Page 111 - Reforming Benefits Decision-Making -(updated - August 2021)

4.26 In addition, if the DWP wants to encourage claimants to use the online
system, then consideration should be given to making it easier for a UC
claimant to secure their date of claim, in advance of completing all
sections of the online form. The current position is that a claim is not made
until all the information is submitted. This means claimants who struggle to
gather this information quickly are waiting longer to receive their first
payment (on top of a five-week wait once the claim is made). There is
precedent for not requiring all the information before securing a ‘date of
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claim’, for example a Disability Living Allowance claim form can be
requested by telephone, securing the date of claim as long as the form is
returned within six weeks.

Advice

4.27 Many claimants may require advice and assistance to complete the application
as well as understand the evidence that they need to provide to support their
application. The need for advice and support is particularly acute for those
with certain health conditions and disabilities which may make understanding
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and completing the forms particularly challenging. Advice and support is
also crucial for claimants who have poor literacy rates and/or are non-English
speakers and, in light of the digital by default nature of UC, those who are
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digitally excluded.

4.28 However, a lack of, or poor, advice at the application stage may result in
delay and/or loss of income. For example, furloughed workers who applied
for UC without seeking advice on how it would impact their existing tax
credits, lost their existing tax credits and ended up worse off. Without
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319 Disability Living Allowance is the legacy benefit being replaced by PIP.
320 J. Organ and J. Sigafoos, The impact of LASPO on routes to justice (EHRC, 2018) p. 36; G.
McKeever, M. Simpson and C. Fitzpatrick, Destitution and Paths to Justice (see n. 3 above); National
Audit Office, Universal Credit: getting to first payment (see n. 129 above) p. 12.
321 Literacy rates are particularly low amongst the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community. One
advice organisation who provides support to the GRT community told us that individuals would simply
be unable to apply for benefits or manage their claims without their advice and support.
322 In some cases the advice was provided by DWP staff at a Jobcentre, see Child Poverty Action
Group, Mind the gaps: Reporting on Families’ incomes during the pandemic (August 2020) p. 2.

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