The Department of Work and Pensions has made many changes to the Universal Credit and PIP payments, making the regulations stricter than before to reduce fraud and ensure only the person in need receives the benefit.
Some of the major changes include DWP’s power to check the recipient’s bank accounts to see if their savings are under the limit to ensure only eligible people get the credit. With stricter regulations, UK citizens who wish to receive these benefits look for loopholes.
According to reports, there are some gaps in the Universal Credit system that people can use and get the credit benefit. The UK people can get the Universal Credit when they need help with the cost of living and have a low income due to being unable to work, unemployment, or working.
| Benefit | Universal Credit |
| Rate boost by | 1.7% |
| Changes | DWP power to check a bank account, Hiked allowance for 2025/26, which will remain frozen till 2029/30UC health element changes |
| Loopholes | Childcare costs, disability or child responsibility, advance payments, budgeting advance, and others |
| Who qualifies? | UK residents who need support and are aged 18 or above and have savings of £16,000 |
| Maxi. Payout | Up to £628.10 depending on the circumstances |
| Official Website | https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility |
Loopholes for Universal Credit
With stricter rules of Universal Credit, the experts suggest the following loopholes that may help you gain Universal Credit and receive support from the government:
- The DWP has set the rules where your earnings may affect your Universal Credit payments, meaning if your earning goes up, your credit will be reduced, or it can go up again when your earning reduces. As per the rules, for every dollar earned above the threshold, you will lose 55p of your payment. The recipients who have disability or child responsibility and claim housing benefit can get the credit without reducing their payment.
- The UK people who need more support can apply for the advance payment after one month of their application, but remember that the payment will be deducted from your other UC payments.
- Your UC may pay for your child’s daycare if you have one and are responsible for paying for it. The credit can cover 85% of your childcare costs if you can’t take care of the children while you or your partner is working.
- Under the UC, you may be eligible for a loan when you need it for special circumstances, which is called a budgeting advance, where you borrow money up to £100. The recipients can face a reduction in their next UC until the borrowed money is paid off.
- You may be eligible to receive the household support fund from your local council, which could help you with the cost of living.
- The local councils offer council tax reduction for low-income earners with savings below £16,000, which allows them to get a reduced council tax rate.
- If your earnings exceed the National Living wage after National Insurance contributions and taxes, the authority will determine your UC on your actual income; however, if you earn below the threshold, the authority will determine your credit based on the minimum income cap.
Changes in Universal Credit
The DWP has announced the changes in the Universal Credit from 07 April 2025 in England, Wales, and Scotland, such as:
- As the HMRC tax credit system will stop from April 2025, all the claimants have now been migrated to the Universal Credit.
- To mitigate the fraud in the Universal Credit, the DWP can now check the bank accounts of the UC recipients to check if the savings are under the threshold and has the power to reduce the payment accordingly.
- Beginning in April 2026, the UC’s standard allowance will increase above the rate of inflation for both new and current claimants. According to the government estimate, individuals can expect the value of £91 a week in 2025-26.
- The UC health element for people who can’t work due to disability or critical sickness will also change from April 2026, like the rate of £97 per week will remain the same till 2029-30, whereas if you make a new claim, you may receive £50 per week until 2029-30.
UC Eligibility Criteria
The DWP has set the following eligibility conditions for UK people to receive Universal Credit payments:
- Applicants must be earning low and need support to manage their living expenses, because they are unemployed, can’t work due to disability or illness, or are working but not earning enough.
- You must be living in the UK, come under State Pension age, and your age is 18 or above. However, people aged 16 or 17 can also receive the support, under certain conditions, such as disability, caring for someone with health issues or disability, being responsible for a child, and others.
- You must have only £16,000 or below in savings, money, and investments in your account to get the UC payments.
Universal Credit Payout
The DWP has increased many benefits, and the state pension from April 2025, the UC payments will also be increased by 1.7% from this month. Under the UC benefit, the DWP pays a payout depending on the standard allowance you qualify for, your earnings, an additional amount, or factors that can reduce your payment.
Based on April 2025, the UC recipients can check the monthly payout based on the benefit they qualify for below:
- Standard allowance:
| Family Situation | Monthly allowance |
| Single and aged under 25 | £316.98 |
| Single and aged 25 or above | £400.14 |
| Couples where both are under 25 years of age | £497.55 |
| Couples where one of them is 25 or over | £628.10 |
- Additional amounts:
- If you have children living with you who are dependent on you, you may receive the extra money for the firstborn and second child, unless with some exceptions.
- If your child has a disability or illness, you may receive extra cash for the child up to £158.76 for lower rate disability, or £495.87 for higher rate disability.
- If you have an illness or disability, you can get extra help from the DWP, up to £432.27 (for incapability to work) or £158.76 (under UC health element or receive ESA before 03 April 2017).
- If you have a child enrolled in daycare, you can get up to £1031.88 (85% of the childcare costs) from UC.
- If you care for someone for more than 35 hours a week, and the person you care for receives some governmental benefit, you may be eligible for at least £201.68 additional payment with UC.
The Universal Credit eligibility and assessment is becoming stricter than before, so UK residents who wish to receive the benefit should check their benefits each month to see how much they have received.