Housing Benefit was suspended due to move to UC. Who pays the shortfall?

oldestdaughter

Hi,

My dad recently reached pension age and he and my mum are a mixed aged couple. They had to apply for UC as he’s also on DLA and they received full housing benefit. When they applied for UC, we received a letter from our local council in June to say Housing Benefit had been temporarily suspended due to the change in circumstances and they required information about each member of the household before they could lift the suspension. I sent the required information and provided the necessary documents. My parents were awarded UC at the beginning of August. They’re currently receiving the housing element. 

From my understanding, this means Housing Benefit will be stopped as UC will be paying the housing element. However, I’ve just taken a look at their rent account and rent hasn’t been paid in 2 months (since June when the council initially suspended it). I kept meaning to check their account but couldn’t access the website so this was a bit of a shock. So now that my parents are receiving the housing element for UC, who is responsible for the 2 months of unpaid rent? 

I called the council today and they advised me to send a screenshot of the UC decision via email. I’m reluctant to do this as I’m worried they’ll close the Housing Benefit claim without paying the current arrears. 

So my question is: when you’ve applied for UC and your Housing Benefit had been suspended, once you’re receiving UC, who is responsible for paying the shortfall between claims? 

Thank you.

poppy123456

Hi,

It would be the local authority (housing benefit) that owes the money for the rent up until the claim for UC was made.
Do be aware though that UC is paid 1 month in arrears.

poppy123456

poppy123456 said:

Hi,

It would be the local authority (housing benefit) that owes the money for the rent up until the claim for UC was made.
Do be aware though that UC is paid 1 month in arrears.

Just to add to this. When you claim UC housing benefit usually continues for a further 2 weeks, i don't know if this would be the case for your parents.

oldestdaughter

Hi. Thanks.

It would be the local authority (housing benefit) that owes the money for the rent up until the claim for UC was made.

Up until the claim for UC was MADE or APPROVED? I’m trying to confirm the timeline. So HB was suspended in June. UC was awarded in August. And then HB made one final payment at the beginning of August. So is it HB that owes the money between June and August? If so, how do they pay this? It’s over 2k because it’s been 10 or so weeks.

poppy123456

The 2 week extension of Housing benefit would start from the day a claim for UC was made. With regards to how it's paid, it should be paid how it always was. So if it was paid straight to the landlord then that's how it should be paid.

oldestdaughter

Ok, thanks. So who should I contact to pay this shortfall? Our housing association hasn’t queried the arrears yet but I’d like to get it sorted before they do. 

poppy123456

oldestdaughter said:

Ok, thanks. So who should I contact to pay this shortfall?

I answered that question here...

poppy123456 said:

Hi,

It would be the local authority (housing benefit)

calcotti

oldestdaughter said: So HB was suspended in June. UC was awarded in August. And then HB made one final payment at the beginning of August. So is it HB that owes the money between June and August? If so, how do they pay this? It’s over 2k because it’s been 10 or so weeks.

Timeline still not clear. Do you mean the first UC payment was in August? What date was the UC claim submitted on?

oldestdaughter

Hi. We started the UC claim on 25th June. The first UC payment was on 8th August for an assessment period between 2nd July-1st August. Housing Benefit was suspended at the end of June but one payment was randomly made on 10th August. 

calcotti

I am not clear why the assessment period starts on 2nd July if the claim was submitted a week earlier.
For the sake of argument I am going to take the UC start date as 2nd July.
In that case HB is payable for rent up to 16th July.
The UC payment received on 8th August includes money to pay the rent from 2nd July to 1st August.
You will note they actually receive support for the period 2nd July to 16th July twice.
What may be confusing you is that the money in UC to pay the rent from 16th July is not received until 8th August.

poppy123456

When you said "UC was awarded in August" I took this as you applied in August.

When you apply for UC your assessment period starts on the date you apply (submit your claim) i'm assuming that their claim wasn't submited until 2nd July. UC is paid 1 month in arrears. You need to find out what period the payment of housing benefit on 10th August was for.

You said the rent hasn't been paid since June. When they received their first UC payment in August, what happened the housing element of that? you're supposed to pay the rent yourself from your UC payment because the housing element makes up part of your entitlement.