Payment blocked as claimant reported Change of Circumstances he is no longer Self Employed

Hi

Client reported on 26/06 that he was no longer Self Employed as a Change of Circumstance
Gateway Appointment booked for 06/07 ( I presume to confirm he is no longer self employed)
Payment due on 02/07 not received, advised payment is blocked until he attends appointment

My understanding is that sadly this is permitted as a Gateway Appointment is a Mandatory Appointment, did not know they were booked when a person reports they are no longer Self Employed. Also seems unfair that due to the wait for the appointment this has impacted his payment.

Any comments or advice welcome.

Many Thanks

This type of change of circs generates what UC call a ” payment blocker ” on the UC Build. It creates a To Do for the Work Coach to complete when the new claimant commitment has been agreed and accepted on the client’s account. The payment blocker is generated automatically, it just needs to be cleared asap.

Thanks, I thought this was the case, the issue is the ywill not remove it until he has attend the appointment which is next week and his landlord is already saying he is going to start eviction process for non/late payment of rent.

If the client’s payment date is 2nd July, then his AP ran from 26th May - 25th June.

So if he only reported the change as happening on 26th June, then as the default is that changes are backdated to he start of the AP in which they are reported, the change happened in the AP 26th June - 25th July as it happened on 26th June, the day it was reported…

So why was his payment on 2nd July blocked when there was no change in the AP (26th May - 25th June) for which that payment related to?

This looks like a case of “computer says no” rather than actually following UC rules.

Complain?

bristol_1 - 08 July 2024 05:14 PM

Complain?

and raise it with the MP as it’s a clear “computer says no” issue