UC confusion

I’m sorry to keep asking for advice but I’m getting conflicting and confusing advice from Welfare Rights and Citizens Advice Universal Credit organisations hence wondering what you advise.

Son moving from one borough to another and me, as Appointee, making a claim for Universal Credit upon him moving. Same landlord but rent will be about £100 a month more at new flat.

I am concerned about telling Housing Benefit that my son will be moving on a particular date because HB is a legacy benefit and I know from the forum how important it is that legacy benefits are ‘live’ on the day I claim UC.

So when I do the claim for UC which is for the flat in the new borough do I tick the relevant boxes on the claim form that say my son is getting Housing Benefit and Council Tax support even though that is for the flat in the old borough where he was the previous day ?

Hi David,

Yes, I was planning to claim UC on the day my son moves to a new local authority. He currently gets Housing Benefit which is paid to landlord.

Now this afternoon the Welfare Rights organisation advisor is saying I could claim UC a couple of days before son moves with his current tenancy details, and then when he’s moved two days later notify UC of new address and tenancy details via the online account. Advisor said that provided the move to the new flat happens within the first UC assessment period, the increase in his rent will start from the beginning of the assessment period so it won't reduce his SDP transitional element (son is in LCWRA support group ESA and gets Severe Disability Premium and Enhanced Disability Premium and PIP enhanced daily living).

I have to wonder if that would work. Housing Benefit pay the landlord directly 4 weeks in arrears so when they are told to stop Housing Benefit does HB pay whatever arrears they owe ? Since the UC assessment is in the first four weeks they would be responsible for a couple of days rent at the current address (unless they have to take over the HB arrears….that I am concerned about) and then the rent at the new address.

Citizens Advice Universal Credit was very vague on this. They said I could claim UC the day son moves and I could tick box saying son gets Housing Benefit as well which was surprising.

Citizens Advice also didn’t believe my son was getting CB ESA as well as IR ESA because the latest award letter only mentions IR ESA - but that’s because IR ESA is higher than CB ESA so they put that it’s IR ESA in the award letters. I then sent Citizens Advice a copy of a Proof of Benefit award letter that ESA sent me a couple of months ago (I was sending the advisor copies of ESA letters while I was on the phone online for her to look at) - I had wanted proof my son gets CB ESA and IR ESA so I had phoned the ESA line, very helpful guy explained son was getting both and did me that proof of benefit letter to say that..…I do not know why Citizens Advice didn’t believe the ESA letter - I also sent them a copy of son’s P60U for ESA which has a huge amount of taxable income which is the CB ESA. You see what I mean by confusion.

Hi David,

I wasn’t thinking of any financial gain by doing what the Welfare Rights Advisor said, I think she was thinking it would be to do with the fact that I could tick the box for saying that my son gets Housing Benefit because then he would be getting HB in his current place.

I was worried it would be wrong to tick the box for HB on the day my son moves but I suppose he technically would still be getting HB that day since HB pay the landlord in arrears. I’ll go with Citizens Advice and do the UC on moving day. It will be busy as we’ll be having to do everything for our son and do the UC claim form. Maybe he won’t move but it seems extremely likely.

Thanks for your help,
Anne

Hi David - you wrote to someone regarding housing benefit that "Housing Benefit is automatically terminated on the day you make your UC claim.”

So going back to my quandry about Housing Benefit, the local council pays my son’s HB to his landlord 4 weeks in arrears, so is HB paid up until the date UC starts but in arrears so to speak. For example, if I claim UC on 1st November, the council will pay the HB to the landlord up until 1st November but in arrears which would be 4 weeks later….otherwise there would be a shortfall of 4 weeks rent if the council just stopped paying on the 1st Nov.