Benefit calculators or UC - which is right?

Hello,

I was wondering if you can help with this.

I used the ‘Turn to us’ as well as the other two benefits calculators on the government website, all of which said I would be entitled to £49 per week help with housing costs under universal credit.

So, I applied for this help over the telephone and got turned down – it came back with a zero award - case closed.

The benefits lady from the local authority re-checked using her calculator (she had all my paperwork and bank balances scanned to her) and it again showed me as entitled to £49 help with housing, but Universal Credit again gave a £0.00 ie not entitled. She cannot understand it either.

Are these benefits calculators prone to be wrong, or is Universal Credit wrong?

I have looked through your guides but cannot find anything on the subject.

Many thanks

H.

I thank you kindly BIS, although I may have sort of got to the bottom of it.

I had a call-back (after many weeks) this morning from the veteran’s welfare people.

Basically, all the online benefits calculators do not work at all well if one is receiving a war disablement pension (even though they ask you to input war disablement pension details in the boxes).

They cannot compute correctly between the various war disablement pension supplementary allowances, even though the calculators have boxes to input some of them. Thus, the calculations are invariably wrong, particularly if (as I did) the War Pension Other Rates’ box is ticked (as I receive some ‘War Pension other rates’!

That is not to say that Universal Credit is right either. Infact they seem to be wrong as well, as their system cannot distinguish between the dates some war pension supplementary allowances were awarded, as apparently this makes a difference (I think she mentioned April 2009?). They must be input clerically by the DWP but there is nowhere for the claimant to input the details needed.

She said it is a recurring problem for anyone in receipt of a war disablement pension trying to claim universal credit. Even though there is a general premise that war pensions do not count in universal credit, some additional supplements do, but depending on what they are and/or when they were claimed.

Veterans ideally need to seek help from a force’s charity or veteran’s welfare service who know of the problems.

Fortunately, she is taking up my case with the DWP at a higher level.

You may want to note the fact the online benefits calculators seem basically useless for those in receipt of war disablement pensions (as is the DWP Universal Credit online claim form) in case other veterans contact you.

Thank you again.

H