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In theory having a single benefit payment, rather than six separate ones, is a good idea.

But as Universal Credit has spread to more areas of the country, massive problems have been uncovered in how it's being imposed on people.

Now a report from debt charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has revealed the shocking human cost of the key failures of the system, as people fall through the gaps.

“Some of the UK’s most vulnerable families are sinking in bureaucracy and we owe it to them to give them a voice and press for change," CAP chief executive Matt Barlow said.

The charity, which helps people struggling to get by, found three key areas that urgently need addressing - as well as revealing some of the heartbreaking stories of the people who've been hurt by the mass-adoption of the new benefit.

CAP's three biggest areas of concern are the online application, the wait for the first payment and the lack of understanding of how many people are truly vulnerable.

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Inhuman application left one person eating from bins

There is no paper form to apply to claim Universal Credit, you do it online. Worse, you can't save the form half way through the process.

And that's causing big problems for some people.

Those without internet access can be forced to travel to a library to use computers there. But this is typically only free for an hour a day.

You need details of past addresses and identification when filling it out, meaning if you've travelled to get to a computer, and have forgotten something, you need to go back only to return later and start the whole process again.

"This can lead to a real feeling of hopelessness and for someone very vulnerable be the difference between being helped by the welfare system and not," CAP said.

The charity spoke to one woman who got her login wrong after several attempts, and was locked out of the system.

A second attempt saw her submit her form - only to discover weeks later that there had been an error in it.

"She did not have any support at this time because the set number of weeks the support worker had been allocated to help her had been exceeded," the charity explained.

Worse, as her Employment Support Allowance (ESA) claim was closed, she faced a significant period of time with no income at all even before her official five week wait began for a Universal Credit payment began.

"She continued without income for, it seemed to her, an unending amount of time," CAP said.

How did she manage?

"She had been going through bins at night to find food," CAP said. The charity stepped in at this point to help.

After the form is finished comes the wait.

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Councils telling applicants to beg and borrow cash while threatening people with eviction

Five weeks with no money. For many that means no rent being paid.

Applicants are advised to borrow the money, from friends, family or a commercial lender to cover the gap.

"I had nothing. I relied on my brother, my sister, my neighbours. Because you don’t get anything, and I mean nothing at all. So there’s no rent being paid, there’s no Council Tax being paid, there’s no money for shopping, gas, electric, nothing," one applicant told CAP.

"The worst one was the rent, because it meant five weeks rent arrears building up."

Another said: "I don’t know how they expect people to live on nothing. They did say ‘you can get a loan’, but then that’s putting you in more debt.

"You already owe five weeks rent and if you take a loan, that’s more you have to pay back. I took a loan, I had no choice."

One person told the charity the council threatened to begin eviction proceedings if she didn't pay rent while waiting for Universal Credit to kick in.

She was told to borrow from friends or family but was had been a victim of domestic abuse in the past and was already in significant debt, so was not in the position to do this.

She explained she was left relying on food banks to eat while her mental health problems were made worse by the situation.

Fixing it

CAP - which specialises in helping people on a low income, often with multiple difficulties - said that alongside the problems with applications and the five-week wait to get your first payment the way Universal Credit treats the vulnerable needs urgent attention.

"The DWP should not assume that single jobseekers do not have additional needs that require support," the charity said in its first Universal Credit briefing.

People already marginalised can be pushed further and further into difficulties.

"I suffer with depression anyway and it made me that little bit worse... I buried my head in the sand," one claimant told CAP.

Another simply said: "I ended up in hospital, let’s just put it that way."

These issues aren't insurmountable. Recognising vulnerable applicants isn't impossible and once identified they can be helped.

But action is needed fast.

Barlow said: “We are keen to work with the new Secretary of State and let her in on what we have found over decades of working with people who have multi-complex needs as well as a low income.

“There are positive changes that can be made that will make Universal Credit work and, with seven million more people set to migrate, this needs to be a Government priority.”

A DWP spokesman said: “Advance payments are available from day one of someone’s claim and our partnership with Citizens Advice will mean vulnerable people can get extra help to apply.”