Quote Originally Posted by Heisenberg View Post
....And those who are rejected for a variety of reasons. The 'advanced payment' is also a relatively new introduction due to the massive backlash.

The wait for your first payment is just one of the multiple examples of why UC is driving people into poverty as well as causing numerous other issues. One of my clients recently had her claim suspended as they thought her husband was living at the property - despite him moving out 20 years ago. She almost lost her home (it's still in the balance as the error hasn't been fully resolved yet) as housing benefit is part of UC.

I see first hand every day what the impact of austerity has had on society and the poverty it is causing. People are starving and losing their homes - but there are more people using foodbanks now because there are more foodbanks and people love a freebie, right?
There's always been those whose claims are rejected, or under scrutiny, or failed because of a system error, etc, because it's a gigantic bureaucracy and was that way before the advent of Universal Credit. The case you touched upon is indicative of one of the most common doubts when people are suspected of being shacked-up together while claiming separately, invariably from different households, instead of as a couple at the same address. From reading forums it's often due to someone moving out but continues to have some correspondence delivered to their former abode. You likely know .gov has something known as the General Matching Service that collate a vast amount of data.