Universal Credit's built-in misery for claimants should be stopped, not just paused

There is a Direct Line landlord Insurance tv ad that I have previously cited on Kwug Blog, in a post entitled Why this blogger is boycotting Direct Line insurance of any kind.(1) That ad has not made it to youtube yet but is very relevant to Government plans to increase the roll-out of Universal Credit.

On 15 September, in a piece headed National Audit Office points finger at Government welfare reforms over steep rise in homelessness, Hattie Williams reported in Church Times:(2)

The chief executive of the homelessness charity Depaul UK, Martin Houghton-Brown, said: “While the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 should help, there is a real risk it will be undermined by welfare reforms — particularly the roll-out of Universal Credit and proposed changes to supported accommodation funding.


“It is important that ministers look again at the amount of time people have to wait to receive their first Universal Credit payment. Many of the young people we work with are having to wait at least six weeks, during which time they struggle to pay their rent and, in some cases, have to rely on foodbanks.”

 Now, there is a 38 Degrees campaign to pause the rollout of Universal Credit.(3) Sadly, that petition page does not recognise that the delays of at least six weeks before the Universal Credit claimant gets their first payment are built into the system from inception.(4) None the less, a 'pause' can mark a turning point away from Universal Credit. And the real opposition in the House of Commons to such vicious attacks on poor people has increased since a former Labour opposition backed the roll-out of Universal Credit as 'too big to fail'.

So this blogger asks you to back this 38 Degrees as an interim to the scrapping of it before it wrecks more and more lives.

Direct Line petition: Pause the rollout of Universal Credit (5)

Link references

1. http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/why-this-blogger-is-boycotting-direct-line-insurance-of-any-kind.html
2. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/15-september/news/uk/national-audit-office-points-finger-at-government-welfare-reforms-over-steep-rise-in-homelessness
3. https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/universal-credit-pause
4. http://camdennewjournal.com/article/benefit-related-suicides-will-be-highlighted-on-april-3  
5. https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/universal-credit-pause

Why this blogger is boycotting Direct Line insurance of any kind

From the social housing industry website Inside Housing to a Scottish Unemployed Workers Network report on last July's Boycott Workfare Action Gathering, the message has come out that long claim processing delays for Universal Credit are endemic and lead to rent arrears and thus evictions.(1) (2)

Now, for some months on televised adverts in the UK, I have witnessed Direct Line insurance capitalising on this situation as a business opportunity, though I've not seen actual Web links such as youtube to the ad in question. The scenario is that a landlord is having difficulties sleeping and Direct Line insurance's 'Mr Fixit' known as 'Winstone Wolfe' comes along and declares that the landlord's problems is caused by the landlord's tenants difficulties paying their rent.

Presenting Direct Line Landlord Insurance as the solution, 'Winston Wolfe' declares that Direct Line Landlord Insurance will pay the tenants' outstanding rent until the tenants are out. What kind of 'solution' is that? I suppose that the answer to my question is that it is the kind of 'solution' that absolves the real architects of Universal Credit calamity by inferring that such rent arrears arise out of the nature of the economically vulnerable tenants, and nothing else.

Given such a mindset, what are the ethics of Direct Line likely to be? Not worth my touching with the proverbial barge pole, I would guess. Anyhow, Direct Line, if you want caring people to do business with you, I reckon you will need to reconsider the true costs of your policies.

Posted by Dude Swheatie of Kwug

Notes

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/rise-in-tenancy-terminations-40255
https://scottishunemployedworkers.net/2016/07/15/sharing-knowledge-in-the-face-of-further-attacks/
https://www.directline.com/