Can I get a hardship payment if I've been sanctioned?
Short answer
Usually yes, but it is a loan and it is never automatic — you have to apply. Ask through your Universal Credit journal, your work coach, or on 0800 328 5644, and show you cannot afford food, heating, hygiene or rent, that you have cut non-essential spending and looked elsewhere for help. DWP recovers it from later payments.
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A recoverable hardship payment is what DWP calls the money it can pay when Universal Credit is stopped or reduced by a sanction or a fraud penalty. GOV.UK says it is meant for food, heating, hygiene and some housing costs not covered by Universal Credit, and that you must pay it back through future payments. Nothing arrives because a sanction has been applied. The application is a separate act, and DWP guidance lists three ways to make it: through your journal, through your work coach or local jobcentre contact, or on 0800 328 5644, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm.
The conditions sit in regulation 116 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013, which requires the Secretary of State to be satisfied on a list of points before paying. The claimant whose failure caused the reduction must be 18 or over. You must be in hardship, which regulation 116(2) defines as being unable to meet your immediate and most basic and essential needs — accommodation, heating, food and hygiene — because of the reduction. And you must have made every effort both to access alternative sources of support and to stop spending on anything that does not relate to those needs. GOV.UK adds that a sanctioned claimant needs to have been sanctioned at 100 per cent, or 50 per cent or more where you are a couple.
Two conditions catch people out. DWP guidance says a sanctioned applicant must also have completed their work-related requirements in the seven days before applying, along with any compliance condition attached to the sanction — so resuming the thing you were sanctioned for not doing is part of qualifying, not just part of ending the sanction. And on a joint claim, both partners must agree to the payment. You will be asked to evidence the need, so keep bank statements, arrears letters, and a note of what you have already cut and who else you have asked for help.
The amount is not a flat sum, and the payment does not run indefinitely. Regulation 118 sets a daily figure calculated from the reduction applied to your award in the assessment period before the one you apply in, so it is a proportion of what was taken rather than a replacement for it. Regulation 117 runs the payment period from the date all the conditions are met to the day before the normal payment date for that assessment period, rolling into the following one where that leaves seven days or fewer. A sanction spanning several assessment periods therefore means going back and asking again. GOV.UK says an approved payment usually reaches your bank account the same day.
Repayment starts once the sanction or penalty ends. GOV.UK's guidance on deductions says the most normally taken from a payment to repay a debt is 15 per cent of your Universal Credit standard allowance, that hardship payments are one of the recoverable debts in that queue, and that you can ask for a financial hardship decision to reduce the rate if you are struggling. Regulation 119 contains an escape almost nobody uses: the payment stops being recoverable once you have had monthly earnings equivalent to 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage for a total of at least six months. Ask for a mandatory reconsideration of the sanction itself within one month, in parallel — the two run independently.
The scheme is the same in England, Scotland and Wales, and the councils and devolved governments run separate crisis funds alongside it. In Scotland, the Scottish Welfare Fund offers Crisis Grants, which mygov.scot describes as grants rather than loans, administered by your local council and applied for through the council rather than the Scottish Government. In Northern Ireland, Universal Credit is run by the Department for Communities and the crisis scheme is Discretionary Support, delivered by the Finance Support Service on 0800 587 2750, which nidirect says can be an interest-free loan or a grant you do not repay depending on your circumstances, subject to a published household income ceiling. In England there is no national equivalent — local welfare assistance is at each council's discretion.
- Hardship payments are loans, recovered from later Universal Credit payments
- You must apply — journal, work coach or 0800 328 5644 — nothing is automatic
- You must be 18 or over and unable to meet basic food, heating, hygiene or housing needs
- You must have completed your work-related requirements in the previous 7 days
- Recovery is normally capped at 15 per cent of the standard allowance, and can be reduced
- Scotland has Crisis Grants and Northern Ireland has Discretionary Support alongside it
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Sources & provenance
Facts verified
- 1.Universal Credit advance or hardship payment: if your payments have been stopped or reduced OfficialDepartment for Work and PensionsUsed for: That the payment is recoverable and covers food, heating, hygiene and some housing costs, the requirement to have reduced non-essential costs and looked into other support, the 100 per cent (or 50 per cent or more for a couple) sanction threshold, the evidence asked for, and the three application routes
- 2.Universal Credit Recoverable Hardship Payments (RHPs) OfficialDepartment for Work and PensionsUsed for: The application routes through the jobcentre, work coach, journal or helpline, the requirement to have completed work-related requirements in the seven days before applying, both partners on a joint claim having to agree, same-day payment on approval, and automatic recovery at up to 15 per cent of the standard allowance once the sanction ends
- 3.Universal Credit sanctions OfficialDepartment for Work and PensionsUsed for: The sanction levels and durations, that the reduction applies to the standard allowance, what counts as good reason, and that a sanction decision can be challenged by mandatory reconsideration
- 4.The Universal Credit Regulations 2013, Part 8 Chapter 3 — hardship payments Legislationlegislation.gov.ukUsed for: Regulation 116's conditions, including the claimant being aged 18 or over, the definition of hardship as being unable to meet immediate and most basic and essential needs for accommodation, heating, food or hygiene, and having made every effort to access alternative support and cease non-essential expenditure; regulation 117's payment period running to the day before the normal payment date; and regulation 119 on recoverability ceasing after six months of earnings equivalent to 16 hours a week at the minimum wage
- 5.The Universal Credit Regulations 2013, regulation 118 Legislationlegislation.gov.ukUsed for: That the daily hardship amount is derived by formula from the reduction calculated under regulation 110 for the assessment period preceding the one in which the application is made
- 6.Find out about money taken off your Universal Credit payment OfficialDepartment for Work and PensionsUsed for: That normally the most that can be taken from a payment to repay a debt is 15 per cent of the standard allowance, that a recoverable hardship payment is one of those debts, and that you can ask for a financial hardship decision to reduce the rate
- 7.Challenge a benefit decision (mandatory reconsideration) OfficialDepartment for Work and PensionsUsed for: The one-month time limit for asking DWP to look at a decision again, that late requests are possible for reasons such as illness or bereavement, and the onward appeal to a tribunal
- 8.Scottish Welfare Fund OfficialScottish GovernmentUsed for: That Crisis Grants are grants rather than loans, are administered by local councils rather than the Scottish Government, and are open to people aged 16 or over on a low income or receiving certain benefits
- 9.Discretionary Support Officialnidirect (Northern Ireland Executive)Used for: That Northern Ireland's Discretionary Support is run by the Finance Support Service for the Department for Communities, can be an interest-free loan or a non-repayable grant depending on circumstances, is subject to an annual household income ceiling, and is reached on 0800 587 2750
The eligibility conditions, the seven-day compliance rule, the joint-claim agreement, the application routes, same-day payment and the 15 per cent recovery cap are taken from the DWP guidance pages cited; the age, hardship and 'every effort' tests, the payment period, the calculation basis and the earnings escape from recovery come from regulations 116 to 119 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 on legislation.gov.uk; the Scottish and Northern Irish crisis schemes come from mygov.scot and nidirect. The advice to run the hardship application and the mandatory reconsideration in parallel, and the observation that resuming the requirement you were sanctioned for is part of qualifying rather than only part of ending the sanction, are our reasoning rather than DWP wording. Deduction percentages, sanction durations, income ceilings and the devolved crisis schemes change — confirm with DWP, your local council or the Finance Support Service before relying on them.
Facts on this page are taken from the sources listed above — UK government departments, devolved administrations, regulators, statutory bodies and official statistical releases. Comparisons, judgements and "which option suits whom" conclusions are AI-assisted analysis written over those sources; they are marked in the text and listed as an AI-analysis entry in the sources, not attributed to any authority. Rates, thresholds, fees and processing times change, usually at the start of a tax year in April; figures are current as at the review date shown and should be confirmed with the responsible body before you rely on them. Much of what follows differs between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — where it does, this site says so.