Universal credit & going abroad

molab

Hi,
I have recently signed up to UC since I lost job & will receive my first payment next month. 

My parents live in Portugal & I Booked flights months ago to visit them The end of August For two weeks. Since Portugal is Now granted air bridge I want to know if I can still visit them whilst being on UC? I want to know if it is allowed.

my thinking is that I could return without need to quarantine, so if a job comes up I would be prepared to return home immediately and proceed. 

calcotti

You are allowed to leave the country for up to a month but you are expected to continue to carry out our work search requirements and be available for work etc.
http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2018-0759/Going_Abroad_v3.pdf

molab

@calcotti great, thank you! I did see a similar answer online but wanted to be sure

do I need to tell my work coach before I go to ask permission first? Or can I go and let him know I am there when we next have the call? I am due to have a call with him next week and the flight is booked to happen this weekend..

calcotti

molab said: do I need to tell my work coach before I go to ask permission first? Or can I go and let him know I am there when we next have the call? I am due to have a call with him next week and the flight is booked to happen this weekend..

That I don't know.

molab

@calcotti ok thank you so much for all your help really do appreciate it. 

TheShape

OP what is your claim date?

(This could be relevent as to whether OP currently has to meet conditionality requirements).

molab

@TheShape It will be standard allowance single person (so like £409 a month). 

Hope that is what you mean question wise?   

huckster

On what date did you start the claim ?
What does your claimant commitment state ?
If you are required to search for work and be available to start work, a holiday trip out of the UK may be ok for 2 weeks, but you should contact the Work Coach confirming date you will leave the UK, your return date to the UK and reason for your absence from the UK. And if you are required to search for work, apply for any suitable jobs etc, also confirm whether you will be using the internet while you are away to continue meeting any claimant commitments to search and apply for work. 

TheShape

molab said:

@TheShape It will be standard allowance single person (so like £409 a month). 

Hope that is what you mean question wise?   

It wasn't.  The question was 'What date did your claim begin?'.  I'll come back to the claim date at the end of this post.  I didn't have time for a more comprehensive post yesterday but do now.

If you go abroad and fail to carry out your work search requirements or you miss an appointment at the Jobcentre (or by phone) or you don't carry out another action as agreed in your claimant commitment a Work Coach could refer you to a decision maker and you would likely face a sanction as 'Being abroad on Holiday' is not a good reason for the failure to complete an action.

If you are not able to answer your call next week because you couldn't get a reception or your phone doesn't work properly in Portugal (unlikely to be an issue) or some other reason connected to being abroad then that won't be a 'good reason' for missing the call.  Importantly, it appears that at the time the appointment was booked you knew you were due to be abroad at this appointment time and did not mention that to your work coach.   You could potentially face a sanction.

The question of 'availability' is more contentious.  Some may argue that if you are offered a job interview/job start and you are able to get home for it then you are available.  I contend that if you are required to be 'immediately available for work' then being abroad would mean that you have 'failed to be available' regardless of whether a job interview/job start was offered.

I certainly wouldn't travel abroad without the explicit agreement of my work coach if I had the requirement to be available because if my work coach called me at 4pm on Tuesday with the offer of work at 9am on Wednesday morning, the reality is that it will be very difficult to return home in time.  Coronavirus could make things more difficult (flight availability etc).

All of the above could be academic:

If your claim was made prior to 15th July your commitments were either 'switched-off' or you were not required to accept a commitment.  Check your commitments in your account.  You may find a message that states you will not face a sanction for not meeting 'your commitments' and any referral to a decision maker should be cancelled if that is the case.  I would still consider letting your work coach know.  You can hardly 'ask for permission' as the work coach won't now know until Monday morning at the earliest and you'll already have travelled but being truthful with your work coach may create a better relationship whereas a work coach who finds out a claimant has travelled abroad without notifying them might choose to keep a very close eye on that claimant to ensure they meet their commitments.  Of course they may call, not notice a 'foreign' ringtone and be none the wiser.