GOV.UK says your Universal Credit claim might be reviewed to make sure you are getting the right payment and support, and this can happen at any time while you are claiming. A claim review agent will contact you in your online journal. Your payment will only be stopped if you do not provide the documents, do not attend your telephone appointment or are not eligible for Universal Credit.
Key points
✓GOV.UK says a review is to make sure you are getting the right payment and support, and it can happen at any time while you are claiming
✓A claim review agent contacts you in your online journal and asks you to send some documents and have a phone appointment
✓Your payment will only be stopped if you do not provide the documents, do not attend your telephone appointment or are not eligible
✓Where the DWP requires evidence under regulation 38(2) you have 14 days from notification, or a longer period if the DWP allows it or you satisfy it more time is necessary
✓The review might find you are being paid too much, entitled to more, or that there is no change, and you can challenge a decision
What a Universal Credit review is
GOV.UK says your Universal Credit claim might be reviewed to make sure you are getting the right payment and support, and this can happen at any time while you are claiming. GOV.UK says you might be getting the wrong amount of Universal Credit if your details are not up to date, and to report any changes in your circumstances when they happen.
DWP's Targeted Case Review was established in 2022 to identify and address incorrectness across Universal Credit claims. DWP's management information says Targeted Case Review completed 24,180 case reviews in 2022 to 2023, 202,130 in 2023 to 2024 and 923,630 in 2024 to 2025, in total 1,149,940 cases by the end of 2024 to 2025. Of those cases, 243,600 (21%) were found to have incorrectness on their claim, and incorrectness identified includes claims which are underpaid as well as overpaid. A DWP news release says the programme not only ensures overpayments are corrected but also makes certain people who are being underpaid receive the money they are entitled to.
GOV.UK says the review might find that:
You are being paid too much Universal Credit
You are entitled to more Universal Credit
There is no change to your Universal Credit amount
If your review turns on savings after a benefit back payment, our capital check guide covers the arrears disregard.
How it starts and what you'll be asked for
Everything runs through your online Universal Credit account:
1
Step 1: The journal message
A Department for Work and Pensions claim review agent contacts you in your online journal and asks you to send some documents and have a phone appointment. GOV.UK says it will never text or email you asking for your personal information or bank details.
2
Step 2: Send your bank statements
GOV.UK says you will get a message in your online journal asking to see your bank statements. GOV.UK says looking at your payments and transactions will help your claim review agent understand if your details are up to date.
3
Step 3: Send other documents
GOV.UK says you might also need to share documents about your housing costs, earnings or other income, self-employment, savings, childcare costs, children, student finance and caring responsibilities.
4
Step 4: The phone appointment
GOV.UK says you will be invited to a phone appointment to discuss your claim. Contact the claim review agent in your journal if you have any questions about the phone appointment.
GOV.UK says the claim review agent will need to see your statements and documents without any changes or edits. If you have questions about how to provide the right documents in the right format, GOV.UK says to ask the claim review agent for help in your online journal.
Deadlines, and what happens if you don't respond
GOV.UK says that during the review your Universal Credit payment will only be stopped if you do not provide the documents, you do not attend your telephone appointment, or you are not eligible for Universal Credit.
You do not provide the documents
You do not attend your telephone appointment
You are not eligible for Universal Credit
The Secretary of State may suspend payment of the benefit, in whole or part, if you fail to satisfy those requirements. If payment has been suspended in full under regulation 45(6) and more than one month has elapsed since the first payment was suspended, regulation 47 says the Secretary of State must decide that you cease to be entitled to the benefit with effect from the date on which payment was suspended, unless entitlement ceased earlier. A suspended benefit must be paid once the Secretary of State is satisfied that it is properly payable and that the requirements of regulation 45(4) have been satisfied.
GOV.UK says to contact the claim review agent if you need support with your claim review, providing any of the evidence requested, or getting your details up to date.
How long does a Universal Credit claim review take?
We found no published DWP timescale for a Universal Credit claim review. The deadlines that apply to you are in the regulations:
You have 14 days beginning with the date the notification was given or sent to you to supply the information or evidence, or any longer period the DWP allows in that notification
You can have a longer period if you satisfy the DWP that it is necessary in order to comply
You can instead satisfy the DWP within that period that the information or evidence does not exist or that it is not possible for you to obtain it
Where the DWP requires evidence from you under regulation 38(2), regulation 45 of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations 2013 says you must either supply it within 14 days beginning with the date the notification was given or sent to you, or such longer period as the Secretary of State allows in that notification, or such longer period as you satisfy the Secretary of State is necessary in order to comply. Regulation 38 leaves the choice of information or evidence to the Secretary of State. The regulation does not say how many months or years of bank statements the Secretary of State may require.
Is everyone having a Universal Credit review?
GOV.UK says your claim might be reviewed at any time while you are claiming. DWP's management information says Targeted Case Review completed 24,180 case reviews in 2022 to 2023, 202,130 in 2023 to 2024 and 923,630 in 2024 to 2025, in total 1,149,940 cases by the end of 2024 to 2025.
Of those cases, 243,600 (21%) were found to have incorrectness on their claim, and incorrectness identified includes claims which are underpaid as well as overpaid. A DWP news release says the programme not only ensures overpayments are corrected but also makes certain people who are being underpaid receive the money they are entitled to.
What the outcomes can be
GOV.UK says the review might find that you are being paid too much Universal Credit, you are entitled to more Universal Credit, or there is no change to your Universal Credit amount. If your Universal Credit needs to change, GOV.UK says you will get a message in your online journal and your future payments will be changed.
GOV.UK says you may get:
An extra payment to make up what you have missed out on
Money taken off your payments
GOV.UK says that if you disagree with a decision made during your review you can challenge the decision. GOV.UK says you usually need to ask for mandatory reconsideration within one month of the date of the decision, and you can ask for it after one month if you have a good reason, for example if you have been in hospital or had a bereavement. Our overpayments and fraud guide explains your rights if anything more serious is alleged.
Your rights during a review
✓Yes: Contact the claim review agent if you need support with your claim review, providing any of the evidence requested, or getting your details up to date
✓Yes: You can have a longer period to provide the evidence if you satisfy the Secretary of State that it is necessary in order to comply
✓Yes: You can ask the claim review agent for help in your online journal if you have questions about the right documents in the right format
✓Yes: You can contact the claim review agent in your journal if you have any questions about the phone appointment
✓Yes: You can ask for mandatory reconsideration within one month of the date of the decision and then appeal to the tribunal within one month of the mandatory reconsideration decision
✓Yes: You can get free help and advice from Citizens Advice, Advicenow and an adviser near you on Advicelocal
GOV.UK says it will never text or email you asking for your personal information or bank details.
DWP's Code of Practice on Eligibility Verification Notices says the Eligibility Verification Measure enables DWP to require financial institutions to look within their customer data and provide limited information to DWP which may indicate that a benefit is being incorrectly paid. It gives as an example an eligibility indicator of capital above £16,000 on accounts which receive Universal Credit. The Code says the information is used to identify the claimant within DWP's own systems and then to determine whether DWP must take any further action by looking into the claim in more detail, and that no decisions about benefit entitlement will be made automatically on this information alone. It says the Test and Learn period allows processes to be evaluated and optimised before the measure is rolled out more widely with more financial institutions.
GOV.UK says your Universal Credit claim might be reviewed to make sure you are getting the right payment and support, and this can happen at any time while you are claiming. DWP's Targeted Case Review was established in 2022 to identify and address incorrectness across Universal Credit claims. Of those cases, 243,600 (21%) were found to have incorrectness on their claim, and incorrectness identified includes claims which are underpaid as well as overpaid.
How many months of bank statements does a UC review ask for?
GOV.UK says you will get a message in your online journal asking to see your bank statements. The regulation does not say how many months or years of bank statements the Secretary of State may require. GOV.UK says the claim review agent will need to see your statements and documents without any changes or edits.
Will my Universal Credit be stopped during a review?
GOV.UK says that during the review your Universal Credit payment will only be stopped if you do not provide the documents, you do not attend your telephone appointment, or you are not eligible for Universal Credit. The Secretary of State may suspend payment of the benefit, in whole or part, if you fail to satisfy those requirements. A suspended benefit must be paid once the Secretary of State is satisfied that it is properly payable and that the requirements of regulation 45(4) have been satisfied.
What happens at the UC review phone appointment?
GOV.UK says you will be invited to a phone appointment to discuss your claim. Contact the claim review agent in your journal if you have any questions about the phone appointment.
Know Your Rights UK. "Universal Credit Review: Why Yours, and How Long It Takes." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/benefits/universal-credit/uc-review