Rent liability

A minor is renting a house via a court appointed deputy, and lives there with his parents. The contract is in the child’s name via the deputy. The parents have tried to claim housing as part of their UC claim but refused as they have no liability. Would some kind of contract between the deputy and the parents be sufficient for UC or would the tenancy have to be transferred to the parents?

The Regs are clear that any liability by a child for whom the claimant (or their partner) is responsible is to be treated as the claimant’s liability. See UC Regs, Sched.2 Para. 1.

This situation is specifically covered by para 1(1)(a) of Sch 2 of the UC Regs. The parents are treated as liable.

Edit: Charles beat me this time!!

Extremely fast response and just the answer I was looking for. Thank you both.

They’re really not having this. They have now come back with this:

‘The tenancy agreement is in the name of the deputies, not the parents, which means no liability. Taking it further, the deputies have stated they are acting on behalf of [the child] who they state is liable – when actually [the child] can’t be liable for the rent payments as they are under age.’

‘It’s worth noting that by the terms of the trust, and comments on the case so far, the deputies can decide to either buy a suitable property for Dominic to live in, or grant monies as they see fit for the protection of the child, which information thus far seems to include rent.’

‘the deputies are the two persons who work for the legal company hence they are in charge of all funding for your child UNLESS they change it into your names.’

To my mind, the deputies act on behalf of the child but the liability is still the childs and the above regs still apply. Am I missing something?