Date of claim when using Help to Claim service

Currently the DWP is only accepting the date of claim as the date that a person presses the green 'submit' button even though Regulation 10(1)(b) of the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 provides for the date of claim to be –

‘in the case of a claim made by means of an electronic communication in accordance with regulation 8(1), where the claimant receives assistance at home or at an appropriate office from the Secretary of State, or a person providing services to the Secretary of State, which is provided for the purpose of enabling that person to make a claim, the date of first notification of a need for such assistance;’

NAWRA has written to Amber Rudd challenging this view. The response states  that the Help to Claim 'personalised support helps to ensure that there is no need for a claimant to have their claim backdated to the point of contact, because instead they are able to access immediate support in a timely manner'.

NAWRA believes that Help to Claim is set up to support vulnerable people who are unable to make a claim on their own and, as such, the first date of contact with the service should be accepted as the date of claim. Accordingly we wish to collect evidence as to how long a person may have to wait between point of contact with Help to Claim and the point where they can submit the claim.

The more evidence we have the stronger our response to Amber Rudd can be so please take a few minutes of your time to complete this survey. You can complete it as someone who works for Help to Claim or someone who refers in to the service.