Universal Credit’s ‘Full Service’

Universal Credit’s ‘Full Service’

9:29 AM, 15th June 2018, About 6 years ago

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I’m writing to draw your attention to a piece recently produced by the RLA relating to Universal Credit, Full Service.

If you follow the link, click here,  you’ll find an excellent article, produced by Natalie Williamson, RLA after she and Richard Jones (RLA solicitor) visited Widnes Jobcentre Plus to view, first-hand, Universal Credit’s “Full Service” in operation. As you may know, Full Service is also called the “digital service” which requires tenants to make their claims and changes in circumstances online.

Widnes JCP, in effect, pioneered the “digital” delivery, which, by the end of this year, should be operating in all UK areas. Overall, the visit seems to have been a success and, most probably, a better experience than both expected. I suspect that’s because Widnes has already, two years of knowledge & experience, under its belt, dealing with the many issues that arise. DWP should make sure Widnes is presented as a beacon site, to others currently grappling with UCFS and those that take on the task in the coming months & years ahead. The many landlords that contact me for advice & assistance, are usually doing so because they are either ignored or fobbed off by DWP, so it’s good to hear a more positive picture.

Landlords accommodating LHA/UC claimants should take a few minutes to read the piece and familiarise themselves with the operations of the new scheme. Doing so, may save you from encountering losses further down the line as Full Service expands in area and numbers.

At the moment, there are 900,000 claimants, UK wide. By March 2023, DWP expects to add a further 6 million claimants, many of whom will be PRS tenants. It’s taken DWP 5 years, to build up its current caseload. For those of you who have UC tenants, you should already have experienced some of the difficulties, caused by the introduction of the new scheme. The accelerated rollout will, most certainly, attract many more problems, causing landlords further financial pain. If you do, remember and complain to DWP and, if need be, the Independent Case Examiner.

If you don’t know when your area is designed to move to Full Service delivery, check the following link  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk…hedule.pdf and you should see your nearest Jobcentre and go-live date.

If you have any queries about this topic, feel free to get in touch with us using the contact form below.

Contact Sherrelle for offline Universal Credit advice

Sherrelle is an independent consultant and is recommended by Property118 for landlords who require professional advice and assistance in regards to dealing with Universal credit related matters


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