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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit migration  →  Thread

Date of Claim when accessing HTC at a Jobcentre

Stephen C
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Drumchapel Citizens Advice Bureau

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The DWP have just announced that the date of claim isn’t protected when someone accesses Help to Claim. But I’m co-located in a Jobcentre and the service delivery team books clients in to see me. Does anyone know if the date of claim can be protected under Reg 10 in this case and does anyone know of the best way of ensuring this? Would a note on the client’s journal suffice?

If so, does anyone have a handy template / suggestions for one that will give us the best chance of a claim actually being backdated to the date of first contact at the Jobcentre?

Daphne
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CPAG are keen to hear of any cases where HTC is co-located in a jobcentre and there is a refusal to backdate to the date of first contact - there is a different argument then as claimant is indisutably in an appropriate office as required by reg 10. And yes I think the best way to request is to put a note in the journal as soon as it is open to write in.

See also this thread - https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/14472

Carolyn McA
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Adviser, Citizens Advice and Rights Fife

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I think I posted this on another thread, but we have been advised that as journal messages can only be left for work coaches, who can’t make the decision on backdating, journal backdating requests should include a request to the job coach to refer the message to a decision maker. I have no feedback as yet about how this is working out in practice.

JPCHC
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If you select ‘payment’ when leaving a journal message I thought they went directed to the service centre (case managers), rather than work coaches.  I might be wrong though? That’s where I (*cough* client) have left backdating messages before and got responses from the service centre

Rebecca Lough
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Welfare rights - Greenwich Council

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Journal messages definitely don’t just go to the work coach. Choosing ‘Payments’ or ‘Service Issues’ will both go to the service centre so MRs and other requests can be dealt with that way. I think CPAG did an FOI about what the different journal options mean, but a quick google didn’t produce it.

Stephen C
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Drumchapel Citizens Advice Bureau

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JPCHC - 20 June 2019 09:02 AM

If you select ‘payment’ when leaving a journal message I thought they went directed to the service centre (case managers), rather than work coaches.  I might be wrong though? That’s where I (*cough* client) have left backdating messages before and got responses from the service centre

Is it important that the journal messages appear to be from the client? The work coaches here don’t seem to think it’s a problem if I leave notes and am explicit that I’m the one doing it. The Service Centre might think differently though…?

Daphne
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Rebecca Lough - 20 June 2019 12:02 PM

Journal messages definitely don’t just go to the work coach. Choosing ‘Payments’ or ‘Service Issues’ will both go to the service centre so MRs and other requests can be dealt with that way. I think CPAG did an FOI about what the different journal options mean, but a quick google didn’t produce it.

here you are - https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/14263/