If you’re applying for Universal Credit (UC) you will need to create an online account on NI Direct. Once you have created your account you must send your claim within 28 days, if you try after 28 days you will need to create a new account.
You will need to fill in the online form. It’s important that you complete the form as fully as possible, answering all of the relevant questions. We will use the information you provide on the form to decide if you need to come in for a face-to-face assessment or not.
You can use the account you’ve made to find information about your claim and contact Universal Credit.
If you need help filling in the form you can contact UC through your online account or speak to a member of the team in your local Jobs and Benefits office or phone 0800 012 1331 (text phone: 0800 012 1441) Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 4.00 pm (excluding public holidays).
Appointment arrangements
We will send a letter with your assessment date. Your appointment letter will have a contact number and information about the assessment.
Please read this letter before your assessment.
If you need help before your assessment, call our Customer Enquiries team on 0800 072 0398. You can call us about specific requirements, interpreters, an authorised companion, audio recording requests, and more. The Customer Enquiries line is open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm.
What happens with your support before your assessment
Whilst you are waiting for your assessment to be completed you will receive the standard rate of Universal Credit and will need to continue attending the Jobs and benefits office as agreed with your Work Coach. You can find more information about Universal Credit on the DfC website.
Interpreters
Please let us know at least two days before your assessment if you need an interpreter for your assessment. This will help to make sure that we can have an interpreter available for you. This includes ISL or BSL users.
Further evidence
We also need to see any medical evidence or other information you might already have, such as reports, care or treatment plans about you from GPs, hospital doctors, specialist nurses, community psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, support workers, learning disability support team, counsellors or carers.
You may be asked for details of the professionals or carers who know the most about your health conditions, illnesses and disabilities.
Remember – only send us copies of medical or other information if you already have them. Don’t ask or pay for new information or send us original documents. Please write your National Insurance number on each piece of information you send to us.
If you haven’t yet received a UC50 form, it might be easier for you if you start to gather some of your medical information in advance. This form allows us to decide if you will need a face-to-face assessment.
The Department for Communities may not be able to continue to pay you benefits if we don’t receive this form in time.
If you cannot return the form in time, let us know as soon as possible. There is also a box that allows you to explain why your form was late. If you have any concerns at all about the form, it’s important that you contact us as soon as you can or ask a representative to contact us.
The consultation
The healthcare professional will introduce themselves and explain the consultation to you. They will record information on a computer. Some questions may not relate directly to your medical condition, but to daily activities.
The consultation questions may include:
• When your illness or disability started
• How your condition changes from day-to-day
• How it affects your daily life
• How it affects your mood and the way you behave
• How you cope with things from day-to-day
The healthcare professional will record information about your pain, fatigue, and the medication you take.
The healthcare professional
Our healthcare professionals are doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists registered with their governing body. They go through a specifically designed training course, approved by DfC on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Companion or chaperone during your consultation
You are welcome to bring a relative, carer or friend with you. Although the consultation will focus on you, a companion can offer useful support to you.
Taking notes
You or your companion are welcome to take notes for your personal use. Your notes will not form part of the medical report that we send to the DfC.
Length of consultation
There is no set time for consultations, but they are usually between 20 minutes and 1 hour.
After your assessment our healthcare professional completes a report using criteria laid out by the Department for Communities (DfC). This is to provide the DfC decision maker with an impartial, justified medical opinion about how you are affected by your medical condition.
The assessment report will describe your medical conditions and the activities you undertake in a typical day. It will also have the healthcare professional’s observations, and the results of any physical examination undertaken.
The report is one piece of information DfC uses in deciding your entitlement. The healthcare professional who carries out your assessment does not make any decision about your allowance, benefit or credits, and will not know the outcome of your claim.
You may request a copy of the full report from the DfC office handling your claim.
Decisions on claims
DfC makes decisions on claims and will let you know of the outcome of your claim. Please direct any questions or concerns about the outcome to the DfC office handling your claim. They will know what information they have used to decide your entitlement. The Health Assessment Advisory Service will not be aware of this. We have no decision-making role.
Further information
If If you have questions, contact the DfC office handling your claim. The office number will be on letters you have received about your claim.
For Universal Credit speak to a member of the team in your local Jobs and Benefits office or phone 0800 012 1331 (text phone: 0800 012 1441).
