DWP delay in implementing a positive habitual residence test decision to decide UC entitlement

Use this template if all the following apply

• your client is at least 18 years old and under state pension age, and
  • is not in education, and
  • has had a habitual residence test (HRT) decision confirming eligibility for UC, and 
• no decision has been made awarding or refusing UC for an unreasonably long time

This letter assumes that (so can be changed)

• your client is a private tenant, and
• your client has no, or very low, income without UC

The main legal arguments in this template are:

1. Following R (C and W) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015], DWP is under a duty to consider all claims for benefit within a “reasonable time”.
2. This duty applies to “any claim for a relevant benefit” under s.8 of the Social Security Act 1998.
3. What counts as a “reasonable time” is dependent on the circumstances of the case, including the impact on the claimant and the complexity of the case.
4. Delay deciding the claimant's claim has caused severe hardship including risk of eviction from their private tenancy, and
5. The claimant clearly meets conditions of entitlement under s.4 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, the case is not complex and there is no justification for the delay. 

Information about your client

• name
• address
• national insurance number (NINO)
• date of birth

Background facts

Such as:

• family circumstances: partner, children, disability, any vulnerability in the household, and housing situation
• details of any other income, or lack of, and of financial hardship being suffered as a result of the delay
• details of their right to reside and how this has been evidenced to DWP and how DWP has responded

Information relating to the decision

• the date of your client's UC application
• the date your client attended an interview for the habitual residence test (HRT)
• the date your client received an HRT decision confirming they are “in Great Britain” and when and how DWP said 'you are entitled to UC'.
• evidence that your client meets the other conditions of entitlement for UC (eg they are of working age, not in education and are in Great Britain)
• details of any correspondence to, or received from, DWP to date

We've created this guide to help you successfully use our judicial review pre-action letter templates: Guide to using CPAG's judicial review pre-action letter templates

Once you've finished your letter, please email it to us at: [email protected] before you send it to the lawyers acting for DWP/HMRC/your local authority. We'll try to reply as quickly as possible and will do so within 7 days.

Note: all letters will need editing to confirm your client has a qualifying right to reside, ie, if they are not British or Irish that they have either:

• EU settled status, or
• EU pre-settled status and a qualifying right to reside under the EEA Regs, or
• applied to the EU Settlement Scheme and are awaiting a decision and have a qualifying right to reside under the EEA Regs, or
• leave to enter or remain in the UK other than pre-settled status or leave to enter as a holder of an EUSS family permit or travel permit
• non-EEA leave to remain

The letter can be edited for any delay deciding a UC claim. You will need to remove all references to HRT and the discrimination ground.