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automatic end to HB award

Diogenes
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My client gets ESA IR , he gets his SRP in Feb 2022, he gets HB now, will his HB stop automatically when his eSA ends , he is a mixed age couple, wife under pension age, trying to work out if they are better off on pension, pip ca etc

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Yes, the HB award terminates (or should terminate) when he reaches SPA and the ESA award stops.

As such, he should make a UC claim before the ESA/HB awards cease, so that they get the two-week run-on payments as well as the automatic transfer of his LCW/LCWRA status into the UC award from day 1.

HB Anorak
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If he is personally the ESA claimant, and if his wife does not have her own old-style ESA(c) award that she can upgrade to ESA(ir) instead of him, then HB will end when he becomes a pensioner and there is nothing they can do to stop it.  The usual advice is to claim UC the day before HB terminates (which will be the Monday after reaching SPC age) in order to get a 2w HB run-on.

It is a moot point whether the legislation achieves the termination of HB in these circumstances (see #8 here: https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/15477), but until that is tested before the UT it is what local authorities will do.

PS - Paul in there quicker than me!

Diogenes
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thanks, i just read the gov.uk HB site and it says you can continue on HB even if your partner is under pension age if you have an existing award from 2019, what’s that all about ?????

from Gov.uk site
If you’re over State Pension age and have an existing claim
Your existing claim will not be affected if, before 15 May 2019, you:

were getting Housing Benefit
had reached State Pension age
It does not matter if your partner is under State Pension age.

If your circumstances change and your Housing Benefit is stopped, you cannot start getting it again unless you and your partner are eligible to make a new claim.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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You need to have been claiming pension-rules HB for the savings provisions to apply.

Because your client is receiving ESA, we know that the current HB award is made under the working age rules and so isn’t protected by the savings provisions and thus will come to an end. Reg.5(2) applies.

The Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006

Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit
5.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), these Regulations apply to a person who has attained the qualifying age for state pension credit.

(2) These Regulations shall not apply in relation to any person if he, or if he has a partner, his partner, is a person [F1on universal credit,] on income support [F2, [F3on] an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or on an income-related employment and support allowance].

Ianb
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HB Anorak - 19 January 2022 02:56 PM

The usual advice is to claim UC the day before HB terminates (which will be the Monday after reaching SPC age) in order to get a 2w HB run-on.!

Isn’t it necessary to claim sooner than that in order to get LCWRA transferred across and two week ESA run on.

HB Anorak
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I did wonder about that, but the way the ESA run-on works is to delay by two weeks the commencement of the WRA 2012 provisions which abolish ESA(ir).  If during those two weeks the claimant ceases to be eligible for ESA anyway because they are now a pensioner, I don’t think that delaying its abolition helps.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/1152/regulation/5

I cannot find anything that says a claimant in that situation is to be treated as if they were still working age for ESA purposes, or anything that extends ESA eligibility to people who have claimed UC and reached pension age within the past two weeks.  There might be something of that nature, but not that I can find.

You are right about LCWRA though, good point - so worth claiming UC before birthday for that reason alone.

[ Edited: 19 Jan 2022 at 05:28 pm by HB Anorak ]
Ianb
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Thanks HBAnorak. I’m not sure of what happens, nor what is supposed to happen which might of course be different. I wouldn’t want to risk.

Charles
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I agree that the ESA will end upon turning pension age despite the two week run on. DWP even seem to terminate IS awards, despite the IS run on being legislated for in precisely the same way as the HB run on (see here).

The upshot is that generally the most beneficial time to claim UC in this situation is two weeks prior to turning pension age. Either way the ESA will end at pension age, but two weeks of UC would generally be worth more than two weeks of HB.

Diogenes
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Thanks everyone, most helpful advice