Reply To: Assistive technology and Broadband.
leonardpayneWell, this is my stab in the dark. Shoot me down in flames if I’ve got this wrong.
Firstly, Ian Abbinnett’s 28 June 2021 post quotes the DWP view. They quote reg sub-paragraph (a)(iii)
because “it is possible to use wifi for leisure activities”. IMHO just because it is possible doesn’t mean it is therefore excluded. I seem to recall a case in which it was decided that “just because it was possible to ‘take advantage’ doesn’t mean that advantage was taken.” — In addition, The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 (a)(iii) to which the DWP rely on has been substituted. Sch. 1 para. 1(a)(iii) substituted (2.4.2007) by The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/719), regs. 1(2), 6(5) — which has no practical effect.
Secondly, Stephanier’s post raises some questions. The base question is whether the provision of these technologies assists the provision of housing and I can see that if they assist with the turning on and off of lights, heating and possibly opening of curtains amongst other things, they could be included as housing-related.
Just because the Lightwave Hub is moveable, does not mean it is ‘support related’. If the claim is only for line rental, you should consider yourself lucky. I would consider the cost of the hub and installation and amortize them over 5 years. WiFi doesn’t need to be included. It is an integral part of the system that enables residents to control lights etc via an app.
An examination of the diagrams at
support.lightwaverf.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002029851-Getting-Started
– shows the Lightwave Plus box plugged into a regular internet router.
You COULD argue, that the resident could use it for internet activities. The question that a Judge would ask, is what is the intention of its provision. It seems to me it is for the tenancy and not for leisure. The following talks about the App that the resident uses and is useful for understanding.
support.lightwaverf.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002000232-How-the-Link-Plus-works
I would be interested to get Peter Barker’s take on it.