The uranium intermetallic UNi_4B, originally reported to crystallize in a hexagonal lattice, was proposed to represent a prime example of a magnetically frustrated metallic f-electron compound. Yet, recently, from a reinvestigation of the crystal structure it was concluded that the crystal structure is orthorhombic, which possibly would be inconsistent with the concept of UNi_4B being a geometrically frustrated system. As well, it raises questions about the proposed magnetic structure of a partially ordered (2 out of 3 uranium moments) system below T_N = 20K. The unresolved issue of the crystallographic and magnetic structure is of relevance in the context of the observation of a magnetoelectric effect for UNi_4B, i.e., the detection of a current induced magnetization. Therefore, to understand the appearance of magnetoelectricity in UNi_4B, it requires a determination of the crystallographic and magnetic symmetries of this compound.