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Housing benefit information/evidence requirement - statutory interpretation

EKS_COTTON
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Tax and Welfare Rights Officer, Equity

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Joined: 10 March 2014

Hi all,

A housing benefit ‘appeals and compliance officer’ has told me the following in relation to HB regulations:

‘The regulations do not specify in what circumstances evidence and information is required; only when it is not, which means local authorities can require evidence and information to support any part of a claim or award unless it is specifically excluded by the regulations.’

Is that correct statutory interpretation?

Best

EKS

Elliot Kent
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Shelter

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I think this is the sort of thing where you won’t get a useful answer without context.

Reg 86(1) says: “Subject to paragraphs (1A) and (2) and to paragraph 5 of Schedule A1 (treatment of claims for housing benefit by refugees), a person who makes a claim, or a person to whom housing benefit has been awarded, shall furnish such certificates, documents, information and evidence in connection with the claim or the award, or any question arising out of the claim or the award, as may reasonably be required by the relevant authority in order to determine that person’s entitlement to, or continuing entitlement to, housing benefit and shall do so within one month of the relevant authority requiring him, or the Secretary of State requesting him, to do so or such longer period as the relevant authority may consider reasonable.”

So there is a power to request anything which is a “certificate”, “document”, “evidence” or “information” provided that (a) it’s not excluded, (b) its relevant to the claim or award or question of entitlement and (c) it’s a reasonable requirement. On that view, what you are being told seems correct.

But the question is always going to be - are those conditions actually met on the facts of the case?

Some LAs around here try to use reg 86 require something along the lines of “an explanation of how you are surviving given that you claim to have no income”. You’re probably going to have an argument that something like that doesn’t fall into reg 86 in a given case.

EKS_COTTON
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Tax and Welfare Rights Officer, Equity

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Total Posts: 288

Joined: 10 March 2014

Many thanks Eliot