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Managed Payment to Landlord Leaves Claimant £0 UC claim
Does anyone have any experience of this issue:
my client, subject to the benefit cap, has had a managed payment to her landlord applied to her UC claim because of rent arrears. This leaves £0 UC income and leaves the family only child benefit to live on. We have been successful in applying for a Discretionary Housing Payment (however paid directly to the landlord) however neither landlord or DWP will reduce the managed payment to the landlord so the client has zero to live on.
Advice options?
Thank you
Does anyone have any experience of this issue:
my client, subject to the benefit cap, has had a managed payment to her landlord applied to her UC claim because of rent arrears. This leaves £0 UC income and leaves the family only child benefit to live on. We have been successful in applying for a Discretionary Housing Payment (however paid directly to the landlord) however neither landlord or DWP will reduce the managed payment to the landlord so the client has zero to live on.
Advice options?
Thank you
i think we need a bit more information on circumstances of the client because there has to be something being massively deducted aside from the rent as im struggling to see how someone benefit capped at £1666.67 has zero to live on after a MPTL
£0 payment after an advance deduction and rent of £1,550 per month Benefit entitlement checked - key issue is how to influence APA - have tried MR on basis of not in best interests of family but unsuccessful. Could request advance deduction is suspended however APA will increase due to arrears.
£0 payment after an advance deduction and rent of £1,550 per month Benefit entitlement checked - key issue is how to influence APA - have tried MR on basis of not in best interests of family but unsuccessful. Could request advance deduction is suspended however APA will increase due to arrears.
The rent is how much?!?!?!?!?!?!? oh my word i understand now why it is zero
the rent arrears will only be 20% of the standard allowance if they are already paying that then it shouldnt go up if the advance is deferred (but im not sure if the £1550 if for the full rent or the rent plus RA)
if DWP are not reducing it or stopping the MPTL possibly a complaint with an I&E attached but realistically can they afford to stay in that property or is that the going rate for properties??
i just cant get over how much the monthly rent is, you could get a bloody penthouse for that amount up north!!!
(sorry i realise my gasping at the rent amount is not exactly helpful im still trying to pick my jaw up of the desk)
5 children - 3 beds, reasonable rent for outer London borough! Unlikely to get anything cheaper unless move to two bedroom. Rent is £1,550 - arrears is additional. Long term advice is to work to lift the cap. Need immediate solution.
In response to VRW’s reaction, I’d say that this is one of the most unfair aspects of the cap - the arbitrary way it affects families in the south east (outside London), and especially those in private rented housing. The other thing I’d point out is that the £1,666.67 will be reduced by Child Benefit of £333.02 (if I’ve calculated that correctly). So the capped UC won’t even cover the rent. Presumably that’s why the DHP is being paid direct to the landlord?
Rather than just arguing with UC about applying an APA, I’d also try to persuade the local authority to pay the DHP or part of it to your client - they can choose to do so. Remember that a periodic DHP in UC can be for any amount up to the housing costs - it doesn’t matter how much the DWP is paying, or who they are choosing to pay it to. It is fundamentally different from a DHP which just makes up a rent shortfall in HB.
I would also make a homelessness application. This accommodation is clearly unaffordable, which means it is not reasonable for the family to continue to occupy it, which means they are homeless (even while they are continuing to live there). This is obviously not likely to be a short-term solution in itself, but, given that a homelessness application is made to the same LA as the DHP application, I would hope they would work together to help your client.
One small detail - in London the cap is £1,916.67. Minus the £333.02 leaves £1,583.65.
Yes I was going to say that they sound homeless in a Samuels sense if they have £23,000 PA of benefit income and rent of £18,600 PA plus arrears to pay.
One small detail - in London the cap is £1,916.67. Minus the £333.02 leaves £1,583.65.
yeah i didnt realised sutton was inside the M25 my London geography is not great haha
One small detail - in London the cap is £1,916.67. Minus the £333.02 leaves £1,583.65.
yeah i didnt realised sutton was inside the M25 my London geography is not great haha
There’s no shame in not knowing London geography. Until recently, most people in the south east couldn’t have told you where Barnard Castle is (although obviously we’ve all got it in our satnavs now, in case we get Covid symptoms).
I know where Sutton is, but I’d assumed it must be one of those councils inside the M25 that’s not part of Greater London, because the LA is paying the DHP to the landlord. Thinking about it though, I suppose it’s likely that the UC doesn’t cover the full rent after deductions.
One small detail - in London the cap is £1,916.67. Minus the £333.02 leaves £1,583.65.
yeah i didnt realised sutton was inside the M25 my London geography is not great haha
There’s no shame in not knowing London geography. Until recently, most people in the south east couldn’t have told you where Barnard Castle is (although obviously we’ve all got it in our satnavs now, in case we get Covid symptoms).
I know where Sutton is, but I’d assumed it must be one of those councils inside the M25 that’s not part of Greater London, because the LA is paying the DHP to the landlord. Thinking about it though, I suppose it’s likely that the UC doesn’t cover the full rent after deductions.
Barny is a lovely town got a cracking good specsavers!! (and also a very nice restaurant called Valentines if anyone ever goes to test their eyesight i would recommend for food!!)
errr, why not ask for the DHP to be paid to the claimant??/
We pay DHP’s to the claimant rather than the landlord in these cases .
(because otherwise the rent is being paid twice so either clrears arrears of very quicklu or rent account ends up in credit)
LA’s still have the choice who to pay a dhp to. often in similar cases, we make it part of the condition for a DHP that a managed payment is put in place, and once that happens, we pay the DHP to the customer.
generally we just need to check UCDS every few months to ensure managed payment still in pace/ advise landlord to contact us pronto if managed payment stops
Worked ok for our ayurthority so far.
A bit late! However in case of future use, there are 2 CPAG judicial review templates on this issue -
JR82: Managed Payment to Landlord insisted on by DWP when tenant is left with insufficient income for living expenses (as benefit capped)
and
JR65: Refusal of DHP - benefit capped client but Managed Payment to Landlord in place so rent being paid in full. DHP refused as ‘no need for help with housing costs’
Which can be found on the JR pages on housing costs and DHPs at https://cpag.org.uk/welfare-rights/judicial-review/judicial-review-pre-action-letters