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Universal Credit and Third Party Deductions: The Rules and Their Impact on Claimants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2020

Arianne Graven
Arianne Graven*
Affiliation:
School of Law, Newcastle University, E-mail: a.graven1@ncl.ac.uk
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Abstract

This article seeks to analyse Universal Credit (UC) and its impact on claimants by focusing on one specific aspect of UC in detail. Allowable third party deductions will be considered and compared to the position under the legacy benefit rules. Using this comparative approach, data from a case study of real UC claimants from a local Citizens Advice office, information from wider research and incorporating scenarios to highlight what this could mean for claimants in practice, this article concludes that many claimants are worse off on UC than they would have been under the legacy benefits it replaces due to the third party deductions regime. This, in many cases, places claimants in hardship and makes it impossible for them to meet their priority payments.

Keywords

Universal Creditthird party deductions
Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 33 - 43
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2020

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