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Claimants already getting SDP
Thanks Timothy, very helpful.
Going back to earlier posts about HB Circular A1/2019 - has been published now -
Interesting that UC will issue HB stop notice even if UC claim made in error by person entitled to SDP and then it’s up to HB to spot it and continue HB award. Also that, if HB award terminated in error, HB expected not to reinstate it unless get instruction to do so from UC.
Going back to earlier posts about HB Circular A1/2019 - has been published now -
Interesting that UC will issue HB stop notice even if UC claim made in error by person entitled to SDP and then it’s up to HB to spot it and continue HB award. Also that, if HB award terminated in error, HB expected not to reinstate it unless get instruction to do so from UC.
So is no hope for clients who where placed on UC due to the change of address,??
[ Edited: 18 Jan 2019 at 12:27 pm by Florinda ]Hi Florinda - if people with the SDP in legacy benefits claimed UC because of a move to a different borough before 16 January then they have to stay on UC. However, the DWP will be compensating them for the loss of the SDP to an extent when the draft regulations that allow that are agreed by parliament.
If people with the SDP move to a different borough from 16 January onwards they are excluded from claiming UC and so will keep the SDP. The bits of the guidance I was mentioning are about what happens when someone makes a claim for UC in error - it can be sorted out and they should go back to legacy benefits but I can foresee a lot of practical issues arising from the way the system is going to work.
I hope that answers your question but let me know if not :)
[ Edited: 18 Jan 2019 at 01:41 pm by Ros ]Thank you Ros
Hi all
Rather than creating another post re SDPs and transitional protection I thought I’d use this post to pose a question.
We have a client getting irESA and who has a PIP appeal in the system. If she wins her appeal and becomes entitled to the DL component, and hence entitled to SDP in her ESA award, will she benefit from transitional protection when she is managed migrated to UC? Will claimants have to become entitled to SDP before the main migrations regs are introduced (as planned) in July in order to benefit from TP, or will TP apply as long as they are entitled to SDP at the point they are managed migrated? The latter seems too ‘generous’ under the current regime.
Thanks
Transitional protection is applied at the point of migration - so as long as she has the sdp in her legacy benefits when she is managed migrated, whenever that is, she will get the protection
Great, thanks Daphne.
any idea what the thinking is in not having pc as a benefit where sdp entitlement would stop a uc claim?
with the changes to mixed age couples in may that seems to create a situation where someone who had pc with an sdp and in a mixed age couple where to have a change of circs then that could lead to them having to claim uc and have a potentially big loss.
I know they might still have hb but I don’t understand why they didn’t just put pc in there as well.
I’ve had a bit of a look at the wording of this - only claimants are protected. If there is a couple both on a qualifying benefit with one getting IRESA (or HB) with the couple rate SDP and they split up and each move into their own new rented bachelor / bachelorette pad it seems to me that the one who was the claimant gets to stay on the old system but the other has to claim UC.
“Restriction on claims for universal credit by persons entitled to a severe disability
premium
4A. No claim may be made for universal credit on or after 16th January 2019 by a single
claimant who, or joint claimants either of whom—
(a) is, or has been within the past month, entitled to an award of an existing benefit
that includes a severe disability premium; and
(b) in a case where the award ended during that month, has continued to satisfy the
conditions for eligibility for a severe disability premium.”
Yes, I noticed that and it occurred to me that with this client group it is perhaps disproportionately likely that the reason for the former partner presenting as a new single claimant is that the original claimant is no longer with us - so it seems exceptionally harsh that they should lose out on at least £40 a week on top of everything else.
I did try to feed that into the consultation but I was too late
Piggy-backing my query (and yes, I am aware I’m grabbing at straws) on this thread:
If client was on ESA + SDP + WRAG = £166.45pw and applied for UC on 22.10.2018 and is now receiving SA+LCW**
Can he withdraw his UC claim based on .HB A1/2019 which says
However, until these regulations come into force, claimants who have a change of circumstances that would previously have resulted in them making a claim to an existing benefit that Universal Credit (UC) is replacing…. have been legally required to make a new claim to UC.
The circular goes on to explain the process of withdrawing UC claims made in error (but after 16/01)
Or is this a bad idea because he will lose out on compensation at a later time?
Thanks,
M
He cannot do it because he isn’t currently on a legacy benefit with SDP, nor was he on such a benefit within the past month.
The only way off UC for potential SDP beneficiaries after one month is where they are getting HB for supported or temporary accommodation. Because the HB applicable amount includes the SDP, they are able to come off UC and reclaim ESA. Could be useful for quite a lot of people in supported living.
By the way this paragraph in the HB Circular:
4. However, until these regulations come into force, claimants who have a change of circumstances that would previously have resulted in them making a claim to an existing benefit that Universal Credit (UC) is replacing, in other words, Jobseeker’s Allowance (Income Based) (JSA(IB), Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related) (ESA(IR), Income Support (IS), Tax Credits and Housing Benefit (HB), have been legally required to make a new claim to UC.
Nobody is legally required to claim UC. Yu can just not claim anything if that’s what you prefer and, crucially, not claiming anything means that legacy benefits can continue under the same old rules if they would have done in the old days. Textbook case is claimant in work on partial HB who loses their job and doesn’t want to sign on … so s/he doesn’t sign on. Do the police turn up with a warrant requiring him/her to claim UC? Nope. It is a serious point because a lot of people delayed claiming in anticipation of 16 January and they can now have their HB backdated a month as I explain here.
Thanks, HB.
Would it matter that he was entitled to SDP but couldn’t claim as he was street homeless?
He cannot do it because he isn’t currently on a legacy benefit with SDP, nor was he on such a benefit within the past month.
The only way off UC for potential SDP beneficiaries after one month is where they are getting HB for supported or temporary accommodation. Because the HB applicable amount includes the SDP, they are able to come off UC and reclaim ESA. Could be useful for quite a lot of people in supported living.
Isn’t ESA abolished?