HB, CTR & UNIVERSAL CREDIT

 ONLINE WORKSHOP

Tuesday, 4th October, 2022.

Full-Day Workshop (9:30 - 4:30)
Workshop Fee: £240  + VAT.    4th Place Free.   

HB, CTR & UNIVERSAL CREDIT - A REVIEW OF SOME CURRENT KEY ISSUES

(Including 'Mixed Age Couples')

This Workshop is intended primarily for an audience of Local Authority Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction staff, focussing on the issues affecting people who migrate from HB to UC, people who claim UC and CTR and people who claim HB alongside UC for temporary and supported accommodation, as well as looking at the issues relating to benefit assessments for ‘Mixed Age Couples’.

With “managed migration” of the remaining legacy benefit caseload still showing no signs of commencing, this Workshop covers a range of issues affecting working age claimants still receiving Housing Benefit. We begin with an overview of the circumstances in which an HB claimant might or might not decide to claim UC, including:  

• Change of address: Both within one authority area and into a new authority. People often ask about cases where there is a short gap between the end of one tenancy and the commencement of another when the claimant moves within the same area – we will provide our view on such cases; • Household changes (couple to single, single to couple, children); 

• Found fit for work; 

• Change of financial circumstances; 

• Cases where one member of a couple ceases to be eligible for HB with the other remains eligible (students, absence from home): When can the HB award be saved, is there a role for closed period supersession, and what about underlying entitlement where the ineligible partner is overpaid? 

• Couples approaching the older partner’s pension age date, especially when either of them has or has the potential to obtain an award of income-related ESA.  

Not everyone who experiences one of these events has to claim UC and it is important to avoid providing incorrect advice to claimants who would potentially lose a lot of money if they switched unnecessarily to UC.  It is also worth knowing that many claimants gain through switching to UC and again providing correct advice is vital.  For those who do make a claim for UC, we will look at issues around the transition from legacy to UC including transitional run-ons of HB and other legacy benefits and entitlement to the SDP transitional element.  

Mixed age couples continue to generate frequent enquiries in our postbag and this workshop includes a segment dedicated to MACs. We cover circumstances in which HB awards terminate; cases where new HB claims can still be made; and questions about the way entitlement is calculated, for example where the younger partner is ineligible for UC, or whether the couple have been temporarily living apart for between six and 12 months.  A recent issue that has emerged is what happens when a mixed age couple separate, or one partner dies – we consider all the permutations (which partner has died; were they on UC or legacy benefits, etc).   

And, of course, we deal with issues affecting people who claim UC alongside HB (in specified or temporary accommodation) and CTR.  Common queries include exactly when someone should be regarded as a UC claimant for means testing purposes (passporting to full HB, mirroring of DWP income in a conventional CTR case) – especially when there are short periods where the claimant’s earnings are too high for them to qualify for UC.  Local authorities remain responsible for DHPs and we will look at the circumstances in which a UC claimant is eligible in principle for a DHP, as well as circumstances in which authorities might consider a DHP to be warranted including the benefit cap (e.g. large families with high rent, 4-weekly paid on 16 x NMW, anomalous months, e.g. when moving from general needs housing to specified accommodation mid-month). 

 We invite delegates to submit questions/examples in advance so that we can incorporate them into the day as case real-life studies.  

Presented by Peter Barker, this Workshop will clarify all the issues involved in a detailed and fact-filled day.  

Contact us for In-House 'Zoom' booking information for this topic.   

We are always pleased to arrange most of our Workshops, such as this one, for staff from an individual organisation. Please email us with your requirements for details.