What is a change of circumstances?
A change of circumstances means a change to your personal or financial situation. This may affect your benefits entitlement.
The most common changes you need to tell DWP about include:
- the number of people who live in your home
- the income of anyone in your home
- your savings (including your partners)
- starting or finishing a course/further education
Who lives in your home
If you receive Universal Credit, you must tell DWP if:
- you are living together as a couple (see definition below)
- anyone moves into or out of your home
- you have responsibility for a child
- your child leaves home
- your child stops or restarts education or training, if they’re aged 16 to 19
- someone you live with dies
- you or your partner are going to be abroad (even a weekend break)
- your address changes
- there is a change in your health
- there is a change in your caring responsibilities
Definition of a couple
If you are living together as a couple, you and your partner will need to make a joint claim.
The Department for Work and Pensions counts two people as being in a couple if:
- you are married, civil partners or living together in a relationship even if your partner is away some of the time (for example working away)
- you support each other financially or contribute jointly towards the running of the household (for example like food, rent and bills)
- you sometimes live together and make decisions about your lives together
- you are considered to be living together even if you have more than one property (for example friends and family know you live as a couple)
If you are still unsure, contact the DWP via your Universal Credit account.
Example: Kim gets Universal Credit. She’s in a relationship with Frank. Frank has a job (PAYE). They decide to live together at the same address. Frank gives notice on his flat and takes his belongings to Kim’s house. They are now living together. Kim must not continue to claim Universal Credit as a single claimant as she is now living together with Frank, and must tell Universal Credit she is now living together with her partner.
Kim does this by signing into her Universal Credit account and selecting “Report a Change” then picking “Living with a partner” as the reason for the change.
If Kim wished to continue claiming Universal Credit she must make a joint claim for Universal Credit with Frank as soon as possible and request a join code. Frank and Kim must both use the join code to make a joint claim for Universal Credit because entitlement is calculated based on the total income and savings of the household, not just the person who originally claimed.
Example: Mike is away from home a lot because of his job. He lives with Jess who claims Universal Credit. Mike’s clothes are in their wardrobe and his toothbrush is in their bathroom. It’s important that Jess tells the DWP that Mike is living with her.
Example: Dave and Angie are living together and jointly claiming Universal Credit. But they have decided to separate. This means both Dave and Angie will need to update their joint claim to single claims.
Starting or finishing a course or further education
You need to tell DWP if you are claiming Universal Credit and someone in your home is either:
- starting a course or further education
- returning home, having finished a course or further education
This will help you avoid overpayments.
Your course provider may have other funding options to help you, such as student loans or grants.
Example: Priya has just finished university and is moving back home. Her father is claiming Universal Credit, so he will need to tell DWP about this change of circumstances.
Find out more about eligibility for Universal Credit whilst studying.
Your income or living costs if you are an employee
If you receive Universal Credit and have a job where you are paid directly by your employer through their payroll, you will not need to tell DWP if your earnings change. This is because most employers use Pay As You Earn (PAYE) as part of their payroll, which means that your earnings get reported in real time to DWP.
However, you must tell DWP if you, or anyone in your household has any income that is not paid directly through your employer’s payroll, e.g. contract work or working for yourself. This may include:
- your income
- your partner’s income
- anyone who contributes to your household expenses
You must also tell DWP if your living costs change, for example your rent increases or decreases.
Example: Dave gets Universal Credit and lives with his partner. He receives a pay rise but doesn’t need to tell DWP because he’s paid through his employer’s payroll. Six months later his partner, Susan, decides to take on some casual gardening work. Susan is paid cash-in-hand, but it does mean their household income has changed, so Dave now needs to report this as a change of circumstances.
Your income or living costs if you are working for yourself
You may be able to get Universal Credit if you work for yourself. We are likely to consider you as working for yourself if:
- you run a business, freelance or subcontract, setting your own prices to make a profit
- you decide how, when and where you work
- you’re responsible for paying your own tax and national insurance
- you own a company
- you are a director of a company
- you have significant control of a company
If you are considered working for yourself and claiming Universal Credit, you must report:
- earnings: how much you earned (including cash payments)
- expenses: payments into and out of your business e.g. premises, tools, equipment, travel, insurance. Expenses reported should not include personal expenses e.g. meals and non-business travel
- any money you paid into a pension
Tips for reporting income and expenses:
- Use a separate business bank account
- Check what you can and can’t report
- Keep records organised and up to date
- File receipts, bank statements and invoices
Find out more about expenses if you’re self-employed
DWP are checking Universal Credit claimant expenses, so do make sure these are accurate and up to date.
Reporting changes in circumstances
You’ll need to report any change in your circumstances, for example, if you:
- close your business or end self-employment
- start employed work as your main employment
- have a significant and continued reduction in self-employed hours or earnings
- have a significant and continued increase in self-employed hours or earnings
- have both employed and self-employed earnings
- have continued health issues that impact your ability to work
Example: Azeem gets Universal Credit and he’s self-employed. His income has dropped due to poor sales. He’s hopeful it will be sorted quickly but he still needs to make sure he reports his earnings accurately every month for the previous assessment period.
Example: Trevor is a taxi driver but he also uses the taxi as a family car. He needs to make sure he is only claiming petrol and expenses for when he is working.
Your money, savings and investments
If you receive Universal Credit, you must tell DWP if your money and savings change. We call this ‘capital’.
What we take into account
When we assess your entitlement to Universal Credit, we take into account money in your bank account, cash and savings. This includes either your own money, or money you have jointly with someone else. You must tell us about any increase or decrease in your money and savings.
The amount of money and savings you (and your partner) have can affect:
- whether you’re eligible for Universal Credit
- how much Universal Credit you receive
Having £16,000 or more makes you ineligible for Universal Credit.
All money, savings and investments you have in the UK and abroad are taken into account, including:
- any current accounts you have – including joint accounts
- if you are living with a partner, any combined money, savings and investments
- Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs)
- savings accounts – including bank and building society accounts, credit union accounts, Help to Save accounts, Post Office and National Savings and Investment (NS&I) accounts
- any property or investments you have – including properties, premium bonds, dividends, stocks and shares, cryptoassets or savings with investment firms
- pension income or lump sums
- any shared inheritance
You will also need to update your bank account details if you move to a different bank.
Example: Jane is on Universal Credit. A relative dies, leaving Jane an inheritance of £20,000. Jane needs to report this as a change of circumstances.
Example: Dom is claiming Universal Credit and had forgotten he has £1,300 in premium bonds. He needs to report these savings as a change of circumstances.
Universal Credit overpayment
If you think you have received too much money and have been overpaid, you’ll need to let us know so we can check. This is important because you’ll have to repay any money you owe. The more you’re overpaid the longer it could take to pay it back.
Claiming other benefits
Do you receive other benefits, such as Pension Credit, Carer’s Allowance or Personal Independent Payments (PIP)?
The content of the examples in this webpage is for illustrative purposes only.