UC and protection on bereavement

Tenant is receiving Carer’s Allowance and Income Support as she cared for her grandmother who she lived with and was our tenant. Her grandmother has died recently so tenant will claim HB in her own right and get protection from bedroom tax (for 52 weeks generally). Her IS and CA will stop 8 weeks after her grandmother died and she will then have to claim UC. UC only protects from bedroom tax for 3 months.

Will she get another month (as already had 8 weeks on HB) or a further 3 months?

She will get another 3 months on UC as the housing benefit claim in its own right would end.  She still needs to claim council tax from local council.

Reg 37 of the UC regs covers the run on after death. The run on is for the assessment period in which the death occurs and then two further periods.

What does this mean in this case?. The death didn’t occur in an assessment period as there was no UC claim at time of death.

I am not sure they get any protection at all.  Reg 37 of the UC Regs says the protection applies for the assessment period in which the death occurs plus another two assessment periods after that.  There is no assessment period before the claimant is on UC, so I don’t think the protection is triggered on migration.  I cannot find anything in the transitional regs that allows HB protection to be carried over.

I can only suggest she applies for a DHP from the council to supplement the UC housing element for as long as the HB protection would have lasted.

Another way round it would be if she still has a claim for HB outstanding on the day she becomes a jobseeker and loses her IS eligibility: then she would be outside the UC gateway.  She could risk delaying the HB claim for a few weeks and ask for backdating (she has a month anyway if she is on IS at the time she becomes liable for rent).

Incidentally there is a risk the Council will not agree she is entitled to 12 months’ protection: some councils interpret the definition of “linked person” in Reg 2 to mean that it must be a household member other than the claimant who has died and the claimant remains the same before and after the death.  It is rather vague as to who is the “claimant” and when.  Some councils interpret it as generously as possible to allow 12 months’ protection irrespective of who was the claimant before the death - hopefully your council is one of those.

P.S. Snap! - there you go, two people saying the same thing at the same time

Great thanks.

She is claiming HB now and will get the protection until 8 weeks after grandmothers death (whilst CA and IS still in payment). When she becomes a Jobseeker she will already be on HB but that doesn’t exclude her from claiming UC. We had thought about DHP but weren’t sure that HB would appreciate compensating for more stringent UC rules. Worth a go though.

Many thanks

Don’t think of DHP as belonging to HB, the guidance is clear that it can be paid in respect of rent shortfalls arising for UC claimants as well, and is precisely there to make up for shortcomings in the benefit rules which leave people in an unfavourable position regarding ability to pay rent.

Good point. I know DHP applies to UC claimants but was thinking the LA wouldn’t want to compensate for other benefit changes but of course you are right. I was confusing with them not wanting to compensate for sanction related hardship.