Non-dep child claiming UC - experiences of impact on parent’s legacy benefits

Cl is receiving HB and WCTC, her eldest child will soon turn 18 and is likely to have to claim UC (while living at home) as he is not continuing education and is unemployed.

In principle this should be straightforward - Mum and son are “unconnected adults” according to the UC regs, so Mum’s benefits should continue as normal, except that her CTC will be reduced as she will no longer receive an amount for the eldest child. With son claiming UC she should be able to avoid getting a non-dep deduction on her HB. Son’s UC will not include a housing element as he is not the person liable to pay rent (LA property).

That said, I’ll be amazed if something doesn’t go wrong, either on the UC end or the HB/TC end (especially for this cl - who has rotten luck!)

I’d be interested to hear other people’s experiences of similar situations, and if there is anything we should be looking out for to make the process as smooth as possible.