Mixed Aged Couple and Right to Reside

Hi All,

Apologies if this has been talked about before & I have missed it, but here’s a conundrum for you…

I’ve got clients who are in a mixed aged couple. He is older and has passed the HRT on UC. She is younger and has failed it. She is therefore not counted as a person for the purposes of UC - meaning he is counted as a single claimant. As he is over PC age, he has been told he needs to claim PC. However, PC only applies the HRT to the lead claimant, meaning that they will be seen as a mixed-aged couple and told to claim UC.
They are being blocked from both benefits and I’m unsure how to resolve?

For context, I dont think we have any grounds to appeal her HRT. I’m going to try and new UC claim again as they now have kids in school and hes a worker so she may have derivative R2R, but I’m not confident on a quick win. I also think it probably a problem that will affect more than this one client, and was wondering if anyone has any brilliant ideas?

This is a situation which the regulations anticipate - the older member of the couple is able to claim PC & HB. See Memo A9/2019 at para 15-17.

Example 2: Younger partner not eligible for UC

The younger partner is not eligible to claim UC as part of a joint-claim couple because either:
•they are under 18, and not exempt from the UC minimum age rule due to disability or being responsible for a child, or
•they do not satisfy the habitual residence test

In this scenario the older partner will:
•not be able to claim UC as a single person, and
•be able to claim pension age HB as a single person until their partner reaches 18, or satisfies the habitual residence test

Abi Sheridan - 29 October 2019 10:57 AM

For context, I dont think we have any grounds to appeal her HRT. I’m going to try and new UC claim again as they now have kids in school and hes a worker so she may have derivative R2R

The couple will probably be better off not challenging the negative HRT finding, oddly…

That’s really useful, thanks Elliot! I actually put in a HB claim when I saw him, as a long shot until I figured it out, so it’s good that I can go back to them and solidify this claim.
Cheers.

Yep, as a single person, his applicable amount for PC is £167.25 a week, plus child elements of £63.84 or £53.84 a week and no two-child limit.

With UC, the basic allowance for a couple is ~£114 a week so they’re £50 a week better off before they start.

A9/2019 HB Circular