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HB backdating when also receiving UC
Tenant and partner were receiving housing benefit but became a mixed age couple on 09/05/2022 and made a claim for UC. The partner, who was under pension age died on 27/05/2022. The UC claim continued for two further assessment periods as expected and ended on 08/08/2022. The tenant then made a claim for pension age HB on 09/08/2022. The Council backdated her award to 30/05/2022 (although backdating was not requested) with the decision notice saying, “claim based on Universal Credit”, but at the same time sent her letter saying her claim is suspended as the DWP has notified them of a change in benefits. That bit makes sense and she just needs to let them know about her pension income etc. But what is puzzling me is the duplication. In effect she received both a UC housing costs element and some housing benefit during the period 30/05/2022 to 08/08/2022. Is the backdating decision correct?
As is so often the case in UC, there is no legal basis for what has happened and so no clear-cut correct way out.
There is no way that a single pensioner can be entitled to UC, except for the remainder of the AP in which s/he reaches SPC age. Other than that, UC and SPC age are 100% incompatible. The run-on for two additional APs after death protects the rate of UC, but if you are a single pensioner you don’t get a rate of UC in the first place because you are filtered out at the basic conditions stage.
A person cannot be entitled to general needs HB at the same time as they are entitled to UC - but this claimant should not have been entitled to UC and HB should have been the correct benefit to claim (along with SPC if pension income is low enough). It seems like a windfall but the error is on the UC side - I cannot see anything technically incorrect about awarding HB.
Thank you HB Anorak for confirming that
As is so often the case in UC, there is no legal basis for what has happened and so no clear-cut correct way out.
There is no way that a single pensioner can be entitled to UC, except for the remainder of the AP in which s/he reaches SPC age. Other than that, UC and SPC age are 100% incompatible. The run-on for two additional APs after death protects the rate of UC, but if you are a single pensioner you don’t get a rate of UC in the first place because you are filtered out at the basic conditions stage.
A person cannot be entitled to general needs HB at the same time as they are entitled to UC - but this claimant should not have been entitled to UC and HB should have been the correct benefit to claim (along with SPC if pension income is low enough). It seems like a windfall but the error is on the UC side - I cannot see anything technically incorrect about awarding HB.
This was discussed back in 2020 here:
https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/15562/
My suspicions in that thread that DWP allow UC to continue for someone of pension-age whose working age partner has died was confirmed to the SSAC in May 2020. See here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101815/ssac-minutes-may-2020.pdf (see in particular Para. 6.3 points (e) & (f) on page 13, and also pages 28-32)