latvian former worker claim for income support & HB refused

i’ve been reading rules in cpag about A8 nationals coming to UK, but i’m new to this topic and strugglinmg a bit.  i really need to find a course to attend soon

my client came to UK11/8/06 and worked until 12/2/10 under the worker registration scheme

she had to leave employmnent due to having a child 19/4/10. she claimed income support but was refused and her HB claim that was in payment has now been recovered as an overpayment.

she gets child benefit and child tax credit

as she was employed for more than 12 months, hasn’t she qualified for right to reside and being habitually resident, which the DWP claim she isnt?

as far as i kow she hasnt got a certificate for completing the employment, is this necessary and if so can she still get one now, if she never received it at the time? would a certifcate resolve the problem?

many thanks

The problem is that untill she has been lawfully resident for 5 years she is in the same position as any other EEA national - she has a right to reside only if she is a worker, which includes a person involuntarily unemployed and signing on for JSA, and also someone temporarily incapable of work for health reasons. Lone parents who claim income support have withdrawn themselves from the labour market and are not workers.
Did she not qualify for statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance? I think (others will put me right) that she remains a worker if she is on maternity leave.

i’m looking at the bottom of page 1446 of cpag handbook, where it states

“if you are an A8 national who has completed 12 months of registerd work, you will be issued with a certificate to show that you now have unrestricted access to the UK labour market. Therefter, you are treated as any other EEA nationals and have access to any type of work and can claim benefits freely”

does this not apply in this circumstance, or does it mean that after 12 months the above applies, but ONLY if they remain in employment?

If she is on maternity pay paid for by the by her employer then she is still classed as a worker and should get HB. She would not get Income Support because her income would be too high.

If she is on Maternity Allowance paid by the Government then she is not a worker and cannot claim HB

Since your client has completed her 12 months Registerd Work she is no longer an A8 and now has full EEA status.

No EEA females can claim Income Support unless the child is in education and fits Tiexeira.

Your client has therefore claimed the wrong benefit. She needs to claim JSA and request that this be awarded from the date she made the origonal Income Support claim.

JSA is then the passport to HB

JSA and Maternity Allowance are not compatable, she cannot claim both.

You need to persuade and convince the DWP that single mothers do have a right to work and a right to be a work seeker (JSA). The JSA phone line will respond that females with young children should not be working and have no right to work and must claim MA

The above is from experiance on a long and frustrating case but my client did get her JSA claim in the end.

ok, i’m on it

thanks to you both for your help

All other things being equal, if she is married to the child’s father and he is an EEA national exercising EC Treaty rights (i.e. moving and working within the EEA) then she can claim IS as a family member if he is still working or retains worker status (i.e. claiming JSA) or is a qualified person under the EC Directive or the Immigration Regulations.  Tracking his details would be the tricky bit.  It took me a year to sort one of these cases out recently despite using Kerr arguments.