Overlapping benefits
Legacy benefits
The term legacy benefits refers to benefits which are replaced by Universal Credit.
You may be entitled to a two week run of Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (IR ESA), Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support or Housing Benefit when you make a claim for UC.
If you are paid any entitlement for one of these benefits, out with the two week run on, during your first or subsequent assessment periods, this will be deducted in full from your UC to avoid duplication of entitlement.
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It will show on your statement as 'deduction for benefit you are continuing to claim'.
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This deduction is not a debt and will not fall under the rule of ordinary debts (25% of standard allowance limit).
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If you have any queries regarding the amount being deducted, you should speak to the benefit department that over paid you.
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If you live in exempt accommodation and therefore receive housing benefit for this reason, it will be ignored by UC.
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Any ongoing amount paid by tax credits will be handled by HMRC and if it found you have been overpaid once your claim is finalised, the amount owing will be passed to DWP Debt Management and dealt with as an 'ordinary debt'.
Other benefits taken fully into account
On Universal Credit, certain benefits are taken fully into account when calculating UC payments. This means that you may be paid a different benefit by another department but that amount is deducted off your UC £ for £.
As UC is paid monthly and most other benefits are paid on a weekly, two weekly or four weekly basis, the amount deducted from your payments will be converted to a monthly amount to ensure an accurate reflection.
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The system automatically scans the DWP computer system each month to establish what open claims you have for a benefit and what rate is allocated.
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If an amount is deducted for an overlapping benefit that you are not in receipt of, you should contact the relevant benefit department and ask them to extinguish your claim properly before contacting UC and asking them to do a search again.
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Partial months of overlapping benefit taken fully into account
If you start or end an overlapping benefit taken fully into account during a UC assessment period, only a relevant partial amount should be deducted. To establish the amount to be deducted, the system should work out the daily rate of overlapping benefit and multiply by the number of days of entitlement within your assessment period.
Other benefits and pensions which are ignored
Any payments of the following are ignored as income by UC and are here for reference.
The above will not cause a deduction to your UC payment.