Could I backdate my child care fees?

lawraahh30
lawraahh30 Online Community Member Posts: 23 Connected
edited October 2021 in Universal Credit (UC)
Hi I recently got awarded lcwra. I know this gets backdated, I was just wondering if anyone knew whether that means I could backdate to get up to 85% of my childcare fees back from those months or would that just start from now on? Thanks 

Comments

  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    hello @lawraahh30

    Welcome to the community, it's lovely to see you join us. 

    Congratulations on the award, I hope you are happy with it. 

    I found this information on the Gov.uk website, unfortunately it does not mention about whether it can be backdated to the start of your claim so I am unsure about that:

    "If you are eligible, your childcare costs will be included and paid as part of your Universal Credit payment. You will receive up to 85% of the childcare costs you pay, up to a maximum monthly limit of:

    • £646.35 for one child
    • £1108.04 for 2 or more children

    You can only claim childcare costs for a dependent child up to the 31 August following the child’s 16th birthday.


    You will receive your childcare costs in arrears. This means that you will need to pay the costs yourself and then claim the money back through Universal Credit."

  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,000 Championing
    edited October 2021
    Started my post again cause the formatting got all confused.

    The normal rule is that childcare costs have to reported before the end of the AP in which they are incurred. However the time limit can be extended - see paragraph F7065.
    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/881134/admf7.pdf
    I don’t know if it applies to your situation but it seems reasonable that it would. Report your costs with an explanation that they were not previously reported because you didn’t qualify at the time but do now having got LCWRA. Do this ASAP.

    Would be interested to know how you get on.


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