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The ‘Verify’ system is letting down UC claimants and needs to change

The system to verify claimants’ identities to qualify for emergency support under Universal Credit is letting claimants down and is in urgent need of reform, writes Will Atkinson

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The ‘Verify’ system is letting down UC claimants and needs to change, argues Will Atkinson of @CHCymru #ukhousing

Will Atkinson of @CHCymru writes about the flaws in the official system for verifying the identity of Universal Credit claimants #ukhousing

“Chances are you also have a passport, driving license or other form of official ID. This is not the case for many claimants, for whom paying £34 for a license is often not an option.” Will Atkinson of @CHCymru writes about Universal Credit #ukhousing

Ever since the first Universal Credit (UC) pilots in 2013, the focus of campaigners and policymakers alike has been the initial waiting period.

The length of time that new or ‘migrating’ claimants must wait between making their claim and receiving their first payment has since decreased to five weeks, and a new ‘advance’ system has been put in place to bridge the gap between claim and payment.

This intervention has been hailed as a solution to the initial wait, but food bank use continued to climb at a significantly higher pace in 2018, with a 52% increase in areas with UC, compared with 13% where only legacy benefits were available.

The reasons for increasing food bank use cannot be laid squarely at the door of Universal Credit. However, it is clear that a significant gap in income, as a result of the five-week wait, can lead to families making choices between heating and eating.


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The Autumn Budget 2017 announced an increase in advance payments so that claimants could immediately borrow up to 100% of their first payment, and increased the period over which this loan must be repaid from six to 12 months.

On the face of it, this seems like a solution for new claimants with no savings, who are facing a wait of more than a month for any income.

In reality, it is not that simple.

First, the advance payment is a loan, and can be recovered at rates of up to 15% of a monthly payment (or 25% if the claimant is in work).

Although the loan is interest free, an understandable aversion to credit leads to many claimants choosing to struggle on, rather than taking up an advance.

“On the face of it, this seems like a solution for new claimants with no savings, who are facing a wait of more than a month for any income. In reality, it is not that simple”

Second, and crucially for people in financial crisis, the advance payment can only be made once a claimant has verified their identity, as part of the UC claim process.

The intention of the Department for Work and Pensions is that verification is achieved online, allowing an advance payment to be made in the days immediately following a claimant going online to claim UC.

Issues with the payment being a loan aside, this would provide claimants with financial support days into their claim.

This would be the case, if it were not for the online identity verification system itself.

UC, like many other UK government departments, uses the Verify system to ascertain someone’s identity so they can access government services online.

“Chances are you also have a passport, driving license or other form of official identification accepted by the Verify system. This is not the case for many UC claimants, for whom paying £34 for a license is often not an option”

If you have altered your driving license, claimed a tax refund or claimed your state pension online, you will have encountered the Verify system.

Chances are you also have a passport, driving license or other form of official identification accepted by the Verify system. This is not the case for many UC claimants, for whom paying £34 for a license is often not an option.

This has led to only 38% of UC claimants successfully verifying their identity online (of the 70% of claimants who attempt to sign up through Verify), according to a recent National Audit Office (NAO) report.

This leaves the majority of claimants waiting until their first appointment at Jobcentre Plus to be able to prove their identity, and to access an advance payment if they need to.

Emergency appointments are available, but at busy times can take weeks, sometimes close to a month, to secure.

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This leaves claimants who are unable to verify online unable to access an advance payment, and driven further towards food banks and other crisis services.

The recent NAO report into Verify heavily criticised the service for behind schedule roll-out, and failing to deliver the service and savings initially promised.

“This leaves claimants who are unable to verify online unable to access an advance payment, and driven further towards food banks and other crisis services”

Only 48% of users attempting to use Verify are successful.

As mentioned previously, there was a lower rate for UC claimants, further signalling the system’s poor suitability for people on low incomes.

The moving of legacy benefit claimants on to UC, due to begin with a small pilot in July 2019, could eventually lead to up to 100,000 people in Wales alone claiming UC per year in 2021-2023.

This will place a massive strain on the system, with the majority of claimants unable to access immediate advance payments.

The simplest way to alleviate some of this pressure is to improve the Verify system, to allow for a wider range of identification to be accepted, particularly those already likely to be in the possession of people with low incomes.

Will Atkinson, policy and programmes manager, Community Housing Cymru

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