Housing Systems: Combating poverty and sustaining tenancies.
Universal Credit: Payments

Main Principles

Find out about how Universal Credit payments are made, how often, whether some needs a bank account and what alternative payment arrangements are available.

Advance Payments

Did you know that there are four types of Advance Payments to help claimants when they first claim, when they have a change in circumstances and when they have budgeting problems.

1st Payment

When will the claimant get their first payment? What if they can't wait that long? Why is it less than they were expecting? Can a landlord ever have any of this first payment?


What cause delays. Minimising delays.
What can a claimant do if the payment of Universal Credit is delayed?

Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs)

Getting the Universal Credit payment more often than monthly, split between a couple, and managed payments to landlords.


Numerous deductions can be taken from a claimant's Universal Credit award.
Find out what can be deducted, how much and whether the claimant can ever challenge the levels of deductions.


Why might a claimant's UC payments stop?


What causes them? Are they always recoverable? Ever recoverable from the landlord?

Hardship Payments

What are they and who can get one?