UC Agent Closed Claim For No Reason - Help Needed!

Cherryx

Hi all,

My Universal Credit claim was closed last week out of the blue, because the agent incorrectly marked me as being in full time education, when I am not — I’m attending a short, part-time up-skilling course which is a few days a month for 3 months (9 days) for my area of work. I am currently in work, but it is ad-hoc/freelance so I am not totally out of work which they are aware of. I uploaded evidence of my training schedule and explained this to the UC agent as I needed to reschedule an appointment which clashed with the training, the agent asked further questions about the training, but then the claim was closed. I believe the agent is new or doesn't understand the rules as none were broken. They also told me they couldn't reschedule an appointment which isn't true either.

I’ve submitted a formal complaint due to this mishandling and have had to start a new claim purely to access a journal to then submit a message requesting it be treated as an internal staff error and escalated as an Urgent Incident rather than a Mandatory Reconsideration, baring in mind a new claim or MR can take weeks (5 weeks for new claims and then 4-8 for MR). I'm understandably furious, I have always been encouraged to take on courses like this and prioritise work and now feel like I'm being punished for being pro-active. 

Has anyone experienced something similar — a UC claim closed incorrectly due to misinterpreted education status? How long did it take to get the claim reopened, and is there anything else I can do to increase the chances of it being fixed quickly?

I intend to call first thing in the morning as was advised by a DWP member to raise as an urgent incident etc, just worried they will still tell me to do an MR - when its a them issue rather than me issue.

Thanks in advance!

Woodstok2000

Is the course definitely part-time?  I only ask as if its a full time course you can lose UC even if you only attend on a part time basis. May be worth double checking...

Cherryx

Woodstok2000 said:

Is the course definitely part-time?  I only ask as if its a full time course you can lose UC even if you only attend on a part time basis. May be worth double checking...

Hey! Yes, 100%. It was 4 days December and then 2 days Jan, 3 days in Feb. I've previously taken courses that were 12 weeks that were skills bootcamps Mon-Fri and this one is a re-skill/up-skilling programme. It doesn't stop me taking up other work and is meant to expand our skills to other areas within my industry, so I genuinely have no idea why they would think that to be an issue. 

NedS

Cherryx said:

Woodstok2000 said:

Is the course definitely part-time?  I only ask as if its a full time course you can lose UC even if you only attend on a part time basis. May be worth double checking...

Hey! Yes, 100%. It was 4 days December and then 2 days Jan, 3 days in Feb. I've previously taken courses that were 12 weeks that were skills bootcamps Mon-Fri and this one is a re-skill/up-skilling programme. It doesn't stop me taking up other work and is meant to expand our skills to other areas within my industry, so I genuinely have no idea why they would think that to be an issue. 

For UC purposes, it does not matter how many days you attend or whether it prevents you or otherwise from working. The only thing that matters is how the academic institution classify the course (and this is the evidence you should be submitting when seeking an MR for incorrect claim closure). I have friends that completed full time University degrees with 4 hours of tuition per week and worked part time jobs throughout.

From a process point of view, you must now request a Mandatory Reconsideration. You should submit evidence that clearly states that the course is classified by the educational institution as part-time. If you are successful they will backdate your new claim to run continuously from the date of closure of the old claim (and realign the AP dates) as they cannot reopen the old claim once you have made a new claim.

Cherryx

NedS said:

Cherryx said:

Woodstok2000 said:

Is the course definitely part-time?  I only ask as if its a full time course you can lose UC even if you only attend on a part time basis. May be worth double checking...

Hey! Yes, 100%. It was 4 days December and then 2 days Jan, 3 days in Feb. I've previously taken courses that were 12 weeks that were skills bootcamps Mon-Fri and this one is a re-skill/up-skilling programme. It doesn't stop me taking up other work and is meant to expand our skills to other areas within my industry, so I genuinely have no idea why they would think that to be an issue. 

For UC purposes, it does not matter how many days you attend or whether it prevents you or otherwise from working. The only thing that matters is how the academic institution classify the course (and this is the evidence you should be submitting when seeking an MR for incorrect claim closure). I have friends that completed full time University degrees with 4 hours of tuition per week and worked part time jobs throughout.

From a process point of view, you must now request a Mandatory Reconsideration. You should submit evidence that clearly states that the course is classified by the educational institution as part-time. If you are successful they will backdate your new claim to run continuously from the date of closure of the old claim (and realign the AP dates) as they cannot reopen the old claim once you have made a new claim.

Hi thanks for this, so I already submitted evidence that specified the entire course dates, which is clearly very, very part time. You aren't even given a qualification, its to train in some other areas to make you more employable.. someone across on reddit who is a verified DWP member said they can re-open a closed claim if its an agent error - which it obviously is. I have read other stories of agents not being able to read uploaded documents (work coach only apparently), so this would make sense if they closed the claim and hadn't seen my uploaded document. A MR will take 4-8 weeks, which I don't have and I was advised to raise as an urgent incident to the service delivery team rather than a MR.

huckster

Yes you can contact local Job Centre or UC helpline and ask that an incident is raised with Service Improvement Lead (SIL) in the UC Service Centre, advising UC agent has closed claim in error by not following correct process. They still might say you need to follow the MR process.

And you could submit formal compliant and send a copy to your local MP. 

As NED correctly states above, the educational establishment is the one that designates whether course is full time or part time. Perhaps just ask the course provider to confirm in writing that the course is part-time and NCQ level of the course. And provide this to UC, when you submit your appeal.

NedS

Cherryx said:

NedS said:

Cherryx said:

Woodstok2000 said:

Is the course definitely part-time?  I only ask as if its a full time course you can lose UC even if you only attend on a part time basis. May be worth double checking...

Hey! Yes, 100%. It was 4 days December and then 2 days Jan, 3 days in Feb. I've previously taken courses that were 12 weeks that were skills bootcamps Mon-Fri and this one is a re-skill/up-skilling programme. It doesn't stop me taking up other work and is meant to expand our skills to other areas within my industry, so I genuinely have no idea why they would think that to be an issue. 

For UC purposes, it does not matter how many days you attend or whether it prevents you or otherwise from working. The only thing that matters is how the academic institution classify the course (and this is the evidence you should be submitting when seeking an MR for incorrect claim closure). I have friends that completed full time University degrees with 4 hours of tuition per week and worked part time jobs throughout.

From a process point of view, you must now request a Mandatory Reconsideration. You should submit evidence that clearly states that the course is classified by the educational institution as part-time. If you are successful they will backdate your new claim to run continuously from the date of closure of the old claim (and realign the AP dates) as they cannot reopen the old claim once you have made a new claim.

Hi thanks for this, so I already submitted evidence that specified the entire course dates, which is clearly very, very part time. You aren't even given a qualification, its to train in some other areas to make you more employable.. someone across on reddit who is a verified DWP member said they can re-open a closed claim if its an agent error - which it obviously is. I have read other stories of agents not being able to read uploaded documents (work coach only apparently), so this would make sense if they closed the claim and hadn't seen my uploaded document. A MR will take 4-8 weeks, which I don't have and I was advised to raise as an urgent incident to the service delivery team rather than a MR.

They cannot reopen a claim that has been closed when a new claim has subsequently been made. The new claim takes priority. If the claim has been closed incorrectly and a new claim has already been made, then they will backdate the new claim to the date the original claim was closed and realign the claim dates. The original claim will remain closed and the new claim will remain going forward.

Only Agent Support can reopen claims or realign claim dates, and any request to Agent Support must be made through a SIL as @huckster advises. These processes are not flexible and must be followed.

Edited to add: Where internal processes have clearly not been followed (oops, I closed the wrong claim by mistake), then a SIL may be able to request the claim to be reopened or realigned without a MR decision, but where a claim was closed as a result of a decision (e.g, someone deciding you were not entitled to UC as you are a full time student), even if that decision is wrong, that decision must be revised first and only a decision maker is allowed/qualified to do that. Agent Support  cannot overturn a decision once one has been made and will not reopen the claim without a decision maker revising the original decision, hence a MR would be required. So it depends on the SIL and Agent Supports interpretation. My interpretation would be that a decision has been made (even if that decision is incorrect) and I would advise any work coach or case manager to raise an MR first for a revised decision before sending it to a SIL/Agent Support requesting the claim be reopened or realigned.

Cherryx

Update:

The case manager has now raised it as a MR, but I had to request this.. No idea if that will speed things up? We will see.