UC Housing costs for prisoners

Good afternoon

Client signed up for a property on 23/11/2020. He was already in receipt of Universal Credit SA only, no housing element.  Housing costs were added to his UC claim on 23/11/20. These were verified and APA applied for on 24/11/20.

He was sent to prison on 24/11/20. We are awaiting confirmation but believe this to be for 6 months.

MAP 3rd-2nd of each month

Will UC pay his Housing costs for 6 months?

I am unsure whether he satifies the condition that his UC award included housing costs element or if they will revert the change in circustmaces back to the beginning of his MAP

Many thanks

Good question - there isn’t a clear answer.

The general idea is that changes in circumstances are applicable from the start of the AP in which they occur. There are two changes here - one is the start of the housing costs and the next is going to prison. Both are backdated to the start of the 03/11 - 02/12 AP.

One way to look at it is that because each change is taking legal effect from the same point in time, it cannot be said that the claimant was entitled to housing costs ‘immediately before’ going to prison. The entitlement which he might have had did not stick around long enough to actually take effect.

Another way to look at it is that viewed in real time, he had established an entitlement to housing costs effective from 03/11 at the point at which he was sent to prison - so he was in fact entitled to the HCE ‘immediately before’ going to prison and therefore gets to keep it.

Dunno which the DWP will do in your case, but it would be an interesting appeal argument.

I agree with Elliot.

Even someone who was entitled to the HCE in the previous AP - does s/he have entitlement immediately before going to prison (i.e. in the current AP)? Well, that depends whether entitlement continues after going to prison. So making entitlement after going to prison depend on having entitlement immediately before going to prison doesn’t make sense.
In other words, how can you make entitlement in the second half of an AP depend on entitlement in the first half of the AP when entitlement in the first half itself depends on entitlement in the second half???

I therefore think the only logical way to understand the regs is the way Elliot explains in his second last paragraph. The same thing would apply to temporary absences from the UK.