If you haven’t done one of the activities in your claimant commitment, you could be sanctioned. This means your Universal Credit payments will be temporarily reduced.
If you’re struggling with money because of the sanction, you can:
- apply for a hardship payment to get emergency money for things like food and bills
- see what other help or benefits you could get – your nearest Citizens Advice can help with this
You can ask for the DWP to rethink their decision if you think you’ve been sanctioned unfairly. This is called ‘mandatory reconsideration’ – the contact details will be on the letter sent to you about your sanction.
You’ll need to tell them why you think the sanction was wrong. You can prepare by:
Your nearest Citizens Advice can help you.
You’ll get a letter telling you about your decision – it may be changed or you may get an explanation of why the sanction is upheld.
The letter will tell you how you can appeal to a tribunal if you’re still unhappy with the decision.