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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit migration  →  Thread

ESA OR UC?

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Elliot Kent
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Va1der - 24 September 2019 04:49 PM

And out of curiosity, what happens if the non-claimant in a couple (not separated) with 2xSDP tries to claim UC?

We’re back to the question Dan raised above.

A couple in this situation would be making a joint claim for UC -which they can’t do because reg 4A bites as the other member of the couple is in receipt of a legacy benefit which includes the SDP.

Va1der
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Elliot Kent - 24 September 2019 05:59 PM
Va1der - 24 September 2019 04:49 PM

And out of curiosity, what happens if the non-claimant in a couple (not separated) with 2xSDP tries to claim UC?

We’re back to the question Dan raised above.

A couple in this situation would be making a joint claim for UC -which they can’t do because reg 4A bites as the other member of the couple is in receipt of a legacy benefit which includes the SDP.

That’s what I thought, so on the point that Peter was making earlier, about advising one partner of a couple to claim HB, to try an ensure SDP entitlement if they become single - What’s to stop a new HB claim by the partner? Or am I missing/misinterpreting something?

Edit: So for a scenario: Couple with ESA and HB (2xSDP) in one partners name, that partner becomes terminally ill etc. - Advise other partner to take over the HB claim, in order to keep SDP when partner dies.
(Obviously none of this helps NAI’s original problem).

[ Edited: 25 Sep 2019 at 10:24 am by Va1der ]
Elliot Kent
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Yes, if you have a double-SDP couple where one member of the couple is getting both ESA and HB, then you could advise that the current non-claimant partner claims the HB instead. That should still be possible for as long as the gateway operates.

This would protect the non-claimant partner from needing to make a UC claim in the event of relationship breakdown or their partner’s death occurring before UC migration completes.