and since the extract attached relates to a judicial review pre-action protocol letter challenging non-payment of a ‘new claim advance’, we would expect the NINo to be issued quickly enough not to render the advance redundant. Please let us know if this is not the case. 

An updated ‘operational instruction has been sent out to Jobcentres. CPAG will be asking for a copy of this.

The ‘What you need to apply’ section on http://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/how-to-claim has been amended to remove the misleading criteria ‘your national insurance number’. CPAG have seen this appear in other places and a quick check shows theses have also been amended, but if you spot any that have not, please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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dizzymare
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Welfare benefits adviser - Dudley MBC

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morning

would just like to add to this thread to flag up that this system is still not working. We have a lady who is homeless, speaking little English, and with mental health problems, who has just spent over a week being pushed between the JC, (who say that they do not arrange interviews for Nino’s); HMRC, (who refuse to issue a NINO because she isnt working), and I have just been speaking to service centre for UC who have no idea what to do (and just kept referring me to NINO application line). I read the guidance as issued on this post, read .gov site which quite clearly states that the applicant does NOT have to ring the applications line, but to date have not received a satisfactory response. I have sent this to the partnership team and am awaiting a call back from the service centre but it seems quite ridiculous that over one year into full service (in our area) no one knows the process for applying for a NINO.

Jess Strode
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Judicial Review Project | Child Poverty Action Group

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Total Posts: 58

Joined: 8 January 2019

dizzymare - 01 August 2019 09:29 AM

morning

would just like to add to this thread to flag up that this system is still not working. We have a lady who is homeless, speaking little English, and with mental health problems, who has just spent over a week being pushed between the JC, (who say that they do not arrange interviews for Nino’s); HMRC, (who refuse to issue a NINO because she isnt working), and I have just been speaking to service centre for UC who have no idea what to do (and just kept referring me to NINO application line). I read the guidance as issued on this post, read .gov site which quite clearly states that the applicant does NOT have to ring the applications line, but to date have not received a satisfactory response. I have sent this to the partnership team and am awaiting a call back from the service centre but it seems quite ridiculous that over one year into full service (in our area) no one knows the process for applying for a NINO.

Hi,

It is frustrating that this is still happening. Can you use one of the CPAG templates on this issue? If the DWP work-around is not working, we want to let them know.

The pre-action template letters section of the CPAG website ( https://cpag.org.uk/welfare-rights/judicial-review/judicial-review-pre-action-letters) is currently not available, but will be back up and running later today. In the meantime I attach a template, if it’s not quite the right one (for example if she is a refugee), you can email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and I will sendl you the appropriate letter.

Thanks

 

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dizzymare
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Welfare benefits adviser - Dudley MBC

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Thank you Jess. It doesn’t quite fit at present as she hasn’t yet reached her first pay date. Partnership manager has picked this up and is waiting for clarification on process, so I will update you shortly on outcome. I will of course use the letter if not resolved shortly (maybe there is one related to her not being able to apply for an advance?)

edit to add:

call back to confirm procedure (as set out in guidance from CPAG above) claimant now has appointment for HRT test and once it is established she is eligible, I am told the form will be sent to applications team for NINO interview) Hopefully, all will go well. thank you for assistance and I will keep the letters in mind if this is not resolved.

[ Edited: 1 Aug 2019 at 11:35 am by dizzymare ]
Jess Strode
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Judicial Review Project | Child Poverty Action Group

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dizzymare - 01 August 2019 09:57 AM

Thank you Jess. It doesn’t quite fit at present as she hasn’t yet reached her first pay date. Partnership manager has picked this up and is waiting for clarification on process, so I will update you shortly on outcome. I will of course use the letter if not resolved shortly (maybe there is one related to her not being able to apply for an advance?)

edit to add:

call back to confirm procedure (as set out in guidance from CPAG above) claimant now has appointment for HRT test and once it is established she is eligible, I am told the form will be sent to applications team for NINO interview) Hopefully, all will go well. thank you for assistance and I will keep the letters in mind if this is not resolved.

That sounds promising, thanks for the update.

Link to DWP guidance removed as out of date. I will post new NINo guidance obtained from DWP. Thanks

[ Edited: 9 Aug 2019 at 03:24 pm by Jess Strode ]
Jess Strode
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I have received the attached in response to a FOI response re current NINo guidance circulated to DWP staff between Feb and Aug 2019.

Notably, there does not appear to be a distinction between when a claimant applies for UC and does not have a NINo and has not applied for one, and when a claimant applies for UC and is waiting for a NINO which they have already applied for under the employee route. 

Hope this helps.

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dizzymare
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Welfare benefits adviser - Dudley MBC

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That’s really useful, thank you Jess. Will circulate to our team.