Universal credit: a sting in the tail?

• The introduction of universal credit as a recoverable benefit has a negative impact on compensators and claimants alike, and is ripe for much needed reform.
• As it stands, there are little or no means to challenge Compensation Recovery Unit certificates containing universal credit.
• The solution may be by both sides of the industry working together to lobby for a legislative change.

The Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU), part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), exists to recover benefits paid to a claimant injured as a result of another’s negligence. The CRU sends the compensator a Certificate of Recoverable Benefits (CRB) which are repayable in the event that compensation is subsequently awarded or paid. In certain circumstances, compensators can offset some, or all, of the recoverable benefits against claimed losses, and even challenge the recoverability of the benefits themselves, excluding general damages which are ringfenced.

Prior to the creation of universal