Universal credit

[Emem13]

hi just got this should I be worried about it ?
really worried I’m going to get in trouble for benefit fraud

It appears that you've failed to report a change in your guy
circumstances promptly. You need to tell us by 12 September
2025, the reason for not telling us sooner and what you've done
to correct this. You did not remove your daughter from your claim when
she left your household on 10 June 2024 .
Reporting changes is something you committed to do in return
for receiving Universal Credit. If you don't do this and you're paid
too much Universal Credit, you'll have to repay any overpayment
and may also have to pay a £50 Civil Penalty.
You can get more information about a Civil Penalty
We'll decide whether you'll have to pay a Civil Penalty based on
the information you give us. If we don't hear from you by
12 September 2025, we'll make our decision based on the

You’ll get a note on your journal that you need to let them know that your child is staying in education in the August of their year 11. If you ignore it they will stop paying. If you fill it in it asks for an end date which they will check in again at that point from my understanding.

Same with child benefit you need to declare you are still entitled.

Everyone knows all changes in circumstances no matter how small must be reported.

It says in my journal I was getting child element for 1 out of 2 children

Do you have another child as well? That you should have been claiming for?

Yes I have a child who is 14 and my other daughter is 21

I’m guessing the child element payment is for your 14 year old daughter?

Op you don't need to panic, you will not be going to prison for this, it's unlikely you will even get a fine. There's some very poor 'advice' in this thread ! Yes, you should have informed uc that your daughter had left as it was a change in your declared circumstances. That said, as she was 20 you would not have been getting paid for her, and they do NOT base any rent allowance to include her, she would have been classed as a non dependent. The only way it could have resulted in an overpayment is if she was disabled and you were claiming as her carer. As long as that wasn't the case you'll be fine. Just inform them that as you weren't in receipt of any benefits for her you didn't realise you needed to inform them.

They won't ask for proof but they might ask you where she is. Their issue is with you though, not your dd, so they dont really care where she is.

How many bedrooms do you have OP (if you rent and receive housing element from UC)? Perhaps the issue is that you have been overpaid housing element since your eldest moved out (so called bedroom tax). But you don't need to worry, just tell them the facts - they will take back the money gradually in deductions and the deductions cannot be too much any more.

You got no money for your dd surely at 21? If anything they reduce your claim by £100 a month for an over 18 living with you unless they have their own uc claim.

Try not to panic OP, it is a letter worded deliberately to scare you.

I can totally see why you didn’t realise you needed to tell them as you were no longer being paid for her. I might assume the same thing in those circumstances.

Deal with it as soon as possible, give them a ring or a journal note explaining and be as honest as possible. If there is somehow an over payment then. Ask to pay in installments.

You absolutely will not get a custodial sentence over this.

It sounds to me that, at worse, you might owe them some of your housing element back for having a spare bedroom.

Do you rent? And how many bedrooms does your house have?

But would she have had a non dependant deduction anyway like a pp mentioned above

It's unlikely to be the exact same amount though, it could go either way