7 waiting days Summary

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Rosaline Barton
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1 7 waiting days Summary How to establish if a claimant or partner has an exception reason for the 7 waiting days on a Universal Credit new claim Content Background to waiting days When a new claim to Universal Credit has been received the agent checks if the claimant and/or their partner are in the All Work Related Requirements (AWRR) conditionality group. This is done by checking in the Conditionality history screen in Claim admin. Single claimants that are in AWRR or couples where one or both members of the couple are in AWRR are subject to 7 waiting days at the start of their Universal Credit claim. During the 7 waiting days there is no entitlement to Universal Credit or passported benefits but the claimant can be sanctioned for any actions not taken during this period. The claimant can still access Universal Credit advances, Personal Budgeting Support and labour market provision. The claimant is in conditionality from the date of claim and they also have to complete all the actions associated with making their claim including accepting a Claimant Commitment. During the 7 waiting days they can be asked to complete any of the work-related requirements relevant to their regime and can be sanctioned if these are not completed. In some circumstances 7 waiting days will not be applied to the claim these are called 'exceptions' where a claimant (or their partner in a joint claim) has any of the following exception reasons: if you claimed Universal Credit as part of a couple but that claim ended because you separated and you have claimed within one month if you claimed Universal Credit on your own but then moved in with a partner and are now claiming together if you stopped getting Universal Credit within the last 6 months because you earned too much but now you need to claim again you are ill and are not expected to live for more than 6 months you are a care leaver you are aged between 16 and 17 and your parents don't support you

2 you left prison in the last month you have been threatened, abused or attacked by a member of your family or your partner within the last 6 months you were entitled to any Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Income Support in the last month but now have to claim Universal Credit you were entitled to new style JSA (CNS), ESA (CNS) in the last 3 months you were entitled to old style JSA (C), ESA (C) or JSA (IB), ESA (IB) or Income Support but you stopped claiming in the last 3 months because you started paid work of any type you were entitled to Working Tax Credits, Child Tax Credits or Housing Benefit in the last month and are now claiming Universal Credit Some of the exception reasons will not apply until the gateway has been expanded and these must not be selected. These are: the claimant is ill and is not expected to live for more than 6 months the claimant is aged between 16 and 17 and their parents don't support them If a claimant has either of the following two exceptions then the system will automatically record, verify and apply the exception where: the claimant was entitled to JSA, ESA or IS within a month prior to the Universal Credit date of claim the claimant was entitled to Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits within a month prior to the Universal Credit date of claim To check if the claimant has an exception based on previous benefits The agent checks UC6 that has been populated earlier in the process to see if information has been recorded on it which would result in the following exception applying to the claim: the claimant claimed Universal Credit as part of a couple but that claim ended because they separated If the above exception reason applies see 'To record and / or verify an exception reason' below. The AD checks CAMLite Contact history for the following note: 'Existing legacy benefit interest -eligible to claim UC' and establishes the claimant's last effective date of legacy benefit claim.

3 If this note does not exist, the AD completes a CIS check to establish if the claimant was entitled to: JSA (C), ESA (C), JSA (IB), ESA (IB), IS, WTC, CTC, HB, JSA (CNS) or ESA (CNS). The claimant must have made a claim to legacy benefits to be entitled. It is not necessarily a monetary amount and can be an underlying entitlement to benefit i.e. entitled to the benefit but not receiving any money. The AD: 1. Accesses Customer Information System. 2. Enters the Claimant's National Insurance Number. 3. Selects 'Account Summary'. 4. Selects 'Award History'. If the claimant was entitled to ESA or JSA then the agent accesses legacy benefit system, Common Enquiry Service, JA513/ JA523 to determine if 'old style' JSA (conts), ESA (conts) or 'new style' JSA (CNS), ESA (CNS) applies. In all cases the AD uses the information gathered following the CIS check or CAMLite Contact history note and takes the following actions: 1. Entitled to: JSA (CNS), ESA (CNS),JSA (C) ESA (C) JSA (IB) ESA (IB) IS, WTC, CTC, HB within the last calendar month up to and including the Universal Credit date of claim. The claimant is exempt from waiting days and the exception is valid. 2. Entitled to: old style JSA (C), ESA (C) or JSA (IB), ESA (IB) or Income Support more than 1 calendar month before the Universal Credit date of claim but less than 3 calendar months before the Universal Credit date of claim then this is not a verified exception without further evidence from the claimant. For example: If someone claims Universal Credit on 10/6/15 and the claim to JSA (C) or ESA (C) ended between the dates of 11/03/15 and 10/05/15 further checks will be required as this is only classed as an exception where the claimant left that benefit to start paid work, see: 'An exception needs to be removed' below. 3. Entitled to: JSA (CNS), ESA (CNS), within the 3 calendar months up to and including the Universal Credit date of claim then this is a verified exception. 4. Any legacy benefit, with a last effective date of more than 3 calendar months prior to the Universal Credit date of claim, see: 'An exception is not applicable' below.

4 If an exception has been recorded and verified either by the system or by the agent due to the claimant being entitled to a legacy benefit, the agent notes the UC6 with the exception information. The agent will use this information to advise the claimant that 7 waiting days does not apply to their claim. When a legacy benefit exception does not apply the agent includes the following note on the UC6: "JSA(IB), ESA(IB), old style JSA (conts), ESA (conts) or Income Support where the last effective day (LED) of entitlement is more than 1 calendar month up to and including the Universal Credit date of claim but within past 3 months, did claimant leave to start paid work?" or "None of the legacy benefits exceptions apply". If the claimant has a partner and the claimant doesn't already have an exception reason then the agent repeats the above processes. Only 1 member of a joint claim has to have an exception reason for the 7 waiting days to be removed. Claim admin will only allow an agent to record an exception against 1 member of a couple claim. The person with the exception does not need to be the one in the AWRR. When a claimant or partner has notified an exception reason When a claimant or partner has an exception reason not covered by the previous automated or manual checks the agent asks the claimant if any of the following exception reasons apply: if the claimant claimed Universal Credit as part of a couple but that claim ended because they separated and they have claimed within one month if the claimant claimed Universal Credit on their own but then moved in with a partner and they are now claiming together if the claimant stopped getting Universal Credit within the last 6 months because they earned too much but now they need to claim again the claimant is a care leaver (lives in supported housing and the acceptable evidence required is recorded on the NRD document) the claimant left prison in the last month (prison discharge documents are required for acceptable evidence) if the claimant has been threatened, abused or attacked by a member of their family or their partner within the last 6 months (relevant written acceptable evidence is required from a person acting in an official capacity) see Switching off requirements - Domestic Violence (sub heading 'Relevant evidence')

5 Housing Benefit in the last month (if there are no other legacy benefits this may not be verified on CIS therefore a notification confirming entitlement to Housing Benefit within a month prior to the Universal Credit date of claim is required) Where any exception reason has been identified the agent notes on the UC6 the exception reason. If no exception reasons have been identified then the 7 waiting days will apply and the agent notes on the UC6 that 'no exception reason applies'. Where any exception reason has been identified and verified the agent will advise the claimant that the 7 waiting days do not apply and they will receive payment from the date of claim. When acceptable evidence of an exception is received before the last 7 days of the AP The agent will see 'To record and / or verify an exception reason' below. To record and/or verify an exception reason Some exception reasons can be verified using CIS and legacy systems. Where this is not possible, the claimant will be required to provide acceptable evidence to verify the exception. This acceptable evidence can only be recorded as 'verified' by an account developer (AD) in a service centre, the claimant can send the acceptable evidence to the Service Centre or provide this at the Universal Credit outlet. When the evidence provided is acceptable and received before the last 7 days of the AP the AD will verify the exception by selecting 'verified'. This will remove 7 waiting days from the claim. Acceptable evidence to verify the exception has to be received before the last 7 days of the assessment period (AP) to enable the AP to be paid correctly. The AP will then commence from the date of claim. To record and/or verify an exception reason when the exception check box is not already selected, the agent selects 'Claim admin' homepage screen: 1. waiting days exception'. 2. 'apply exception' check box

6 3. 'exception reason' from the list displayed. 4. 'verified' from the 'verification status' list displayed. If the exception reason cannot be verified the agent leaves the 'verification status' as 'awaiting verification'. 5. 'submit'. To record and/or verify an exception reason when the exception check box is already selected the agent selects 'Claim admin' homepage screen: 1. 'waiting days exception'. 2. 'exception reason' from the list displayed. 3. 'verified' from the 'verification status' list displayed. If the exception reason cannot be verified the agent leaves the 'verification status' as 'awaiting verification'. 4. 'submit'. Check for Migrated Legacy benefit sanctions Where a migrated sanction has been input onto the sanctions portlet, a manual calculation will have been conducted to determine how many days of the sanction have been consumed and how many remain to be served. This calculation will include 7 waiting days when applied to the claim. Where an exception to waiting days has been verified another manual calculation will be conducted as the days consumed will be 7 days less than the original calculation. To determine if a migrated sanction exists When an agent needs to check if a migrated sanction exists, the agent: Accesses Work Services Platform (WSP). Navigates to the claimant's General notes. Determines if a migrated sanction exists by checking to see if in the claimant's general WSP notes "unspent sanction information from legacy" is recorded. If there is no migration sanction recorded the agent closes WSP and this is the end of the process. If there is a migration sanction then the agent: Navigates to Claim admin in the Agent Portal. Selects 'payments: sanctions'. Identifies the legacy sanction from the list in 'current sanctions'. If there is more than 1 sanction displayed, the agent may need to check the date of decision to identify which sanction relates to a legacy claim. Selects edit next to the sanction.

7 Edits the conditionality sanction. Selects the 'Reasons for editing'. Selects 'Manual override' / Revision. Selects 'Next'. Selects 'Submit'. An exception is not applicable If an exception is not applicable and waiting days are appropriate the AD must: 1. Change the verification status to 'Awaiting Verification'. 2. Select 'Submit'. This will remove the exception from the claimant's record and 7 waiting days will be applied to their claim. It is important that no other fields are amended as this may prevent future editing to the waiting days exception screens. Acceptable evidence has been received within the last 7 days of the AP The AD doesn't amend the verification status to 'verified' but will record the evidence as received in CAMLite Contact history. Universal Credit automatically adds waiting days to the claim. For example: Universal Credit claimed 1/8/15, during the NRD the claimant informs that they have recently been discharged from prison and the PASA requested the discharge papers. Acceptable evidence has been received on 5/9/15 (within the last 7 days of the AP). The claimant is entitled to Universal Credit 1/8/15 to 31/8/15 as waiting days do not apply. The AD will terminate the claim, make a manual payment and create a CAMLite task to initiate the claim rebuild. This is to ensure the claimant receives Universal Credit entitlement for the correct AP. 1. See 'CAMLite and Work Services Platform notes'. 2. To terminate a claim within the Universal Credit portal, the AD: 3. Accesses the 'Claim Admin homepage' for the claimant.

8 4. Selects 'Claim status'. 5. Selects the 'Terminate Claim' radio button. 6. Selects 'Other' from the claim termination reason drop down list. 7. Selects 'Save & Continue' button. 8. Reads the confirmation screen and checks the data input. 9. Selects 'Submit'. To ensure the claimant does not receive a termination notification the AD must suppress the notification see Suppressions of notifications. To make a payment the AD must see Using the Off System Manual Calculation Tool. The AD sets CAMLite task with the following details to rebuild the Universal Credit claim: Task Type: Payment Sub Type: Issue Ad-hoc Payment Start Task From: This must be the date the claim can be rebuilt. The date must be the anniversary of the initial claim date and must be a working day (for example - claim made on the 06/01/16 and evidence for the exception is received on 08/02/16. Claimant is now due payment for 06/01/16-05/02/16. The task start date will be 06/04/16 as 06/03/16 is a weekend and the claim must be rebuilt on a working day). SLA: 3 hours Notes: 'Rebuild required' (06/04/16 as per example above) Assigned To: UC - Work Services See 'CAMLite and Work Services Platform notes'. When evidence is received after the end of the AP and waiting days have been applied The system will have automatically set the verification to 'not verified out of time'. Where evidence is received after the end of the AP and waiting days have been applied, the evidence cannot be accepted as it is out of time. The system will have set the verification status to 'not verified - out of time.' The claimant will receive the standard SoS notification informing them of their entitlement which also gives the claimant details for Mandatory Reconsideration and their Rights of Appeal. In all cases the AD will update CAMLite Contact history with any action taken, notes may include:

9 exception recorded - details of acceptable evidence required (if exception reason is not verified) details of acceptable evidence received AP start and end dates where acceptable evidence is still outstanding. exception reason verified/or not verified claim terminated due to waiting days, notifications suppressed and manual payment made, CAMLite task created to rebuild claim evidence for exception received out of time not accepted

Universal Credit Advance (new claim, benefit transfer or change of circumstances)

Universal Credit Advance (new claim, benefit transfer or change of circumstances) Summary How to deal with a Universal Credit Advance request for a new claim, benefit transfer or change of circumstances