How do I get back into my Universal Credit account?

The sign-in screen is narrower than people expect. The service at universal-credit.service.gov.uk asks for two things and two things only, a username and a password, and carries a 'Forgotten username' link and a 'Forgotten password' link beneath them. The page states that if you have forgotten your sign-in details it can send a reminder to your registered email address, and it tells you to get in touch if you no longer have access to that address. There is no security-question route, no route through your National Insurance number, and no way to prove who you are on the screen itself.

That makes the registered mailbox the single point of failure. Both links do the same thing — they post a reminder into the email account DWP has on file, which may be an address you set up years ago for the claim and have not opened since. Check the spam and junk folders before you decide the reminder has failed, and check any old address you might have used. If you can still get into that mailbox, the whole problem is solved in a few minutes and you never need to ring anyone.

If the mailbox is gone, the online route is closed and the helpline is the only way through. Universal Credit is on 0800 328 5644, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, with a Welsh-language line on 0800 328 1744, Relay UK on 18001 then 0800 328 5644 for people who cannot hear or speak on the phone, and a British Sign Language video relay service. Expect identity questions about the claim rather than about the account. GOV.UK also says that anyone who cannot use their online account can call the jobcentre or raise it with their work coach at the next appointment.

Make the same call do a second job. GOV.UK's guidance on managing a claim says you must complete everything in your to-do list as soon as possible, and that failing to do so can delay your payment or lead to a sanction. Being locked out is not an excuse the system recognises on its own, so ask the adviser to record on your journal the date you could not sign in, and to reschedule any appointment or to-do that falls while you are shut out. That note is what a decision maker looks at later if a payment is questioned.

Northern Ireland is a different department, not a different phone number. Universal Credit there is run by the Department for Communities rather than DWP, and nidirect points claimants to the Universal Credit Service Centre and to local Jobs and Benefits offices, which offer in-person help, access to digital devices for people without internet at home, and interpreter and sign language support. The Great Britain helpline will not be able to see a Northern Ireland claim, so start from the Service Centre contact details on nidirect instead. In Scotland and Wales the claim, the service and the helpline are the same as in England, with the Welsh-language line as the only difference.

If the online account is the problem rather than the password, say so. GOV.UK confirms you can claim Universal Credit by phone through the helpline if you cannot claim online, and DWP arranges home support visits for people with complex needs, a disability or nobody else to help — you cannot book one yourself, but you can ask for one when you ring the benefit's number. Citizens Advice runs Help to Claim for the early stages of a claim, on 0800 144 8 444 in England, 0800 023 2581 in Scotland and 08000 241 220 in Wales.