A single mother from the UK has revealed her distressing ordeal with the Department for Work and Pensions after the system failed to cover her nursery fees and then instructed her to "be respectful" when she raised concerns about her financial situation.
The Universal Credit nightmare begins
Lauren Florence, a single parent relying on Universal Credit, had never experienced problems with the benefit system until April this year. The issues began when she submitted her usual evidence for childcare costs, uploading both her nursery bill and bank statements as required.
"I've never had any issues until the month of April when I did my evidence," Lauren explained. "I uploaded it and they came back straight away and said, 'actually, that's not good enough evidence.'"
When Lauren informed Universal Credit that she couldn't physically provide any additional documentation, she received reassurances that everything would be fine. She was told: "Don't worry about it, we can see that you've done it – that's fine."
Payment withheld and shocking response
The situation escalated when Lauren's payment date arrived and she discovered no money had been transferred to cover her nursery fees. When she queried this through the journal system, she received the devastating news that her evidence hadn't been uploaded in time, despite previous assurances.
Lauren described her desperate situation: "When I put in my journal that I'm now really short on money and I've now got to pay my next nursery bill and it's late and I need them to pay my last nursery bill, they put in the comments, 'please be respectful.'"
She emphasised that she hadn't used offensive language or displayed an aggressive attitude, simply explaining her urgent need for the funds to cover her childcare expenses.
Widespread support and similar experiences
The response to Lauren's story has revealed this isn't an isolated incident. One commenter stated: "Universal Credit is not fit for purpose. It doesn't pay single parents to work. If I work more than 16 hours a week I'm worse off!"
Another parent shared their similar struggle: "Same, I upload 4/5 pieces of evidence each time and they still question it some times. It's enough to put me off claiming for it."
Multiple respondents noted that the DWP has become increasingly strict about childcare evidence recently. One person observed: "I've seen a few people saying the same, they've gone really fussy with childcare," while another commented: "Yep I had problems. I gave my invoice in and they were being really hard at accepting it. Almost like they don't want to help."
Lauren now faces an uncertain wait, having been informed that a decision on her case could take up to three months, leaving her significantly out of pocket and struggling to manage her financial commitments.
"I don't know what to do – I'm quite a lot of money down for something that I don't know how to fix," she concluded, highlighting the frustration many parents feel when navigating the complex benefits system.
