Universal Credit review repeatedly requesting documents already uploaded

[MenoFruitcake]

Can anyone help please? I’m at wit’s end.

I’ve got PTSD and other mental health problems that result in me being in a highly agitated, terrified state most of the time.

I am currently on UC.

Back in January they messaged me on my journal to do a Claim Review. They’d already done one just a year before and it was straightforward and fine. I provided four months bank statements and that was about it.

With this one they asked for four months bank statements, proof of housing costs and a utility bill. Uploaded it all a couple of days after they requested it, well within the deadline.

Never heard back from them. I checked in. Nothing. Checked in again to make sure they had everything they need. Nothing.

Finally in May they replied (so four months later) and said we will be in touch when we’re ready to schedule your interview.

Then early July they messaged me saying I hadn’t sent in a utility bill or housing costs proof. I had. I took screenshots of everything I’d uploaded. So I sent in the housing costs proof and utility bill again and messaged saying can you confirm you have everything you need now. Ignored me. Messaged again end of July. Ignored me.

Now today someone contacts me from the same department (standard UC review team) saying she’s taken over and will review the documents they’ve received and get back to me by end of day. She’s now gotten back to me claiming I’ve not sent four full months bank statements. I have though. She’s sent me a link to upload four months bank statements and said if I don’t do this within three days my payments might stop.

I messaged back explaining I already sent all this in January and asking her to please let me know exactly what is missing or what they need. No reply yet.

I’m really struggling to cope. This has been dragging on for seven months now. There are no issues with my claim, no capital or anything of that nature.

Has anyone else been through this?

They probably need the last 4 months. No point reviewing October 2025 - January 2026 at this stage in the year.

Upload March to July and maybe that will be the end of it.

I honestly don’t know what they want at this point. With the utility bill they asked to be resent last month they explicitly asked for it to cover the three months around the original January review date and told me not to send something more recent.

Hi, are you sure this is an actual email address?

Don’t send anything to that email or click that click. That is not a legitimate gov email.

I don’t know where you got that email address but it’s a fake. Bank statements can’t be emailed to DWP. They have to either uploaded the UC account, posted, or taken into the JC.

OP the review shouldn’t have gone on this long. It’s down to bad management, poor wages and high staff turnover. What has likely happened is whoever was assigned your claim has left, and it’s been transferred to someone else.

It’s probably taken this long because the workload is really high. What the agent should have done was close the review, waited 6 months and then begun a new one. As they’ve continued you’re gonna have to upload up to date documents unfortunately or it will just drag on.

I’d suggest making a complaint by ringing the UC line (0800 328 5644). The only way the higher ups will actually change the working practices is if enough people complain.

Thank you very much. I do think a complaint is in order as this has been ridiculous. They’ve repeatedly and belatedly claimed “you’ve not sent us the documents” when I clearly have and then they’ve not been clear at all about specifically what is supposedly missing.

I’ve messaged her asking her to tell me EXACTLY what to upload. Let’s see if she replies.

To make a complaint do I just call the number you’ve provided?

and yes it seems it would have made more sense for them to have binned this review off and started again at a later date.

I would highlight you've complied at every turn possible.
The problem is at their end.
With an anxiety disorder it doesn't help when every other msg is accompanied with a threat.
Payments may stop
Incurr sanctions etc.

Op you have my sympathies .

Sense &DWP don't belong in the same sentence.

What a nightmare op. What i would say is that when you speak to them make sure you record what was said in your journal. ...something like 'further to our conversation today i am uploading x y and z' I don't know if this will help but I would be tempted to write everything down for clarity and evidence. As others said i would be tempted to make a complaint at this point and send evidence of your screenshot and messages clearly showing your compliance.

It is absolutely ridiculous that it has to be this way but the dwp are useless.

So after I pushed back last night and said again that I’ve already sent everything they asked, now she’s replied to me on my journal and said this:

“I apologise, in my rush to respond to you yesterday as promised, I overlooked some statements where there were multiple statements in one PDF.

I have reviewed your documents again and can see that you have provided more than enough evidence to progress the review.

The next step is for me to make you an appointment for a telephone interview to discuss your circumstances. I will send you an appointment for this within the next seven days.

Please send me a journal message if you have any questions or if there are any times you are not available for a call.

Kind Regards “

And this:

“Just to confirm...

You can ignore the to-do I sent you yesterday. You do not need to provide any more statements for now. If I need you to provide any more documents I will discuss this with you during your interview call.

Kind Regards”

I used to work in benefits. Basically you need to phone them and discuss what the problem is. I would bet that your case has been overlooked and the system is set to keep sending out letters. Either that, or the upload failed, or they weren't the right docs to start with. There is no way around getting in touch if you want to know. I understand you are nervous so I suggest you use a webchat if possible to speak to them as it is not so stressful as phone. You can also get a support from an advocate like CAB or Money Matters to act for you, but this often slows matters down somewhat as these services are over subscribed and need to set up data permissions before they will deal with them. You should be able to get an appointee to act for you if you really need one, but this also takes time. Rest assured though that if it is a problem with their system, they will help you to solve it, but only if you get in touch or they will just keep sending nasty letters. In the end, if you are refused and you feel it is incorrect because of what is going on with the docs, you can appeal. Sorry, the system sucks. Good luck.

Also you may have had a case worker who left or went off sick, and nobody has picked it up. Happens all the time.

I commented again above.
shes now said that I already sent scathing they needed back in January and she simply hadn’t read the file properly.

Really glad it worked out OK op. Such a relief for you!

Absolutely unacceptable behaviour from the DWP, as usual. They have a complaint form:

https://makeacomplaint.dwp.gov.uk/

I complained about similar issues - in particular not answering journal messages. The DWP has a customer charter:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/our-customer-charter/our-customer-charter

When I complained, I highlighted which promises they had broken in the charter. They upheld my complaint, apologized and assigned a case worker to me who actually responded to journal messages and generally did what she was supposed to do.

if the claimants behaved as badly as the staff, they wouldn't hesitate to sanction us