You’ll need to pay back a hardship payment once your sanction or fraud penalty has ended.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a hardship payment, you must meet all the following:

• you’ve been sanctioned and had your Universal Credit payment reduced at 100% of your standard allowance (50% or more if you’re in a couple)

• you’re aged 18 or over if your payment is reduced because of a sanction, or aged 16 or over if your payment is reduced because of a fraud penalty

• you’re struggling to meet your immediate basic essential needs, or those of a child or young person you’re responsible for

• you’ve looked into all possible alternative sources of support 

• you’ve taken all reasonable action to reduce non-essential costs

Immediate basic essential needs are:

• food
• heating
• hygiene
• housing costs not provided by Universal Credit

To apply for a hardship payment, you must be able to prove you cannot meet these needs.

A sanctioned single claimant or both members of a sanctioned couple must have met: 

• all their work-related requirements in the 7 days before they apply for the hardship payment 

• the ‘compliance condition’ for any ‘low-level’ sanction – what they were asked to do to end a sanction with no end date

You can apply if your latest payment was reduced at 100% (or 50% or more for a couple) of your standard allowance for only part of your last assessment period. 

For example, if your last payment was only reduced for 20 days, rather than for a whole month, you can still apply for a hardship payment at the point you cannot meet your immediate basic essential needs.   

When you cannot get a hardship payment

You cannot usually get a hardship payment if you are simply short of money or need to pay for an urgent expense. 

You are not eligible for a hardship payment if your Universal Credit is sanctioned at the lower rate. The lower rate is 40% of your daily standard allowance, or 20% of your daily standard allowance if you’re in a couple.

How much you could get 

We work out a daily rate for your hardship payment. This is 60% of the amount of your sanction. The amount of hardship payment you can get is the daily rate multiplied by the number of days the sanction lasts. 

You can only get one hardship payment in each assessment period.

When to apply 

You can only apply once you’ve received a Universal Credit payment for less than you would normally because of a sanction or penalty.  

A separate application must be made for each assessment period you receive a reduced payment, or no payment, and are still in hardship.

If your next Universal Credit payment is due in 7 days or less

You can increase the number of days you can get a hardship payment for if your next Universal Credit payment is due in 7 days or less. It can be extended to whichever of these is the earliest date:  

• the day before payment for the following month is due 

• when the sanction or penalty ends

How to apply 

To apply, you can: 

• ask your Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre – your ‘work coach’ 

• use your online journal 

• contact the Universal Credit helpline 

During the application process, you’ll need to tell us:  

• what you’ve done to find other sources of money 

• what other income or savings you might have to help pay your costs 

• what you’ve done to reduce your non-essential costs 

• which living costs you’re unable to meet 

If you’re in a couple, both of you must:  

• agree to accept the offer of a hardship payment 

• accept that the hardship payment is repayable

When you’ll get your payment 

If your application is accepted, hardship payments are usually paid directly into your bank account on the same day. 

Repaying hardship payments

You’ll need to pay back a hardship payment once your sanction or fraud penalty has ended. 

Your Universal Credit payment will be automatically reduced by up to 25% of your standard allowance until you repay the hardship payment. The standard allowance is the basic amount of Universal Credit you get, not including extra amounts for things like housing. 

Repaying if you no longer claim Universal Credit 

If you’re no longer claiming Universal Credit, DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) Debt Management will be in touch to discuss repaying it at an affordable rate. 

Struggling to repay a hardship payment 

If you cannot afford your hardship payment deductions, you can call DWP Debt Management to discuss your options.  

Call DWP Debt Management to talk about your options: 

DWP Debt Management
Telephone: 0800 916 0647 
Textphone: 0800 916 0651
NGT text relay – if you cannot hear or speak on the phone: 18001 then 0800 916 0647
Calling from abroad: +44 (0)161 904 1233
Monday to Friday, 8am to 7.30pm
Find out about call charges 

Other financial help 

If you’re not eligible for a hardship payment, you may be able to get a Budgeting Advance or other financial help and support.