Non-dependant deductions

brenj63
brenj63 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener
in Universal Credit (UC)

I need some advice for a friend of mine. He rents a 3 bedroom property where he lives with 1 daughter and 2 sons. His UC housing element has recently been deducted the £90+ non-dependant deduction after the daughter turned 21 a couple of years ago which he assumes to be correct.

However, his eldest son has just turned 21 and another £90+ has been deducted from his benefit. He is querying this with the DWP because it states on various benefit websites that if the non-dependant is over 21 but receives Carer's Allowance then no non-dependant deduction is made. The DWP UC staff are saying that the son has to be in receipt of disability benefits to prevent this deduction from being made but it doesn't say this on benefit websites.

Please can somebody help with this matter. Thanks

Comments

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 7,444 Championing

    My advice would be to consult a local welfare rights organisation.

    https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/

  • Mary_Scope
    Mary_Scope Posts: 2,910 Scope Online Community Children and Family Specialists

    Hi @brenj63 and a warm welcome to the community from me!

    Just to echo Kimi, it sounds like it would be best to chat to a local welfare officer as benefits can be quite complex and this sounds like quite a detailed case so they would be able to give you more specific advice😊

    It's lovely to have you here and I hope you enjoy your time on the community!

  • brenj63
    brenj63 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener

    Thanks for the replies.

    My friend thinks it's now been resolved.

    When his son started to receive Carer's Allowance my friend had wrongly assumed that the carer's allowance unit would automatically let UC know about it.

    My friend has just been advised to go onto his UC online journal to report a change in the 'other people who live with you' section where he selected his son and was asked various questions including does he receive Carer's Allowance. Now he's answered yes to that question he's been told that it should get resolved now and the non-dependant deduction for his son will be credited back to his payment.

    It's a pity that the DWP departments don't have computer systems that are synchronised with the correct information

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