Young Person Studying Abroad

Looking for advice to see if I am on the right track.

Couple with two children. Eldest son went to study in USA when he was 16.

CTC and CHB were informed and the same stopped.

However HB were not informed and now on discovery they have raised an 8k HB o/p and 2k CTR o/p by retrospectively removing the allowance for this son and treating him as a non dep with a nil deduction.

I was thinking that since the son is in FTNAE he is still considered a young person despite studying abroad for whom an allowance should be included in the AA.

He could be treated as temporarily absent because each period of absence does not exceed 52 weeks and his main home remains with his parents??

I’ve had a look through the legislation. I believe that the son should still be included in the HB claim if:
- the claimant (and/or partner) is still responsible for him as a child or qualifying young person, and
- his absence was not likely to exceed 52 weeks (Reg 21 HB Regs).

IS and ESA would discount him once he was out of the UK for four weeks, but I cannot find any such provision for HB.

So provided son returned home in summer holiday (and always intended to do so) and counts as qualifying young person (i.e. under 20 and in FTNAE), he should still have been included in HB claim.

I found this a little odd when the regulations were amended for temporary absence from the UK, yes, the dependant child will still be treated as a member of the household (So they don’t lose any allowances) if studying abroad BUT will be treated as not occupying the property so the claimant may lose a room allocation (Depending on the household make up). This is because, for students, the temporary absence was reduced from 52 weeks to 4 weeks.

So, just to be clear, in this particular case the claimant may lose a room but holds on to the allowance so the applicable amount won’t change as long as the dependant children returns home within 52 weeks whilst away.

Thanks guys for the replies.