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Housing Benefit or UC?
I have a client who is in receipt of ESA. He has just moved into his own home and wants to claim Housing benefit. The LA have informed him that as he lives in a full service area he must claim UC. When he tried to claim UC, he was told that as he is unfit for work he will stay on ESA until his claim migrates.
Can anyone advise on this urgently please. Should he make a new claim to UC, which sounds problematic? Or should the LA be accepting his HB claim?
Thanks in advance.
When he tried to claim UC, he was told that as he is unfit for work he will stay on ESA until his claim migrates.
What’s his post code, do you know?
If you put his postcode into http://www.universalcreditinfo.net then it will tell you whether he’s full service or not. If he is isn’t full service he’s fine and can claim HB. If he is definitely full service then unless he’s in supported housing he will need to claim UC and that will stop his ESA claim which will get absorbed into UC (with the equivalent of whatever element he’s getting now) - in theory!
Thanks for the reply Daphne. It’s definitely full service and judging by some of the posts I have read, he’s in for a nightmare.