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Mixed age couple + NRPF status + housing costs = confuzzled mess!
Hello!
I am relatively new to benefits advice & while I have met mixed age couple situations before, this situation has thrown me a bit of a curve ball due to the immigration status of tenant’s spouse.
AH - Husband - 69 - sole tenant – state pension age – possible dementia - receives £187 pension pw & £188 DLA every 4 weeks.
ME - Wife – 59 - working age (& has low paying job - no wage info provided as yet) – NRPF immigration status
AH has been messed about by local council HB & UC for about 6 months – borough stopped his HB claim in Nov 2019 when wife re-entered UK in Nov 2019 – although apparently didn’t send a letter out until 02/03/2020 to say they were closing the case. AH does not recall this letter.
Borough then told AH as his HB was closed he had to claim UC as a mixed age couple - whereupon UC refused his joint claim as mixed age couple. I learned on the phone today from UC call handler this was because his wife (ME) failed habitual residence test and AH can’t claim UC as he is state pension age……AH has been trying to make UC claims for the best part of 2020 - certainly since spring 2020 when he got sent back to the borough to claim HB by staff in job centre as they said he was state pension age. And Borough refused his HB claim.
AH currently owes over £3500 in rent arrears caused by no HB payment since March 2020. And now also owes an overpayment of £2300 to borough as they paid HB out until March 2020 but then backdated closure of case to Nov 2019.
My questions are:
1. Should he be applying for UC or HB to cover the costs of his rent? And claiming as a single person or adding wife in the claim?
2. Will applying for either of these for the rent be damaging for wife’s immigration status? As in, benefitting indirectly from public funds through her husband?
3. If UC is the way forward - what’s the best way to recoup housing entitlement since early 2020…....? Can we challenge the closure of earlier claims & get Housing costs paid?
All and any guidance appreciated. Thanks.
Welcome to the forum.
The Council were wrong to end entitlement in these circumstances.
See Adjudication circular A9/2019 para 15-17 and example 2 for why.
Thank you for the welcome & link to the circular Elliott. Helpful & informative reading. :-)
Thank you for the welcome & link to the circular Elliott. Helpful & informative. :-)