Prison Leavers – UC Overview
The government has published handy tips for those supporting clients with Universal Credit before/ during and after being in prison.
These include- 'Going into prison:
Prisoners serving 13 weeks or less are able to continue to claim Housing Beneft through the local authority.
Those held in custody on remand are entitled to Housing Beneft for up to 52 weeks.
Before making the Universal Credit claim
A claim to Universal Credit cannot be made in advance of a prisoner’s release, however it is possible to start getting all the documentation and information needed to make a Universal Credit claim.
At around the 12-week stage prior to release we would encourage you to start the conversation about claiming benefts and encourage the prisoner to see the prison work coach.
Email address
An email address cannot be set up whilst the prisoner is in prison. If the prison leaver does not have an email
address, the prison work coach can tell them how to set one up once they’ve been released.
Address options
The Universal Credit claim does not start until the claim has been submitted. The prison leaver should make the online claim immediately or as soon as possible after their release as claims will not be back dated.
Prison work coach (based in prisons)
They’ll support the prisoner whilst they’re still in prison and as they’re approaching release, by:
helping the prison leaver retain their job – with permission, the prison work coach can contact the employer
and ask them to consider keeping the job open
checking which benefts the prison leaver may qualify for
checking that the prison leaver has the necessary ID and bank account and evidence, for example, tenancy
agreement and proof of housing costs to support their claim (they will refer the prisoner leaver to
partner prison organisations for help when they don’t have the information they need)
booking a telephone appointment with the jobcentre and explaining what to expect at the interview (that will
take place on the day of release or the earliest available date)
ensuring the prison leaver understands the importance of attending their interview telephone interview with
the jobcentre, including the availability of advance payments to support them on their release
An address is usually needed to make a claim. However, if the prison leaver does not have a permanent address on release, there are options available to them.
They can:
use a ‘care of address’, for example, the address of a family member or trusted friend use the hostel address where they’re staying
in exceptional circumstances use their local jobcentre address
They should be encouraged to speak to the resettlement team if they’ll be homeless on release.'