How Our Content Is Created

Civil Help is committed to providing accurate, practical, and up-to-date information about UK rights, processes, and support options. This page explains how we research, write, and maintain our content.

Sources

All Civil Help guides are based on:

  • Primary legislation — Acts of Parliament published on legislation.gov.uk
  • Official government guidance — GOV.UK, NHS.UK, and devolved government websites
  • Regulatory guidance — published by Ofgem, Ofcom, FCA, ICO, CQC, HSE, and other regulators
  • Ombudsman decisions — published decisions from the Financial Ombudsman Service, PHSO, LGSCO, and others
  • Case law — relevant court and tribunal decisions that clarify how the law applies in practice
  • Expert organisations — Citizens Advice, Shelter, Acas, Age UK, and other authoritative charities

Editorial Process

  1. Research — we identify the topic, gather primary sources, and check for recent legislative or policy changes
  2. Writing — content is drafted in plain English, structured around what users need to know and do, not around legal abstractions
  3. Fact-checking — every factual claim is verified against an official source. Monetary figures are cross-checked against GOV.UK publications
  4. Review — content is reviewed for accuracy, clarity, completeness, and accessibility before publication
  5. Publication — the guide is published with a "last reviewed" date and tagged with its applicable nation scope

Rates and Figures

UK benefit rates, tax thresholds, and statutory amounts change every April. We maintain a centralised rates file that is verified against GOV.UK each April. When rates change, all guides that reference those figures are updated.

The current rates file was last verified on 28 April 2026 and covers the 2026/27 tax year. The next scheduled review is 6 April 2027.

Verification Standards

For each topic area we verify our position against a defined set of authoritative sources. These are the named documents we treat as binding for accuracy:

  • Benefits and welfare:the relevant DWP regulations and the Decision Makers' Guide; the Universal Credit, PIP, and ESA handbooks; HMRC's tax-credits manual; the published rates schedule on GOV.UK.
  • Employment: the Employment Rights Act 1996, Equality Act 2010, the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures, the EHRC Code of Practice on Employment, and Employment Tribunal procedure rules.
  • Housing:the Housing Act 1988 and 1985, the Tenant Fees Act 2019, the Renters' Rights Bill / Act, the Homelessness Code of Guidance, and Shelter England's legal guides.
  • Immigration: the Immigration Rules (Appendix-by-Appendix), Home Office modernised guidance for caseworkers, and the published UKVI fees and processing times.
  • Complaints and ombudsmen:each scheme's published rules — FOS DISP, PHSO, LGSCO, Energy Ombudsman, Property Ombudsman, Legal Ombudsman, ICO complaints procedure.
  • Care and later life: the Care Act 2014, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, CHC National Framework, the Office of the Public Guardian guidance, and CQC fundamental standards.
  • Family and victims: the Family Procedure Rules, CMS guidance, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.
  • Business compliance: Companies House guidance, HMRC employer handbooks, ICO data protection guidance, HSE guidance, and FCA Handbook (DISP, MIPRU).

When these sources conflict — which is rare but happens, particularly during transitional legislation — we follow the primary statute and note the divergence with the date of the conflict.

Corrections Pledge

If a guide is wrong, we want to fix it. Our pledge is straightforward:

  • Acknowledge within 3 working days of being notified of an issue through the feedback widget.
  • Correct factual errors within 14 days for active legislative or rate issues; sooner where the error could materially mislead someone.
  • Document material changes in our public changelogso readers can see what changed and when.
  • Update review dates when a substantive correction is made, so the published last-reviewed date reflects the most recent verified state.

Errata

Substantive corrections made to published guides. Cosmetic edits and link fixes are not listed here — only changes to figures, statutory references, or the substance of advice.

  • 25 April 2026 — All rate-citing guides. Was: 2025/26 figures (UC standard allowance £400.14, PIP daily-living enhanced £110.40, etc.). Now: 2026/27 figures (UC standard allowance £424.90, PIP daily-living enhanced £114.60, plus the new LCWRA two-tier rate of £429.80 protected / £217.26 new claimants from April 2026). (statutory update, commit 1ab4899)
  • 25 April 2026 — 8 guides across benefits-support, business-compliance, care-later-life, complaints-ombudsmen, driving, victims-crime. Was: Broken double-nested anchor tags created by an automated gov.uk linker (e.g. `<a href="https://www.<a href="…">…</a>">…</a>`). Now: Single clean anchor tags pointing to the correct GOV.UK page. (factual correction, commit 8832c9f)
  • 28 April 2026 — /business-compliance/corporation-tax. Was: Three sections covering rates, deductions, and deadlines (~360 words). Now: Four sections plus a new "Penalties, records, and disputes with HMRC" section covering Schedule 18 FA 1998 penalty regime, the six-year record-keeping rule, statutory reviews, First-tier Tribunal appeals, and Time-to-Pay arrangements (~700 words). (source review)

Review Schedule

Every guide carries a "last reviewed" date. We aim to review all content at least annually, with priority given to:

  • Guides affected by legislative changes (e.g. new Acts, statutory instruments)
  • Guides with monetary figures that change annually
  • Guides covering areas with active policy reform (e.g. immigration, housing)
  • Guides flagged by user feedback as potentially outdated

What We Are Not

Civil Help is not a law firm, not a government website, and not affiliated with any regulator or ombudsman. We do not provide personalised legal, financial, immigration, or tax advice. Our content is general information designed to help you understand your options and find the right next step.

For matters that affect your legal rights, finances, or immigration status, we always recommend seeking qualified professional advice. We link to relevant official bodies and free advice services throughout our guides.

Corrections and Feedback

If you spot an error, an outdated figure, or content that is unclear, please let us know using the "Was this helpful?" widget at the bottom of any guide. Your feedback helps us maintain accuracy.

Accessibility

We strive to make Civil Help accessible to everyone. Our site is designed to work with screen readers, keyboard navigation, and assistive technologies. Content is written at a reading level appropriate for a general audience, avoiding unnecessary jargon.

View content changelog →About Civil Help →