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Underlying entitlement to SDP?
Cl is in SG for ESA and in receipt of PIP. Cl was living with parents one of whom claimed CA for him so no SDP has been in payment. Cl has now moved out to his own flat and has been turned down for HB and directed to claim UC. Did cl have an underlying entitlement to SDP previously or alternatively can he now claim SDP and then try again to claim HB or is UC his only route…
If he has an award of ESA (assuming its not nsESA) then he can have the SDP included in that award if he meets the conditions for it. That then has the effect of bringing him within the SDP exemption so a new claim for HB could be made.
Important to recognise that the existence of UC does not change anything at all about how legacy benefits operate. You can still become entitled to premiums, stop being entitled to premiums, have changes of rates etc etc as previously.
Thank you very much I will advise cl to do this.
Sorry but cl has raised a further query. Cl’s father was receiving CA and has today ended his claim. I’ve advised him to confirm that payment ends immediately and no 4 week run-on as this would prevent the SDP being available. However cl asks whether he should notify ESA of his new address (he has not in fact moved in to the HA property but will do so in two weeks). If he notifies them this will trigger a change of circumstances requiring him to claim UC. He’s supposed to notify change of circs within 4 weeks - could he be in trouble if he doesn’t do so? Could they insist that the coc means he must now claim UC?
Is the new address in a different local authority?
He has no current claim for HB as he’s been living with his parents.
Sorry but cl has raised a further query. Cl’s father was receiving CA and has today ended his claim. I’ve advised him to confirm that payment ends immediately and no 4 week run-on as this would prevent the SDP being available. However cl asks whether he should notify ESA of his new address (he has not in fact moved in to the HA property but will do so in two weeks). If he notifies them this will trigger a change of circumstances requiring him to claim UC. He’s supposed to notify change of circs within 4 weeks - could he be in trouble if he doesn’t do so? Could they insist that the coc means he must now claim UC?
None of this changes anything.
People tend to freak out when it comes to UC and changes of circumstances and “claim triggers” and so on. We don’t need to.
We have to look at these things critically and remember that the rules for legacy benefits have not changed. The only new rule is that you cannot (subject to the SDP exemption) make a new claim for one of the legacy benefits.
If we were advising this client in 2015, before the UC rollout and he asked if changing address would have any impact on his ESA entitlement, the answer would be “no” - where he lives doesn’t matter for the purposes of his base level entitlement to ESA. That answer hasn’t changed - he can change address and remain entitled to ESA just as he can become entitled to the SDP within his ESA award.
Sorry what I mean to say is that there will be no change of HB authority as he has not been claiming.
Got it. Thank you I will reassure cl.
He has no current claim for HB as he’s been living with his parents.
Yes, sorry, you’re quite right!