Reply To: Going back onto a legacy benefit (HB)
It’s very difficult to get past the fact that a UC claim was made, especially after the amendments to the UC (Transitional Provisions) Regs in the summer. I think HB could only be reinstated down to two weeks after the UC claim date.
If they had been on Pension Credit since 2019, there would have been a way back: Pension Credit doesn’t terminate when someone claims UC, only if UC is awarded. They aren’t entitled to UC so that never happened – had they been on SPC, they could have relied on transitional protection to reclaim HB. But that doesn’t seem to be an option for them.
The only remedy I can see is a complaint leading to compensation, which would depend on the extent to which this is the LA’s fault. It seems they are partly to blame for failing to respond to a routine intervention/review, and there was nothing wrong with the decision to end HB. But if you would have been inclined to uphold their appeal/recon when it was first received, and delayed unreasonably in doing so, they have a case for at least partial compensation i would have thought.
Snap – posted at same time as Prisca
