Housing Benefit with a child with UC ( gross income and deduction )

Mark_St
Mark_St Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
edited March 2022 in Benefits and income
I hope everyone is well and safe.

Background :

Parents have housing benefit component ( council - legacy style )

Child - Non-dependant over the age of 25

The child gets UC standard allowance only ( does not work due to illness )

The council was notified about the child UC and few days later received a letter saying that the child is considered to have a gross income of about £90 weekly ( despite the child is not working )

The question is - can the child's Universal Credit be considered as a gross income on the parents' housing benefit  ?


Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    If the person is 25 they are not a child, they are an adult. There's a £15.95 per week non dependent deduction when claiming housing benefit, if the person has no earned income.
    If either of the parents receive a disability benefit such as PIP daily living or DLA care there won't be any non dependent deductions.

  • Mark_St
    Mark_St Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
    Good afternoon @poppy123456 ,
    Many thanks for your message.

    I totally agree with you about the £15.95 deduction - but is the UC amount considered as a gross income on the parents' housing benefit letter?

    Thanks
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    No, it's not gross income at all. UC standard allowance is £74.70 per week. On the letter how much does it say the non dependent deduction is?
  • Mark_St
    Mark_St Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
    edited March 2022
    @poppy123456 On the letter from the council it says -

    Deduction : £15.95 ( which makes sense - not working rate )

    But then ...

    Gross Income ( weekly ) - £90

    I was left a bit confused to where this £90 weekly figure is coming from as the non-dependent is unable to work due to illness - which made me think perhaps UC is treated as gross income



  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    UC is not taxable income so i have no idea where they got that from, even if it was, it's not £90 per week. I wouldn't worry too much because the deduction is correct anyway.
  • Mark_St
    Mark_St Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
    Hi @poppy123456 many thanks as usual - and very helpful of you.

    May I ask one last question:

    Is the deduction still at the figure of £15.95 ( weekly ) if the non-dependant is awarded LCWRA - also if the non-dependent is later found to be awarded PIP - does this deduction still take place?

    Many thanks for the immense help and time you are providing

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    edited March 2022
    Mark_St said:

    Is the deduction still at the figure of £15.95 ( weekly ) if the non-dependant is awarded LCWRA - also if the non-dependent is later found to be awarded PIP - does this deduction still take place?



    Yes, the deduction is a standard amount from someone with no earned income. (See link i posted) The deduction will still apply even with a PIP award.
    It's a contribution they are expected to pay when living at home. If they lived by theirself then the bills would be an awful lot higher.
  • Mark_St
    Mark_St Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener

    Thank you so much for explaining this to me.

    I was under the impression that UC is considered as an earned income due to the error made by the council - everything makes sense now.

    Thank you again

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    No worries :)
  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,000 Championing
    poppy123456 said: Yes, the deduction is a standard amount from someone with no earned income. (See link i posted) The deduction will still apply even with a PIP award.
    Interestingly UC is better than HB in this regard. Under UC no non dependant deduction is made if the non dependant receives Daily Living PIP.

    Mark_St said:
    The child gets UC standard allowance only ( does not work due to illness )
    have they reported their health condition and are they waiting for a Work Capability Assessment?
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    calcotti said:
    poppy123456 said: Yes, the deduction is a standard amount from someone with no earned income. (See link i posted) The deduction will still apply even with a PIP award.
    Interestingly UC is better than HB in this regard. Under UC no non dependant deduction is made if the non dependant receives Daily Living PIP.



    Yes indeed. Although UC is far from perfect, it does have it's good points.
  • Mark_St
    Mark_St Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener

    Many thanks for pointing this out to me.

    Yes, the non-dependant adult is waiting for the wca - has long term ill health, let's see how it goes

    Thank you
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    Mark_St said:


    Yes, the non-dependant adult is waiting for the wca - has long term ill health, let's see how it goes

    Although that will make no difference to the non dependant deductions in the housing benefit.

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