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Backdated Tenancy Agreement
Client succeeded to a tenancy when his mother died at the end of December, however LA didn’t inform him about how much rent he had to pay and have only now produced a tenancy agreement which is backdated to the date of his mother’s passing.
This is leaving him hundreds of pounds in arrears and having to claim UC instead of HB (which he could have done with SDP entitlement had he been notified about his rent liability before 27th January). Even with a 1 month backdate of UC, he will still be heavily in arrears.
Is negotiating with the LA to write off the arrears the only option here?
Is negotiating with the LA to write off the arrears the only option here?
I think the answer is probably yes, to start with.
It does seem surprising that the LA didn’t ask him to pay anything - clearly there was rent due either from his mother’s estate or from him depending on whether he met the conditions for succession. If it is correct that they didn’t ask him to pay then I would consider a complaint to the LA and take it on to the ombudsman if necessary.
If he did genuinely succeed (and you might want to check this isn’t just a case of the LA granting him a tenancy and calling it succession) I don’t think there’s any legal argument to suggest he’s not liable for the rent from the date of his mother’s death, but there’s an obvious moral argument that it’s not fair to present a disabled person who is unable to work with a backdated bill that you know they can’t claim for, if you didn’t make them aware at the time that they would need to pay.
Of course as we’re talking about an LA it’s possible that they might be able to come up with some creative ways to justify a DHP to cover it.
By the way, I wouldn’t be too hopeful of getting a month backdate from UC - what’s the reason for the late application?
The reasons for not claiming earlier were that the client didn’t know he had automatic succession (as Housing claim he has) and as he wasn’t asked for rent or given a tenancy agreement when his mother died, he didn’t know he’d have to apply for housing costs. I don’t think he understood the issues around succession and liability and he wasn’t referred for help until 28th January.
Is it possible that he, or someone acting on his behalf (whether formally or informally), said or wrote something before 27 January that could reasonably be interpreted as notification of an intention to claim HB?
The reasons for not claiming earlier were that the client didn’t know he had automatic succession (as Housing claim he has) and as he wasn’t asked for rent or given a tenancy agreement when his mother died, he didn’t know he’d have to apply for housing costs. I don’t think he understood the issues around succession and liability and he wasn’t referred for help until 28th January.
I don’t think many people understand the issues around succession, to be honest.
You’re probably already aware, but UC backdating can only apply in accordance with Reg 26 of the Claims and Payments Regs. He’ll need to show that the reason he couldn’t reasonably have been expected to claim sooner was because of his disability - which seems like a bit of a mountain to climb because it looks like the reason was that he wasn’t told he needed to pay. Depending on his disability I suppose it’s possible that his disability was the reason he didn’t know he needed to pay - e.g. if it is MH/LD then it might be arguable that he would have been more proactive about finding out if it hadn’t been for his disability?
Is it possible that he, or someone acting on his behalf (whether formally or informally), said or wrote something before 27 January that could reasonably be interpreted as notification of an intention to claim HB?
I’m not sure he would have actually known about HB but if he did, would that enable a claim to succeed? He hasn’t yet applied for SDP for the period between his mother’s death and claiming UC as we’ve only just taken him on but we’ll send him an IS10 for that so ensure he gets SDP transitional element if entitled
edit: It appears the client thought he was dealing with an HB claim when he contacted Housing - he didn’t realise that speaking to Housing wasn’t the same as speaking to the Benefits section
[ Edited: 12 Mar 2021 at 03:28 pm by unhindered by talent ]The reasons for not claiming earlier were that the client didn’t know he had automatic succession (as Housing claim he has) and as he wasn’t asked for rent or given a tenancy agreement when his mother died, he didn’t know he’d have to apply for housing costs. I don’t think he understood the issues around succession and liability and he wasn’t referred for help until 28th January.
I don’t think many people understand the issues around succession, to be honest.
You’re probably already aware, but UC backdating can only apply in accordance with Reg 26 of the Claims and Payments Regs. He’ll need to show that the reason he couldn’t reasonably have been expected to claim sooner was because of his disability - which seems like a bit of a mountain to climb because it looks like the reason was that he wasn’t told he needed to pay. Depending on his disability I suppose it’s possible that his disability was the reason he didn’t know he needed to pay - e.g. if it is MH/LD then it might be arguable that he would have been more proactive about finding out if it hadn’t been for his disability?
Thanks for that reminder. I do think there could be a disability element to it.