7 days waiting period

Hi,

I’m working through the waiting days regulations and noticed that it states that a claimant “who has been entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance or an employment and support allowance within the 3 months ending on the relevant date” will be exempt from the 7 day waiting period. I’m just after some confirmation really that this is indeed the case because if it is it will certainly help many of our UC claimants who seem to be claiming UC after their claim for JSA or ESA has ended. Unfortunately, we are finding out that they are on UC after they have claimed after being told to claim UC by JCP and not advised of other options open to them including the right to appeal!

Many thanks

Fflur.

Hi Fflur,

Before you get to the actual webpage for making an application on the DWP UC website, the following information on Waiting Days is there for the potential claimant to read:

“Waiting period

There is a waiting period of 7 days from submitting your claim before your Universal Credit will start.

This may apply if you’re out of work and claim Universal Credit, unless you:
were claiming Universal Credit as a couple and are now claiming by yourself
were claiming Universal Credit by yourself and are now claiming as a couple
claimed Universal Credit within the last 6 months but left because you earned too much to continue claiming
are terminally ill
have been the victim of domestic violence within the last 6 months
are a carer
are 16 or 17 years old and have no parental support
have left prison in the last month
were entitled to contribution based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) within the last 3 months
were entitled to income related JSA, ESA or Income Support within the last 3 months and stopped claiming to start working
were entitled to income related JSA, ESA or Income Support within the last month
were entitled to Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit or Housing Benefit within the last month”.