Moving from tax credits to universal credits " cost of living payments "

wowmee

Hi all.

My partner has recently been requested to move from her old style tax credits to universal credit. She's had to re apply for all her entitlements and due to this her tax credit benefits have stopped, along with her child tax credits and she's been notified she will not receive anything until 28th Feb 24, but today she's also been told via her journal that the cost of living payment she would also have received this month will no longer be paid as her benefits have stopped, but they have stopped due to transition to UC, she queried it via her journal and they have stated that she can have a hardship payment if needed, but when she told them she qualified for the cost of living payment due to being on the correct benefit within the eligibility date they just seem to shun her off, so the question remains, is she eligible and will she still get the cost of living payment?

poppy123456

The advice she’s had through her journal is incorrect. If she received a payment of Tax credits between 13th Nov and 12th Dec then she will be entitled to the next payment through HMRC. This is expected to be paid anytime between 16th and 22nd Feb. See link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAq4KuBhA6EiwArMAw1KypqA68X9UGF7ixSQZEPqtXKmloVPjQ3UBCOy5-gTXHAWYQhiO4AhoCIBgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#low-income-benefits-and-tax-credits-cost-of-living-payment-eligibility

Jimm_Scope

Hi @wowmee, did your partner receive a CoL payment from Tax Credits in November? Also, what date did the migration letter say your partner had to apply for UC by and when did she actually go through?

Just hoping with this information we might get a better idea of what's happened here.

poppy123456

Jimm_Scope said:

Hi @wowmee, did your partner receive a CoL payment from Tax Credits in November? Also, what date did the migration letter say your partner had to apply for UC by and when did she actually go through?

Just hoping with this information we might get a better idea of what's happened here.

I think you may have misunderstood the question.

The previous CoL payments are irrelevant. As is the date they migrated across. They haven’t received their first UC payment yet so the migration only recently took place.

They will be entitled to the £299 based on their Tax credits claim. 

Adrian_Scope

Thanks Poppy. I think Jimm meant a payment, not a cost of living payment and was trying to clarify if they received a Tax Credits payment in the qualifying period (13th November to 12th December). 

@wowmee, as Poppy said and Jimm alluded to, if they recevied a payment from Tax Credits between those dates, then they should still qualify for the CoL payment. It doesn't matter that they are now claiming UC instead.