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Ongoing childcare costs, "reporting" and interpretation of reg. 33?
There’s a part of me feels the exact same way….
There’s a part of me feels the exact same way….
Thinking about it, it would be even better if you win at FtT and DWP seek to appeal to the UT…..I’d love to see them explaining that one on the basis of what you’ve discovered in the client’s journal.
I am so hoping I am wrong, but if Past caring’s client is overpaid UC, DWP will recover it regardless of whose fault it was as she was overpaid in the first place. The policy to write off has been withdrawn so that’s not much use at the mo, how are you going to get it written off if you win the argument that she did notify them?
I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick Barbara. There’s no overpayment or potential overpayment - because she did not ‘report’ childcare costs during the relevant assessment period, only later (at least in the parallel universal credit world) she wasn’t paid childcare costs. The argument is she should have been - providing evidence of what your childcare costs were and of having paid them must mean ‘reporting’ on any sensible interpretation of the word, even if you don’t complete the ‘report childcare costs’ section in the journal.
I am so glad I’m wrong!
jumping onto this thread as it relates to childcare; I have a client who was claiming HB CB and WTC/CTC back in September - living in a FS area.
She then asked Tax Credits for childcare costs which they provided - no problem
HB however (Calderdale MBC) have created an issue and forced customer onto UC due to a rise in her TC award.
customer appealed this decision but Calderdale MBC declined the appeal
she has now got rent arrears as a result of being forced onto UC and the mandatory waiting times and she has lost out financially.
do you think she has any grounds for this appeal - and do you think there is any chance for her to revert back to legacy?
or are we just looking for HB to close the gap for rent payments?
thanks
It really depends why the HB award was ended: if the claimant’s income became too high, they would be correct to end the award and there would then be no possibility of making a new claim if the earnings later dropped.
It would be very disappointing and frustrating if they had decided to end the HB award simply because they considered that the claimant ought to claim UC instead. Delegates from Calderdale have been on my UC full service course for local authorities, and even if people happily snooze their way through that course they should at least take away one message that is relentlessly hammered home throughout the day: “you don’t prematurely shut down HB: the claimant decides whether or when s/he will claim UC, not you”. On the assumption that the Calderdale delegates went away properly informed about this, I would have to guess that the claimant genuinely ceased to qualify for HB.
Any more background on exactly why it was that HB stopped?
Bear in mind we are at the appeal stage with the hearing tomorrow.
How did it go PC - if you can tell us?
The UC childcare Guide, updated 14th December 18, says,
‘Information you need to provide us with
To get Universal Credit childcare costs you will need to give information about your childcare payments for each child. You will only need to provide this information once – unless your circumstances change.
You will need to give us:
the full name and OFSTED registration number of the childcare provider
the full contact details of the childcare provider including, address, telephone number and manager’s name
the address where the child is being looked after
the full cost of your childcare
information if you share your childcare responsibilities with someone else, for example an ex–partner, you must report what arrangements you have made’
This says you only need to provide evidence once, unless there is a change. It certainly doesn’t make it clear that you have to report charges paid in each assessment period, as per reg 33.
Our local liaison at DWP has confirmed that proof of charges paid should be uploaded to the journal each time, but it wasn’t clear how the client is informed of this need to provide evidence each time. He felt the guidance was wrong.
I have also been informed that if you pay for childcare in advance it will be apportioned to the month that the childcare actually occurs and paid in that assessment period (OK so far) BUT only for a maximum of two months!!!
I can’t find any reference to this in the regs so is it a “computer says no” scenario?
Does it need to be reported again at a later date??
It’s in the UC Regs (as amended), r34A(1)(c). So if it’s paid any earlier, it will not be reimbursed.
It’s in the UC Regs (as amended), r34A(1)(c). So if it’s paid any earlier, it will not be reimbursed.
Gah!
Thanks for that I must have missed that one. Childcare costs don’t come my way that often (possibly because they have all lost the will to dispute).
The UC childcare Guide, updated 14th December 18, says,
‘Information you need to provide us with
To get Universal Credit childcare costs you will need to give information about your childcare payments for each child. You will only need to provide this information once – unless your circumstances change.You will need to give us:
the full name and OFSTED registration number of the childcare provider
the full contact details of the childcare provider including, address, telephone number and manager’s name
the address where the child is being looked after
the full cost of your childcare
information if you share your childcare responsibilities with someone else, for example an ex–partner, you must report what arrangements you have made’This says you only need to provide evidence once, unless there is a change. It certainly doesn’t make it clear that you have to report charges paid in each assessment period, as per reg 33.
Our local liaison at DWP has confirmed that proof of charges paid should be uploaded to the journal each time, but it wasn’t clear how the client is informed of this need to provide evidence each time. He felt the guidance was wrong.
The UC and childcare guidance has just been reissued and it now seems to have removed the advice that you only need to provide the information once - it seems to be saying now that you musy notify before the end of each UC assessment period - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-childcare/universal-credit-childcare-guide#information-you-need-to-provide-us-with
When you first claim Universal Credit childcare costs you’ll need to provide the following information about your childcare payments for each child:
the full name and OFSTED registration number of the childcare provider
the full contact details of the childcare provider including, address, telephone number and manager’s name
the address where the child is being looked after
the full cost of your childcare
information if you share your childcare responsibilities with someone else, for example an ex–partner, you must report what arrangements you have made
You’ll need to provide the full cost of the childcare before the end of each Universal Credit assessment period it’s paid in. You can do this by signing in to your Universal Credit account.