Advance payments of universal credit (UC) are the main official response to the long waiting time before payment of UC begins. But advance payments are recoverable by deduction from subsequent payments. What are the relevant rules, and are they being correctly applied? Lynsey Dalton takes a look.
CPAG has issued proceedings in the High Court for a judicial review of HMRC’s refusal to accept a retrospective child tax credit (CTC) claim from a newly recognised refugee. Jessica Strode explains.
Claire Hall considers the implications of a test case regarding universal credit (UC) claimants who are paid monthly and receive a ‘double payment’ of wages in the same assessment period.
Jon Shaw looks at some issues around fixed-term awards of personal independence payment (PIP), disability living allowance (DLA) and attendance allowance (AA) where the award is coming to an end.
Over two million people affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have claimed universal credit (UC) in the past two months. But claimants already getting tax credits have the option of staying in the tax credits system instead. Mark Willis explains.
Martin Williams looks at changes to the way in which appeals are dealt with during the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions and considers issues that may arise for advisers.
The Upper Tribunal decides refugees who arrived in the UK with children, can claim a Sure Start Maternity Grant when having their first child in the UK (as the contrary position results in unlawful discrimination). The Upper Tribunal has allowed the appeals of two claimants who challenged the rule excluding those who had another child in their family aged under 16 from entitlement to the Sure Start Maternity Grant (SSMG).
Simon Osborne reviews a couple of queries regarding ‘mixed-age’ couples and when universal credit (UC) is, or is not to be, the main subsistence benefit. As the answers suggest, the individual facts are very important.
Owen Stevens reviews the DWP’s approach in cases where a severely disabled claimant has been allowed to claim universal credit (UC), when s/he should have been prevented from claiming by the ‘SDP gateway’.
CPAG is involved in a number of test cases. Lynsey Dalton provides an update of some of the particularly current cases. For full details, visit the test cases pages on the CPAG website.
The Upper Tribunal held that when a worker has worked for over 12 months then they do not need to show a genuine chance of being engaged after 6 months of unemployment in order to retain worker status and the associated right to reside.
