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Reciprocal social security agreements / receiving UC whilst out of the UK

ZoeHBF
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Welfare and Housing, Helen Bamber Foundation (London)

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Joined: 14 May 2017

An issue I’ve not had to advise on before; our client was recently granted refugee status, and lives with his partner and her adult children. His partner already receives UC (our client was not technically not on her claim), and has leave to remain of some kind (with recourse to public funds). Our client’s partner receives some amount of UC, including the housing element for their private rented accommodation, and works part-time. Our client is still not added to her UC claim yet (which is what I was going to help him with, so that they could receive the couple’s allowance), but this hasn’t been possible for a few reasons.

Our client’s partner left the UK on 19/01, and is in the Philippines caring for her elderly mother with stage 4 ovarian cancer, who is in hospital. UC have suspended her payments, asking for the date she left the UK, when she will return, and proof of tickets etc. She is not sure when she is going to return but absolutely will do; her family and life are in the UK. She is terrified that they will get into more rent arrears since UC have suspended payments.

I’ve read somewhere that you can keep claiming Universal Credit if you’re going abroad for up to a month if at the start of the absence you don’t plan to be away for more than one month. It may be extended up to two months if the absence is caused by the death of your partner, child or close relative who is with you.

Our client’s partner has been out of the UK for 8 weeks this week, and still isn’t sure when she is going to return, probably within 3 months apparently. However I read that the UK has a reciprocal social security agreement with the Philippines, which I’m hoping might make it possible for her to receive some money from some statutory source even whilst she is out of the UK and if UC payments are suspended correctly?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this, if she can be argued to be still habitually resident, and/or if not, how to find out about the reciprocal agreement the UK has with the Philippines?

Elliot Kent
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Joined: 14 July 2014

Well lets look at this under the basic rules without bringing the reciprocal arrangements into it and then circle back.

As you note, the current position is that your client’s partner has a UC claim which is technically a claim by a single person as a result of reg 3(3) UC Regs (although subject to the special rules regarding ineligible partners). They can be absent from the UK for 1 month and retain an entitlement, or two in the case of a death of a relative, however it is fairly plain that their absence is going to result in their UC award being brought to an end rather shortly (and they have likely already incurred an overpayment) as no exception applies (see reg 11).

But your client is in the UK and, pursuant to their newly granted refugee status, has a right to reside. They have a partner, albeit one who is disqualified from entitlement as a result of not being in the UK. Isn’t it now just a case of reversing the roles - so that your client claims UC as a single person with an ineligible partner rather than being the ineligible partner on their partner’s claim?

Does the reciprocal arrangement do anything useful here? The short answer is no. Neither the reciprocal agreement with the Philippines or that with any other state cover Universal Credit, Broadly speaking, they don’t cover means-tested benefits at all. For more on this, see ch17 of Benefits for Migrants. The reciprocal agreement with the Philippines can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/2002/pdfs/uksi_19892002_301114_en.pdf

ZoeHBF
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Welfare and Housing, Helen Bamber Foundation (London)

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Total Posts: 79

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Thank you very much Elliot, that’s so helpful. I’m not sure what I was doing, foolishly going down the reciprocal agreement rabbit hole, desperately trying to find a way that his partner’s UC claim could keep doing! That makes a lot of sense, and we’ll definitely try to help our client make his own individual claim for UC, hopefully ASAP.