Made A Mistake On Universal Credit Application

csnann

I have just spent three hours trying to fill in the Universal Credit application online - the website kept saying "service unavailable, try again in 20 minutes" and although I finally managed to finish it I realised that I have made a mistake.
I told them that I am not getting Housing Benefit (which I am getting) and that I am getting Council Tax benefit (which I don't get). I don't know why I pushed the declaration button for that, I was just so pleased to have got through the form that I wasn't thinking straight!
Obviously I will have to tell them when I get called in for interview, but does anyone know how this is likely to affect my claim?

TELLIT01

It won't. As long as you tell them at interview they can just make the required changes.

Catnip_63

When you go for your very first interview they will go through your claim with you and that is your opportunity to make any ammendment/alterations before you sign to say the information is correct

ukwmo

I'm unsure if the UC application could proceed, the OP is already receiving HB which is one of the benefits which UC is supposed to replace. Wouldn't they be advised at the UC interview to apply for JSA instead ?

Just a thought, I might be wrong.

csnann

I am in an area where new claims from unemployed people are processed as Universal Credit, so JSA is not an option.
Hopefully it won't be hard to put right, thanks everyone who took the time to answer.

ukwmo

Yeah it depends which area you're in and whether your local Job Centre is offering "full service" or not. More likely not, most offices don't offer full service but like you say you might be alright.

There's questions at the beginning of the UC online claim. The Job Centre staff call them the "knockout questions" i.e. depending how you answer them you might be knocked out of UC and made to claim JSA instead. This is for a Job Centre which doesn't offer UC full service.

Knockouts include ... you're part of a couple (rather than single), you look after children, you're going from ESA and have asked for a mandatory reconsideration, you're homeless/temporary accom, you've left a job and your employer owes you money (more than 340 quid or thereabouts), you've got savings over 6,000, you receive other benefits (such as DLA/PIP/Housing Benefit) ... the list goes on, all those factors would prevent a UC claim from going ahead at a Job Centre which doesn't yet offer "full service", meaning you'd have to apply for JSA instead.

That's why it's really important to answer those questions correctly, otherwise their website will take a UC claim when it should really be JSA that the person should've applied for. If that happens, they'll pick it up at the initial interview, deny the UC claim and advise the person to go back to square one and apply online for JSA instead. I was that person once !

Hope it goes OK for you.