No more waiting on the 5 week wait

This autumn, the government has the chance to take action on one of Universal Credit’s longest-standing problems: “the 5 week wait”.

In last year’s budget, the government announced the Fair Repayment Rate, which reduced the maximum amount that can be deducted from someone’s Universal Credit (UC) to repay debts. This change brought a welcome income boost for many UC households, but didn’t tackle the prevalence of deductions or a key root cause: the 5 weeks new claimants usually have to wait to receive their first UC payment.

How the 5 week wait causes ongoing hardship

It’s no surprise that people claiming UC are unlikely to be able to get through over a month with little or no income while waiting to receive their first payment. The result is hundreds of thousands of households having to take out “new claim advances”, loans from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to bridge this waiting period.

Meeting your essential needs during the 5 week wait can therefore come at the cost of starting your UC journey in debt to the DWP, and having your future UC income reduced by deductions to repay this debt.

By definition, these deductions are bringing people’s UC income below the amount they’re assessed as needing. There is a strong link between deductions and signs of serious hardship: 69% of those we helped with advance loan deductions this year also needed a foodbank referral.

Alara’s Story

After Alara’s* husband suddenly passed away, she had to move into temporary accommodation with her teenage daughter. Alara spoke to one of our frontline advisers when she needed to access a foodbank, because she’s been struggling to provide for herself and her daughter on her low UC income.

Her UC income is being reduced by deductions for an advance payment and a previous benefit overpayment. Alara has recently found a new job, but isn’t starting work for another 2 weeks, and is worried about how she’ll manage to afford her commute.

A huge problem — which affects over half a million children

The scale and impact of the 5 week wait and advance loan deductions is considerable. In the past 5 years, nearly 36,000 people have come to us for help with deductions for new claim advance loans. According to the latest available data, obtained by Citizens Advice via a Freedom of Information Request, over 800,000 UC households across Britain had deductions for new claim advance loans in February 2025–13% of all households on UC.

We also know that the consequences of the 5 week wait are shaping the financial circumstances many children grow up in. According to data from the same Freedom of Information request, more than half a million children are living in households with new claim advance loan deductions.

Between March 2024 and February 2025, DWP deducted £143m from UC households with children to repay these loans. Now the Fair Repayment Rate is in effect, the equivalent total next year is likely to be lower. But this doesn’t change the fact that these households still have to repay the debt to DWP they incurred because of the 5 week wait, even if at a slower rate.

Gemma’s Story

Gemma* is a single parent to three children between the ages of 2 and 6, one of whom is currently recovering from an operation. Gemma is struggling to meet her and her children’s essential needs with the money she receives from UC, partly because her UC payments are reduced each month by a £60 deduction for an advance loan, and £30 for a previous benefit overpayment.

Gemma wasn’t aware she could ask DWP to reduce the unaffordable level of her deductions, until she came to her local Citizens Advice for support.

How to shift the dial on advance loan deductions

There’s clear evidence — both from new national data and our frontline — that the debts to DWP, caused by the 5 week wait, are troublingly widespread.

The 2025 budget needs to finally address this issue, and the government has a number of options available.

For the people we support, replacing new claim loans with grants would be the best option: easing the hardship of the 5 week wait, without paying the price through ongoing deductions.

Alternatively, DWP could reform the timing of the first UC payment, paying claimants at least some of their entitlement after 1–3 weeks. Some people might be able to stretch any money they already have (eg from work or savings) over this shorter gap in income, reducing the demand for, and value of, advance loans. But, given how stretched household budgets are, interim payments alone are unlikely to help all claimants bridge the wait for their first UC payment.

Interim payments could be a first step, with a chance to then review how additional financial support in the form of grants could help those still in need of support. Too many households are being set up to fail as they start their UC claim and as the budget approaches, doing nothing can’t be an option.

*All names have been changed.