If you want to claim Universal Credit while abroad there are certain requirements you have to fulfil, according to the Department for Work and Pensions. Brits can continue to claim Universal Credit for one month if they go abroad, as long as they are eligible for it and continue to remain eligible.
Claimants will also need to inform their work coach that they’re going on the trip. However, you will no longer be able to claim for Universal Credit if you permanently move to a different country, and while you are abroad you will not be able to apply for Universal Credit, the Liverpool Echo reports.
You will be able to get Universal Credit for one extra month if a close relative dies while you are abroad, but this only applies if it would not be reasonable for you to come back to the UK. For example, you would receive Universal Credit for an extra month if you were visiting a relative who lives in another country and they pass away while you’re there, but you would not be able to get it if a family member in the UK died while you were abroad.
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There are some exceptions to this, including going abroad for medical treatment. You can continue to claim Universal Credit for six months if you go abroad for medical treatment, you go abroad for a period of recovery that’s been approved by a medical professional (also known as ‘approved convalescence’), your partner or child is going abroad for medical treatment or ‘approved convalescence’ and you’re going with them.
Before you book a holiday or flight you should notify the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) that you intend to go abroad and the reason. If you don't, or if you go abroad for longer than a month and the travel does not fall under the specific circumstances when the one-month period can be extended, then the Universal Credit assessment period is reduced to nil.
This means you next Universal Credit payment will not be paid on the due date, but it won't be terminated altogether. So while you won't get a payment for the period you've been away, you won't have to start your claim again and wait another five weeks.
A DWP spokesperson said: "Claimants must be in Great Britain on the day the Universal Credit claim was submitted. Those who travel abroad or have come back on the same day the claim is submitted may be eligible for Universal Credit.
"If a claimant is unable to accept a Claimant Commitment - the document listing all the things they must do to get UC - because they are abroad on holiday, they won't get the benefit and will be required to make a new claim on their return to the UK."
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