The website for Universal Credit went down this morning with people unable to login to their account.
The issue appeared to affect GOV.UK and HMRC webpages, according to outage tracker DownDetector, which logged a spike in complaints shortly after 8am. Those who are trying to access GOV.UK pages, including Universal Credit login, were greeted with the message: “Sorry, the service is unavailable. Try again later.”
It meant people could in to their benefits account online. Universal Credit claimants use their online journal to log changes and manage their claim. Universal Credit is claimed by more than six million people in the UK. One person who struggled to log in, asked the GOV.UK social media page on X/Twitter: “What is wrong with your Universal Credit website? This is the message I received when I tried to log into my account.”
Others had issues accessing HMRC services. One person said: “Trying to check NI records. HMRC website saying service unavailable.” Another said: “HMRC website now looks like it’s crashed!!” DownDetector logged 470 complaints from people trying to access HMRC services online shortly after 8am, while more than 100 people were having trouble with GOV.UK.
The issue appeared to be resolved shortly before 9am. It comes after problems were also flagged yesterday evening at around 9pm for those trying to access HMRC. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) told The Mirror the glitch was down to a systems update. A spokesperson said: “Our Universal Credit login page is working normally after coming offline briefly this morning due to a systems update. Customers can now use the system as normal, and we apologise for any inconvenience.”
Get our money-saving tips and top offers direct to your inbox with the Mirror Money newsletter