Universal Credit claimants who have received a “hardship payment” could now be entitled to money back from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The “hardship payment” is an emergency fund that is given to claimants when their benefits have been slashed due to a sanction or penalty for fraud.
It is normally worth roughly 60 percent of the amount you were sanctioned by in the last month, reports The Mirror. This payment is aimed to help you cover household expenses including food and bills.
It normally needs to be paid back as it is, technically, a loan. However, if you had previously asked for the repayments to stop, but you were refused, you can now ask the DWP to review your case.
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This means you could potentially be due money back. It will still be down to DWP to decide whether you’re owed any refund. You can ask the DWP to review its decision not to stop the repayment of your ”hardship payment” if all of the following apply:
- You asked the DWP (either Universal Credit or DWP Debt Management) to waive the repayment of a hardship payment between January 1, 2014 and January 11, 2021.
- The DWP refused your request to waive the repayment.
- You have repaid the hardship payment.
You will also need to show that either:
- You could not afford to repay the hardship payment at that time
- Repaying it had a significant effect on your or your family’s health or wellbeing.
- The DWP says an application form will become available on its website.
You will need to provide evidence from the time you were repaying your hardship payment that shows:
- You could not afford to repay your hardship payment, or
- Repaying your hardship payment affected your or your family’s health or wellbeing
This could include:
- Financial information from the time, such as bank statements, information about loans, or letters from creditors
- Information from a doctor or other medical professional saying that repaying the money caused a health condition or made it worse
- You should also provide information about your income and living costs at the time to support your application.
There is also an option to write a letter as long as it includes all the answers to questions on the form. This should be posted to: Debt Management (C), Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 2DF.
You’re not definitely guaranteed to get any money back at all. The DWP will decide whether you’re due a refund.
The DWP will contact you within six weeks of receiving your application to let you know it has been received. They will then send you a decision about your application within 13 weeks of receiving it.
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