What Happens If You Miss A Universal Credit Appointment Due To Illness?

If you are concerned about what happens if you miss a Universal Credit appointment due to an illness, you will find the answer to your question in the following blog post. Here, we will discuss the steps to take if you think you will miss or have already missed an appointment with your work coach as well as review the possible consequences of missing out on Universal Credit appointments.

What Happens If You Miss A Universal Credit Appointment Due To Illness?

Nothing happens if you miss a Universal Credit appointment due to illness as long as you: 

• provide evidence of your illness to your work coach
• inform your work coach in advance
• schedule another day and time for your appointment
• do not miss your appointments on a regular basis

Having a health-related issue such as illness is one of the acceptable reasons for missing out on Universal Credit appointments. However, you will be required to provide evidence of your illness or even a doctor’s note to convince the DWP that this is a genuine reason for being unable to meet your work coach for a scheduled appointment.

The advisable way to go about this is to inform your work coach in advance that you will not be able to meet them for a scheduled appointment; the evidence can be provided later. If you are unable to inform them in advance, you should inform them at the earliest possible.

When you inform your work coach at the DWP of expecting to miss an appointment due to illness, it is suggested that you indicate a future date and time when you will be able to meet them. This exhibits a claimant’s commitment towards the tasks assigned to them regarding their Universal Credit claim.

It is important for Universal Credit claimants to keep in mind that missing out on their Universal Credit appointment once or twice in a few months may be excusable. However, if their absence from such scheduled appointments becomes regular and they are unable to provide evidence of their illness each time, they run the risk of having their Universal Credit payments reduced or even sanctioned in some cases.

How Do You Change Or Cancel A Universal Credit Appointment?

You can change or cancel a Universal Credit appointment by contacting Jobcentre Plus.

Claimants can choose either of the following ways to inform their local Jobcentre Plus office that they will not be able to attend a Universal Credit appointment:

• signing in to your online Universal Credit account
• calling the Jobcentre Plus office at 0800 169 0190 between Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 6 pm
• contacting the Jobcentre Plus office via Textphone at 0800 169 0314

Can You Get Additional Support If You Can’t Attend Universal Credit Appointments Due To A Long-Term Illness?

Yes, you can get additional support if you can’t attend Universal Credit appointments due to a long-term illness. Some of the potential real-life situations in which Universal Credit claimants can get additional support from the DWP include the following:

• Universal Credit claimants with a long-term illness who are unable to attend in-person interviews at their local Jobcentre Plus office can be scheduled for telephonic interviews.
• If their long-term illness prevents Universal Credit claimants from performing work-related tasks, the working hours in their Claimant Commitment can be reduced. In addition to this, they can also receive additional amounts on top of their standard allowance for Universal Credit.
• Universal Credit claimants suffering from a progressive disease that reduces their life expectancy can claim the benefit at a higher rate and also receive payments more quickly.

Conclusion:

The above discussion helps to conclude that as long as a Universal Credit claimant is able to provide medical evidence of their illness and reschedule their missed appointment due to an illness, they do not need to be concerned about any potential consequences such as their benefits payments being affected.

References:

Understanding Universal Credit – Sanctions

23 ACCEPTABLE REASONS FOR MISSING UNIVERSAL CREDIT APPOINTMENT | March 2023

Universal Credit if you have a health condition or disability | nidirect