DWP giving out 'refunds' to people who took out Hardship Payment from Universal Credit

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said that anyone who took out a Hardship Payment from Universal Credit in a certain timeframe could be due a refund. People can ask the DWP to review its decision that the payment must be repaid before the deadline on May 4, 2025.

In order to qualify for a review, you must have asked Universal Credit or DWP Debt Management to waive the repayment of a hardship payment, or reconsider the rate of recovery, between January 1, 2014 and January 11, 2021, and the DWP refused your request or refused to consider the request.

You will also need to demonstrate that either you could not afford to repay the hardship payment at that time, or it had a significant effect at the time on you or your family's health or wellbeing. The latter means that it caused a health condition or made a health condition worse, reports BirminghamLive.

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To apply, you need to fill in the application form by May 4, 2025, the DWP has said. You will need to provide evidence from the time you made the initial request, showing that you could not afford to repay your hardship payment, or the hardship payment affected your or your family’s health or wellbeing.

This might include financial information from the time, such as bank statements, information about loans, or letters from creditors or information from a doctor or other medical professional saying that repaying the money caused a health condition or made it worse. You will also need to provide information about your income and living costs at the time.

If you do not have all of this information, you can still submit an application. However, it will help your application if you can provide as much information as possible.

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