Third party deductions
Third party deductions is when money is taken off your Universal Credit for another service and is not money owed to DWP. DWP have been given responsibly for collecting the money and passing it over.
Usually you would already be aware that this money is owed and deductions from your Universal Credit is considered 'last resort'.
Rent/service charges arrears
If your landlord informs UC that you have rent/service charges arrears then an amount can be deducted per month from your ongoing UC payment until your balance is cleared. This is to prevent eviction.
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UC will always deduct 20% of your standard allowance unless you are already paying back 25% of your standard allowance to advances and 'ordinary debts' or if you inform UC of financial hardship. The lower amount is 10% of your standard allowance. They will never take lower than this amount.
Any queries regarding rent arrears should be directed to your Landlord.
Council tax arrears
Council tax is not part of UC and any reduction or discount should be applied for with your Local Authority. If your Local Authority informs UC that you have defaulted your account and have arrears, UC can recover an amount off of your ongoing payments.
Council tax arrears cannot be deducted if you are already having 25% of your standard allowance deducted for advances and 'ordinary debts' as these have a higher priority.
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Any queries regarding council tax arrears should be directed to your Local Authority.
Court fines
The court can order that money is deducted off your UC payments if you have non-payment of a fine. Usually this happens when the person is unaware that there was a fine. Until recently £108.35 could be deducted per month. As of May 2021, the maximum amount that can be taken is 5% of standard allowance.
Court fines cannot be deducted if you are already having 25% of your standard allowance deducted for advances and 'ordinary debts' as these have a higher priority.
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Any queries regarding court fines should be directed to your local court.
Gas, electric and water arrears
If you owe money to your current utilities supplier, they can request that an amount is deducted off your ongoing UC payments for normal usage amount and arrears. This is to prevent disconnection of service.
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The amount allocated for normal usage is set by your supplier and cannot be more that 25% of your standard allowance and child element, unless you agree in advance.
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Any queries regarding utility arrears should be directed to your supplier.
Child maintenance
Child maintenance can be deducted off your UC payment if you are the non-resident parent and you have no earned income. It can only be taken if Child Maintenance Service request the payment direct from your benefit.
Child maintenance cannot be deducted if you are already having 25% of your standard allowance deducted for advances and 'ordinary debts' as these have a higher priority.
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Child maintenance can only be collected at a set rate of £36.40 per month.
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Any queries regarding child maintenance should be directed to Child Maintenance Service.