Universal Credit and ESA Sanctions: Your Rights and How to Challenge
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A sanction is a reduction in your benefit for not meeting a work-related requirement. They can be challenged, you can still get a hardship payment, and many people are not subject to them at all. This guide explains the four sanction levels, what counts as a 'good reason', how to get a hardship payment, and how to overturn a sanction you think is wrong.
Key points
✓A sanction reduces your standard allowance for a set period; it does not stop your whole award.
✓If you had a good reason for what happened, there should be no sanction, always give your reason.
✓You can apply for a hardship payment (about 60% of the sanctioned amount) if you cannot meet basic needs.
✓People in the Support Group (ESA) or with LCWRA (UC) have no work-related requirements and cannot be sanctioned for them.
✓Challenge a sanction by Mandatory Reconsideration and then appeal, a tribunal will not normally increase it.
Who can be sanctioned
You can only be sanctioned for failing a requirement that actually applies to you. What you must do depends on your conditionality group:
✓Yes: Full work search: expected to look for and be available for work, the most requirements and the most sanction risk.
✓Yes: Work preparation: expected to take steps to prepare for work (for example if you have Limited Capability for Work).
✓Yes: Work-focused interview only: a lighter set of requirements.
✓Yes: No work-related requirements: people with LCWRA (UC) or in the ESA Support Group, carers, and some others, you cannot be sanctioned for work-related requirements because you do not have any.
If you have been placed in full work search but your health limits you, getting a Work Capability Assessment outcome of LCWRA, or being recognised as a carer, removes the requirements that lead to sanctions. See our WCA guide.
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✓Yes: Higher level: for the most serious, such as leaving a job voluntarily without good reason, being dismissed for misconduct, or refusing a job offer.
✓Yes: Medium level: for not being available for work, or not taking all reasonable action to find work.
✓Yes: Low level: for not attending or taking part in a required activity such as training or a work-preparation task.
✓Yes: Lowest level: for not attending a work-focused interview where that is the only requirement.
The sanction reduces your standard allowance for a fixed period set by the level, not by how much the decision-maker disapproves. Your housing and child elements are not sanctioned.
How long a sanction lasts
✓Yes: Higher level: 91 days for the first one in any 365 day period. A repeat within that year can be up to 182 days, which is the longest any Universal Credit sanction can now be.
✓Yes: Medium level: 28 days for the first one in any 365 day period, 91 days for a repeat.
✓Yes: Low level: runs from the day you failed to do the thing until the day before you do it, plus a fixed number of extra days, 7 for a first failure and rising for repeats.
✓Yes: Lowest level: runs until the day before you contact the Jobcentre to rearrange the interview you missed.
182 days is the maximum, whatever you are told. Higher level sanctions could once run to 1,095 days, three years. The 1,095 day period was removed on 27 November 2019, and a reduction already running for 1,095 days was terminated once the award had been reduced for at least 182 days. If anyone, including a Jobcentre, tells you a sanction can last years, they are working from the old rules.
Good reason: the key to avoiding a sanction
There is no sanction if you had a good reason (called "good cause" for ESA) for what happened. There is no fixed list, the decision-maker must consider all your circumstances. Reasons that are commonly accepted include:
✓Yes: Illness, a health condition, or a disability that affected what you could do.
✓Yes: A caring responsibility or a family emergency.
✓Yes: Transport problems or an appointment you could not move (for example a hospital appointment).
✓Yes: A mental health condition, anxiety, or difficulty with letters and phone calls.
✓Yes: Not receiving or understanding the instruction, or being given conflicting information.
✓Yes: Bereavement, domestic abuse, or homelessness.
Always explain your reason in writing through your journal or to the Jobcentre as soon as you can, even after the event. If you are a vulnerable claimant, ask for the safeguarding guidelines to be applied.
Hardship payments
If a sanction means you cannot meet your basic needs, or those of your household, you can apply for a hardship payment:
✓Yes: It is worth about 60% of the amount your standard allowance has been reduced by.
✓Yes: You usually have to show you have tried to cut back on non-essential spending first.
✓Yes: It is recoverable, the amount is normally taken back from your future Universal Credit.
✓Yes: You generally need to apply each assessment period the sanction applies.
How to challenge a sanction
✓Yes: Ask for a written explanation of exactly what you are said to have failed to do, and when.
✓Yes: Request a Mandatory Reconsideration, normally within one month, setting out your good reason and any evidence.
✓Yes: If that fails, appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal; a tribunal will not normally increase a sanction, so the risk of appealing is low.
✓Yes: Keep meeting your other requirements and apply for a hardship payment in the meantime.
✓Yes: Complain to the Jobcentre and, if needed, your MP if you were treated unfairly.
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Frequently asked questions
How much is a Universal Credit sanction?
A sanction reduces your standard allowance for a set period, the length depends on the level (lowest, low, medium or higher) and whether you have been sanctioned before. Your housing element and child elements are not reduced. You can apply for a hardship payment worth about 60% of the reduction if you cannot meet basic needs.
What counts as a good reason to avoid a sanction?
There is no fixed list, the decision-maker must look at all your circumstances. Commonly accepted reasons include illness or disability, a caring responsibility or emergency, transport failure, an unmovable hospital appointment, a mental health condition, not receiving or understanding the instruction, bereavement, domestic abuse or homelessness. Always give your reason in writing as soon as you can.
Can I be sanctioned if I'm in the Support Group or have LCWRA?
No. People in the ESA Support Group, and Universal Credit claimants with Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA), have no work-related requirements, so they cannot be sanctioned for failing them. If you have been placed in a work-search group despite your health, getting the right Work Capability Assessment outcome removes that risk.
Should I appeal a sanction?
Yes, if you think you had a good reason. First request a Mandatory Reconsideration within one month, explaining your reason and giving evidence. If that fails, appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. A tribunal will not normally increase a sanction, so there is little downside, and meanwhile you can claim a hardship payment.
Know Your Rights UK. "Universal Credit and ESA Sanctions: Your Rights and How to Challenge." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/benefits/universal-credit/sanctions