How to Get More from Your UCV Automation — What We’ve Learned So Far

Automating the Universal Credit Verification (UCV) process has made a real difference for many social landlords — but like any system, there’s always room to make it work even better. 

Over the recent peak period, we’ve seen some common areas that can cause delays or extra manual work. We’re sharing these here in case they sound familiar — and to open up the conversation about how to tackle them together. 

Here are some of the questions we’ve been exploring with our clients: 

• How strict should name-matching rules be? Small differences — like “Steve” vs. “Steven”, double-barrelled surnames, middle names, apostrophes or extra spaces — can cause mismatches. How can we strike the right balance between accuracy and minimising exceptions that need manual checks? 

• Is the process too reactive? Many systems rely on tenants to update their claims on the DWP landlord portal — but for vulnerable residents or those on APA’s (who don’t receive the UCV payment themselves), there’s little incentive to do this. This can lead to missed increases in UCV payments towards rent and increase arrears risk for landlords. 

• Is tenant data ready to use? Data quality issues can stall the whole process. For example, if the source HMS is missing dates of birth, matching can be delayed, and extra checks are needed. 

• Can you see what’s working — and what’s not? Without clear dashboards, KPIs, or reports, it’s hard to track efficiency, spot bottlenecks, or find areas for improvement. Is your team getting the right insights to keep the process smooth? 

If any of these challenges sound familiar, we’d love to talk about how we can help you find a better way forward. And if you haven’t automated your UCV process yet, we’re here to help you get started — and keep improving it as your needs evolve. 

Let’s make the next UCV peak period smoother, together. Get in touch at info@enterpriserpa.co.uk — we’d love to hear from you.