UC sanction

peteuk

Hope someone can point me in the right direction. 

My son has been sanctioned for not attending his appointment on 01 May.  (His bus was caught in traffic and so he arrived at his appointment just after they sent him a youve missed your appointment notification) 

He attended on 23 May and has an appointment on 06 June.

The letter he has received reads (dated 30 May) 

We are reducing your Universal Credit by £10.20 a day. This is called a sanction.

You need to book and attend an appointment with a work coach. Your sanction wil continue until you do this, or until we agree you no longer need to.

We'll also add 7days because this is your first sanction in the last 12 months.

I take it this will effect his next payment (had full payment 24 May) any advice on questioning this or how much he will loose.  

Alice_Holt

https://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/avoid-or-challenge-universal-credit-sanction

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/sanctions/if-youve-been-sanctioned/

I'd request a Mandatory Reconsideration, citing 'good reason'
If only that sanctions ramp up if it happens again.

huckster

Did he complete the "tell us why you missed appointment to-do"?

Being sanctioned suggests that this recent occasion is not the first occasion an appointment time has been missed.

Get your Son to show you his journal history so you can see how many appointments are noted as failed to attend.

peteuk

huckster said:

Did he complete the "tell us why you missed appointment to-do"?

Being sanctioned suggests that this recent occasion is not the first occasion an appointment time has been missed.

Get your Son to show you his journal history so you can see how many appointments are noted as failed to attend.

He completed the text reply rather than anything on his journal, it’s his first missed appointment.  I have full access to his claim as I set up the password.  So if I want I log in and he gives me the code sent to his mobile.

TheShape

Regarding the length of the sanction and how much he will lose:

The first day of the sanction would be 01/05/2024.  The last day of the sanction should be the day before an appointment of the same type (Work Search Review, Commitmwents Review etc) was booked (or the day before the appointment was requested if earlier than the booking date) plus, the 7-day fixed period.

If you can add some detail:

- What was the appointment on 01/05/2024?

- What was the appointment on 23/05/2024 and when was it booked?  Did he request that the appointment be rebooked after he missed the appointment and if so, when?

peteuk

TheShape said:

Regarding the length of the sanction and how much he will lose:

The first day of the sanction would be 01/05/2024.  The last day of the sanction should be the day before an appointment of the same type (Work Search Review, Commitmwents Review etc) was booked (or the day before the appointment was requested if earlier than the booking date) plus, the 7-day fixed period.

If you can add some detail:

- What was the appointment on 01/05/2024?

- What was the appointment on 23/05/2024 and when was it booked?  Did he request that the appointment be rebooked after he missed the appointment and if so, when?

Missed appointment on 01 May, automatically rescheduled appointment on 23 May and 06 Jun.  Notification of sanction on 30 May.  There was no need to reply as appointment already made for 06 Jun.

All his appointments have been a check on applications,

TheShape

I'm checking because it's important.

Were both the appointments on 01/05 and 23/05, Work Search Review appointments?  Does the appointment for 23/05 show as having been booked on 01/05?

peteuk

TheShape said:

I'm checking because it's important.

Were both the appointments on 01/05 and 23/05, Work Search Review appointments?  Does the appointment for 23/05 show as having been booked on 01/05?

Appointment on 23 May was made 20 May.
Appointment on 06 Jun was made 23 May ( 5 hours after attending the above appointment) 
Both work search reviews as was the missed appointment on 01 May
Decision 30 May.

huckster

If an appointment is not attended, the tell us why you failed to attend to do action must be completed. 

If the to do action is not completed advising reasons for not attending, then it means opportunity to provide reasons for the decision makers may be lost.  And this then leads to a sanction decision.

You can ask for mandatory reconsideration of the sanction decision.  If you are taking control of the UC claim, this suggests your Son is not able to be responsible. E.g. he is having problems.

TheShape

peteuk said:

TheShape said:

I'm checking because it's important.

Were both the appointments on 01/05 and 23/05, Work Search Review appointments?  Does the appointment for 23/05 show as having been booked on 01/05?

Appointment on 23 May was made 20 May.
Appointment on 06 Jun was made 23 May ( 5 hours after attending the above appointment) 
Both work search reviews as was the missed appointment on 01 May
Decision 30 May.

As it stands the sanction should start on 01/05/2024 and end on 19/05/2024.  There will be the additional 7-day fixed period added.

The total sanction period will be 26 days at £10.20 per day.  Total £265.20.

Not sure why the decision maker didn't notice your son had complied when they attended on 23/05/2024.  They then could have put all the detail about the length of sanction in the notification letter.

If someone notices he has complied they should end the sanction and notify your son with a UCD96 letter (which contains details of the sanction length).

If your son asked for the appointment to be rebooked prior to 20/05/2024 then the date he requested the booking should be the compliance date.

(all the above assumes that there is no doubt that he complied when he attended on 23/05/2024)

Regarding the actual imposing of the sanction, did your son answer a 'tell us why you missed appointment to-do' or otherwise respond to a request to give a reason for not attending the appointment at the correct time?

If the Decision Maker did not have a reason to consider then the sanction will likely have been made on the basis that good reason cannot be considered because there is no reason to consider as a 'good reason'.

Your son can ask for a mandatory reconsideration of the decision.  It might be useful to ask for a 'Written statement of Reasons' (or a similar title).  This will request that the Decision Maker actually explains to your son the reason why a sanction was imposed.  This can help when requesting a mandatory reconsideration.

peteuk

@huckster and @TheShape thank you.  My son has dysgraphia which basically means he has problems writing down what he means.  But thankfully yes he completed the "tell us why" albeit in about 4 words, which probably took about 10 minutes to write. 

I don't have "control" of his UC claim, but as I set it up for him and assisted him with the claim I still have the passwords.  He doesn't mind me logging on on occasions. 

We have asked for the following. 
1) an MR on the grounds that it was out of his hands and the bus was 20-30 minutes late. 
2) all future meetings be held over the phone as it takes 2 hours to get there and back for a 5-10 minute meeting. 

As it stands the sanction should start on 01/05/2024 and end on 19/05/2024.  There will be the additional 7-day fixed period added.

The total sanction period will be 26 days at £10.20 per day.  Total £265.20.

If this is correct then it will take his payment down to £40 something and as he cat sat for a friend and was given £100 (saved them on cattery fees for a week) then I suspect his next UC payment will be zero.