Third party rent arrears deductions.

The UC, PIP, JSA & ESA (Claims and Payments) Regs 2013 set out the amount for deductions. The relevant rule for rent arrears is in Sch 6, Para 7(5):

Where this paragraph applies, but subject to sub-paragraphs (6) and (7), the Secretary of State may, in such cases and circumstances as the Secretary of State may determine, deduct in relation to that assessment period an amount from the claimant’s award equal to 5% of the standard allowance and pay that amount to the person to whom the debt is owed.

Sub-paras (6) and (7) are about stopping (or not starting) deductions for people with earned income above their work allowance.

So, can anybody tell me why every single UC rent arrears deduction that I’ve seen has been for £31.78 (including at least one for a joint claim)?

This is 10% of the single standard allowance. What is going on? What am I missing?

The rules about deductions are in schedule 6 of the UC (claims and payments) regs - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/380/schedule/6/made

The maximum they can deduct in total is 40% of the standard allowance (para 4) (although para 4(4) says that if in the best interests it can be exceeded in the case of rent arrears). There is a priority list (para 5) for which debts should be paid first and they can only do three different deductions (para 3).

The guidance - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/409832/admd2.pdf - says at D2121 that deductions for rent should be no less than 10% and no more than 20% of the standard allowance

(Ref: Daphne’s response from 5 /5/2015, likely outdated? https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/8168)

Timothy Seaside - 20 November 2018 04:50 PM

The UC, PIP, JSA & ESA (Claims and Payments) Regs 2013 set out the amount for deductions. The relevant rule for rent arrears is in Sch 6, Para 7(5):

Where this paragraph applies, but subject to sub-paragraphs (6) and (7), the Secretary of State may, in such cases and circumstances as the Secretary of State may determine, deduct in relation to that assessment period an amount from the claimant’s award equal to 5% of the standard allowance and pay that amount to the person to whom the debt is owed.

Sub-paras (6) and (7) are about stopping (or not starting) deductions for people with earned income above their work allowance.

So, can anybody tell me why every single UC rent arrears deduction that I’ve seen has been for £31.78 (including at least one for a joint claim)?

This is 10% of the single standard allowance. What is going on? What am I missing?

Schedule 6 Para 7(5) was amended by reg 6(2)(c)  of SI.No.2888/2014 -

(c)in paragraph 7(5) (rent and service charges included in rent) for the words “equal to 5%”, substitute “which is no less than 10% and no more than 20%”.

Thanks, Daphne. This is what I was missing. I was working from the latest pdf version on legislation.gov.uk - says it was updated 30/09/2016, but it doesn’t include this change. I can see that the latest html version does include this change.

From a policy point of view, that is very harsh. But then I’d expect nothing else from the mean-spirited UC.

Yes I’d noticed that about the latest pdf - not helpful! I might contact them…

It is a harsh rule - but I’m slightly encouraged by the fact that all the ones that you are coming across are 10% - certainly in the past there has been a tendency to come in at 20%!

Daphne - 21 November 2018 11:28 AM

Yes I’d noticed that about the latest pdf - not helpful! I might contact them…

I emailed them and after a bit of tooing and froing I have had this response -

Thank you for your email – you are quite right that the PDFs on the left hand side should contain the 2014 amendment.

We will be removing the “Revised Version” PDFs on the left hand side of this page under More Resources. Our colleagues at DWP will also be prioritising the remaining update for these Regulations.

Thank you again for taking the time to alert us about this, it is much appreciated.

If only the people who enforce the rules were as ready to admit mistakes as the people who publish them!