Mixed-age couples with SDP excluded from both UC and pension credit?

I was talking to someone yesterday who raised the point that mixed-age couples can’t claim pension credit from 15 May 2019 but people in receipt of SDP can’t claim universal credit from 16 January 2019 - so what will mixed-age couples with SDP claim? There doesn’t seem to be anything in regs that addresses the issue -

The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (SDP Gateway) Amendment Regulations 2019

The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 31 and Savings and Transitional Provisions and Commencement No. 21 and 23 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2019

Anyone got any ideas?

That thought had crossed my mind and that I needed to look at the regs
ultra vires?

Legacy DWP benefits have pensioner premiums, and the SDP gateway regs enable claims for HB and Tax Credits as well.  So I think they can make a new claim for the appropriate one out of IS, JSA, ESA and WTC plus where applicable HB and CTC

If they are currently in receipt of SDP, does this not mean they must either be on HB or a Legacy benefit already and would therefore be protected?
Or is there another situation I’ve missed?

If someone is claiming either PC or HB with an SDP at 15 May 2019, they can carry on receiving them without a problem. They can also establish a claim for the other benefit at a later point, provided that the benefit that was being received at 15 May 2019 has continued uniterruped ever since.

However, what’s puzzling me is what happens after 15 May with a mixed-age couple whereby the partner claiming ESA for both people with an SDP reaches 65 years of age and therefore the ESA payment has to stop. They will no longer be able to claim PC and as above, nor can they claim Universal Credit. What then? Is it then for the younger partner to make a new claim for ESA for both of them instead?

Presumably both members of the couple are sufficiently disabled to warrant the double SDP so the ESA switch should theoretically be possible. other than that it is a CA application (assuming the criteria are met) and subsequent IS claim.

The younger member of the couple claims a working age legacy benefit and then not covered by the pension age hb regs:
These Regulations shall not apply in relation to any person if he, or if he has a
partner, his partner, is a person on universal credit, on income support, on
an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or on an income-related employment and
support allowance

Therefore can then make a new working age HB claim?

Rock and hard place. Perhaps all it needs is an adjustment to HB regs between now and May. They’ve got time. It’s not as if they have anything better to do ; P

flair - 18 January 2019 12:08 PM

If they are currently in receipt of SDP, does this not mean they must either be on HB or a Legacy benefit already and would therefore be protected?
Or is there another situation I’ve missed?

Protection applies if you’re on PC and/or pension-age HB but not for other legacy benefits.  So I think some claimants with a legacy SDP still could be affected : suppose the older member of a couple reaches pension-age on/after 15 May 2019 but they weren’t on HB on 14 May 2019 so they remain on IS/JSA(IB)/ESA(IR) including SDP. If on/after 15th of May they have a CoC (e.g. becoming liable for rent) they won’t be protected from the mixed-age couple change so they won’t be able get PC or pension-age HB but equally they won’t be naturally migrated to UC as the SDP stops them from claiming.  ( So I think they’d remain on working-age legacy as HB Anorak has suggested.)

HB Anorak - 18 January 2019 12:07 PM

Legacy DWP benefits have pensioner premiums, and the SDP gateway regs enable claims for HB and Tax Credits as well.  So I think they can make a new claim for the appropriate one out of IS, JSA, ESA and WTC plus where applicable HB and CTC

I agree (*). As well as (presumably?) continuing to get pensioner premium in the legacy benefit which will normally top up the amount payable to PC levels they’ll also (hopefully?) continue to be protected from bedroom tax via HB Reg A13(2)(d). Also, since they’re entitled to SDP, they’ll be on a benefit which exempts them from HB benefit cap.

So this group will typically lose out less than the majority of those mixed-age couples who are forced to claim UC.

However, they’ll still potentially miss out on the advantages of PC/pension-age HB around capital. And they may also lose out by being kept on working-age CTR instead of pension-age.

(* I’ve assumed that article 6(2) won’t be engaged .)