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Universal credit worked well while I was a carer for my mum, as soon as mum died and I notified them, within a couple of days they had booked a mandatory appointment with a big scary message that popped up on the screen about sanctions if I didn’t attend it, there was no thought about contacting me on the phone to try and arrange things around what was going on for me and the appointment landed right on the day of my mum‘s funeral (Online I see that I am not alone in this, there have been people seeing the scary message who have had funerals/ been going to see their dead father at the funeral home with a scary sanctions message about simultaneous appointment). Admittedly I know they didn’t know this in my case and I being a bit more assertive than most complained, and they then did give me a break for a few months to recover but as soon as I then went onto their system as a non-carer I had experiences like having to go to work appointments when I was supposed to be signed off, having a thoroughly intrusive financial review where I was repeatedly told that if I gave the wrong answers I could be prosecuted, whilst the person they had hired to carry this interview out with me did not speak English as a first language. So I had to keep asking them to repeat themselves over various financial terms I’d never heard of before that they didn’t pronounce correctly and they were getting irritable with me because of this, I don’t have hearing problems but feel very sorry for anyone having to go through this who do. All this meant because it was such a legally binding interview I had to double check what was being said to me to make sure I gave the right answers, I was very friendly with the person but I knew they were getting irritated but I couldn’t help it if I didn’t understand what they were saying. It’s not the persons fault but the people in the background that chose for them to be doing that interview must be utterly brain-dead - knowing full well that it is verbally legally binding and you can be prosecuted!! I did everything that was asked of me, but I went through a period later partly due to the bereavement, where I was having some very bad personal difficulties when I was trying to attend the restart appointments, the work coach was a nice chap, but there was some miscommunication and I didn’t think he was responding to genuine messages I was sending. I then asked universal credit to close the claim especially as my drs note was running out and I couldn’t face trying to communicate with dr as well in a high speed appointment over phone where dr is talking fast and trying to rush you off the phone as soon as possible. Finally I managed to get to speak to the work coach and had a good meeting, he recommended I keep my claim open (and it was still open at this point), I then sent a message through the journal -saying I have spoken to my work coach and after discussion he thinks I should keep the claim open, can you please do this. Three hours later somebody has come in, read the message which I have clearly sent and decided to close the claim anyway. To be honest I couldn’t care less, I have an interview coming up, but the fact that I have sent this additional message and have done everything that they have asked me during this whole period of time and been polite in discussions, and they treated me like this at a difficult time in my life is utterly despicable and and frankly an insult, especially as they know I don’t currently have a job. Thanks for that UC!!



I think the whole system is heavy-handed, punishment based and intrusive from what I have seen of it, and a friend had an awful experience 10 yrs ago who was living alone with no one else’s income at home, and she was made redundant at nearly 60, she didn’t apply for one job she felt was too far away and her advisor at the time then decided to chuck a hand grenade into her finances for a month with ‘sanctions’ and later the offer of a ‘hardship payment’ that would need to be paid back. This is to a nearly 60 year old made redundant. She then ended up working on the meat counter at a supermarket (and she was vegetarian) as she was so desperate to get off the benefit system. Expect from the current system design to be treated badly and for it to be stressful, even if not by the advisors themselves who actually were generally friendly.

Rubbish and useless workers that couldn’t care less about helping. The system only support lazy assess that want to live off benefits but if you work and work and need help during mat leave, then no help. Thanks to their incompetence i’ve lost financial support for my babies nursery! maybe i have to quit my job and live of benefits? is this what we have to do? I was entitled to 85% of the nursery fees but these useless workers never told me X invoice won’t be covered so i’ve been paying all by myself as a single mum; now can’t also get the tax free childcare because also thieves HMRC won’t allow til next review in 3 months so I don’t get any of the help i should be getting - GREAT! LETS GIVE OUR TAXES TO LAZY ONES AND F*** THE HARD WORKING PEOPLE!!

I was given an overpayment of £426 I
Informed universal credit straight away
On the same day as I received my usual payment they said to me I have to phone DWP DEPT DEPARTMENT to arrange a payment scheme so that I PAY THE MONEY BACK they gave me by mistake who the he'll these people think they are screw the government that's what I say

Fully dependent on benefits and disability. Went for an assessment on 6th may for IIDB. was told I would hear back In a couple of weeks. With no warning, notice or explanation my universal credit was suspended. When I contacted them to ask for a copy of my statement they said they haven't calculated as they are still waiting for a decision from IIDB. So they were going to leave me high and dry with no income to pay my bills because they themselves (DWP) hadn't communicated with another dept within DWP to confirm a decision that had intact been made they just didn't check. When I asked am I still due to receive a payment on the payment date they said they don't know. So I asked them what am I supposed to say to my landlord as I can't pay my rent? He just instantly said do not shout at me. I was talking and simply asked a question. I can see it's any excuse to not deal with customers when it's their error. He then went on to say if I checked my journal I will have been told. I asked him please check my journal and tell me where this notification is, because as far as I can see there wasn't any. He said I will check and tell you. Then said well anyway I should have known! IIDB said nothing about universal credit being affected.

How they have the cheek to stop actual working peoples money, whilst not able to do their own jobs is a joke. I'm a carer and had my money stopped cause I can't login as my numbers changed. Can't change number cause I can't login. Call up to have the code sent in email, they cant press send.
I wonder how many others are having their money stopped for no real reason?

Just got paid uc and £58.06 has been deducted from my payment due to the decrese of payment protection esa will stay the same and with no warning its been quite a shock im disabled how on earth are people supposed to survive because its happening to everyone that has been transfered 😠😠

I wouldn't even give them any star ratings if i had the option.

Terrible service. If you log a complaint about the bad work coach, it gets sent to them to deal with. Thats like owning an insurance company, insuring yourself then processing your own insurance claims, major conflict of interest there !!!

The majority of staff have no idea what they are doing. There workflow and processes are awful and if they were used in a proper business the business wouldn't last 2 months !!!

They’re a joke

How are they a job centre when they don’t actually help you look for work they expect you to just upload evidence of you applying for jobs?

How are they gonna say they’re there to help when they kept on asking me for the same documentation 3 times and I provided it twice already? All they kept doing was changing instructions every time I done what they said which made no sense now they’re saying if I don’t upload the same thing (with different instructions) they’re going to cancel my agreement.

I’d rather struggle by myself than think I have help from the government when really they don’t care at all, complied with everything since the start but now they’re just a joke.

If you genuinely think these guys will help they don’t care at all about none of us the country we live in is a joke and would rather see people suffer.

They don't do phone appointment anymore!

Today I was expecting a phone appointment from Universal Credit for a 10 minute check up appointment. When the day and time came I waited for them to ring but no one did.

Upon checking the details they changed my appointment, which was agreed over the phone 3 months ago that it would continue to be phone appointments whilst I was on 'NHS Silver cloud' service. It was changed to in our Jobcentre appointment after they discovered that they gave me a date which fell on a bank holiday, they also changed it to in person appointment which no one explained to me.

Now after panicking and thinking I needed to rush to them they replied to my Journal message saying that they do not do phone appointments any more but can do video or in person appointments instead.

So I have been forced, a disabled man with multiple disabilities (Cerebral Palsy, Dyspraxia and extreme anxiety), to opt for the video appointment!

Very poor customer communications not explaining before hand that they got rid of phone appointments via people who got them regularly to their journals before their next appointment.

Asked for a budget loan as repaid last one and said no but they can to the junkies/alcoholics great country to live in!!!!!!!

On the plus side, payments do tend to arrive, and the website is surprisingly usable — which already feels like a small miracle.

Unfortunately, that’s about where the praise ends. The system itself is bafflingly illogical and, at times, impressively inhumane. Despite what some might suggest, migrants are hardly the issue here. Even the maximum support doesn’t come close to covering the needs of someone in psychiatric care.

Monthly payments make budgeting unnecessarily awkward, and if anything goes wrong, you’re left waiting weeks — or longer — with little hope of it being properly addressed, let alone compensated.

Altogether, it feels less like a support system and more like an elaborate exercise in patience — one that’s thoroughly out of touch with modern reality.

One of the most stressful experiences of my life. Changing from ESA to UC has been nothing short of a disaster. Constant appointments when you already tell them everything, constant delays, jobs worths who don't seem to know or want to do their jobs. You have to do their jobs for them. Applying for joint account with my fiancé has been awfully done. Iain Duncan Smith is pure evil for imposing this.

I found Niel from Settles Street Jobcentre to be helpful, knowledgeable and very empathetic.

Rogue Landlord never does the jobs you pay them for. Only thing you have is do not pay the rent. Landlord rings up dwp then they stop it out of your UC and pay the rogue landlord. Dwp rob the poor give it to the rich! My heating is not working thank the dwp. Won 2 cases hmcts get my UC back and PIP back. Now a third, but how long, hmcts is swamped with complaints about dwp.

System is a joke, they say they’re there to help but only help if you don’t work then you get all the handouts. I’m left without a cooker because mine blew up, it’s a week before I get paid from work so I’m skint, I asked for an advance so I could get it fixed and cook for my kids, but was told I earned too much in SIX MONTHS for them to help so I’m left without a cooker because I work

I second what some of the other people have written. The system rewards lazy people who have never contributed. I worry to think what is going to happen over the next decade. Won't ever ask for help again, complete waste of time. This is a form of weaponised incompetence, where the parameters are set to keep you small and needy. I can see why the country is in a crisis.

Terrible service, i requested for help, you then called the police!!!! are you crazy!!!!

Not enough it's really horrible your given a grand for rent after you pay you have 300 left really shocked they assume anyone can live on 190 a month.

Five weeks too your put in arrears waste of tax payers money

Im only giving this a 3 star due to my recent phone call, otherwise it would of been 1 or none if that was possible. I have had so much trouble with UC lately, with payments, constantly asking to prove our bank statements, payslips, our I.D, phone appointments, overpaying us or just not paying us at all!! I can honestly say it has been an emotional rollercoaster. I rang up last week regarding a payment as we were receiving £0! Apparently 2 months of my wage have been joined together which made it look like I came out with alot more then normal! If I was earning so much I wouldn't be on UC! I have spoken to 3 people regarding this, no to mention 2 people on my journal and the lack of advise, help and support I received was shocking! Im not entitled to the advance loan, they told me to go to a food bank and that there is nothing they can do apart from take it case manager, oh by the way I have to wait 2 weeks to see if this can be resolved or not! The staff are not trained properly and are so disrespectful towards me and the situation. I spoke to a lady and a gentleman today who actually took the time to listen to me and spoke to me like I am a human and not just a number! There was nothing they could do, however they advised me what I could do and thats the kind of help and support I was after from the start! UC sort it out!!

Piece if sh*t people. I guess if i was a Muslim you didn't close my case.