Not claimed Child Benefit = Not allowed I/S

richardb22

I am trying to help a friend of my wife. The lady is a foreign national with four kids. She had a two year spouse visa. The husband was violent and Soc Services took them all in. The UKBA gave her papers that as a victim of domestic violence she has recourse to public funds and is to be treated as habitually resident.

In April I helped her make an application for benefits. It got refused on the basis of no entitlement. Yes she is entitled I said her UKBA papers say she is entitled to benefits. I appealed but that will take months. In the meantime she is being supported Soc Service and was getting Child Benefit. I say was because the Child Benefit was in the violent husbands name though went into her bank account but now it has stopped whilst she claims in her own right ( she claimed the child benefit in her own name three weeks ago no answer).

So we applied for benefits for this poor woman and kids in April its July. I wrote to the MP.

This is why she is not entitled to benefits. MP's Reply from DWP

" We told Mrs XXX that in order to receive IS she must have applied for and been receiving, Child benefit for her children. We decided that because Mrs XXX has not applied for Child benefit she was not entitled to IS and closed her claim"

My question.

Is applying for/receiving child benefit a prerequisite of claiming IS. If so why? It sounds bonkers to close the claim whilst Child Benefit is moved from husband to her ( and she stops receiving that whist the claim is processed ) . I cannt for the life me fathom how a lack of receipt of CB stops you getting IS. Is she going to loose her appeal? Will we have to wait for the CB to come through then re-apply.


Thanks all.


Richard

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

How long has she actually been living in the UK?

You have to be living here for I think 3 years before you are entitled to any benefits at all if not from a part of the EU. If she is entitled check they are not looking at this time frame.

mynameistallulah

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK wrote: »

How long has she actually been living in the UK?

You have to be living here for I think 3 years before you are entitled to any benefits at all if not from a part of the EU. If she is entitled check they are not looking at this time frame.

There are exceptions to this - and given the situation I believe the individual would fall into one of these groups.

OP, I would need to check the Decision Makers Guide to be sure, but I imagine the DWP reasoning is that the lady is claiming as sole carer to the children, and if someone else is in receipt of the CB this would imply she is not the sole carer. She should continue with her claim her CB - the IS should be backdated to the date of her CB claim.

mynameistallulah

I have just checked the DMG, and it states:

The responsible person is:
the person receiving CHB for the child or young person
or
where the CHB is in payment to another child, the person who is responsible
for that child
or
where CHB is not in payment and only one claim for CHB has been made, the person who has made
that claim
or
in any other case, the person who the child or young person usually lives with

So if CB is still be paid to the father, the mother will not be eligible until the claim is transferred to her.

kingfisherblue

It may also depend on the age of the children - lone parents whose youngest child is five now has to claim JSA and seek work. The age was lowered from seven years old for the youngest child earlier this year.

Former_MSE_Wendy

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mikey_bach

If she has put in a claim to CHB and this is registered with them,
and her ex partners chb has ceased, or suspended while they look at her claim then YES she can claim Income Support.
She needs to appeal the decision straight away..

clairec79

Sounds like she is claiming IS on the grounds of being a single parent with responsibility for a child under a certain age (7 I think) - without that child benefit as proof she has no entitlement to claim IS.

If she wanted to claim JSA she could - but would have to be looking for work, or claim IS on the grounds of something else (sickness if she was sick or caring if she gets CA for anyone)

mikey_bach

The youngest child has to be under five on a new claim to I.S and if the CHB claim is registered and we can see it on the CHB screens, we have access, and the ex ptnrs claim is suspended/closed, then yes we can pay I.S and give it
a few weeks whilst its resolved.


If the chb is not then awarded we will close....

mynameistallulah

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

MOVING THREADS FOR BETTER RESPONSES

Hi. I’ve moved your thread away from the Citizens Advice board as your question was not an area the CAB representatives are able to help with at the moment. Hopefully you will receive a better response here. Please see this rule and if you have any questions about this policy please email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.

The question had already been answered?

epitome

mikey_bach wrote: »

If she has put in a claim to CHB and this is registered with them,
and her ex partners chb has ceased, or suspended while they look at her claim then YES she can claim Income Support.
She needs to appeal the decision straight away..

But what if she is claiming Income Support from 15 April

and only started to tackle the child benefit transfer some weeks later (possibly when they got the first claim refusal)

I don't know but, I think an appeal would not win because the appeal would be for IS from April 15th, and that is not allowed.

I would have advised her to claim JSA until the Child Benefit is sorted out, it's cleaner and easier to do it that way. Then change to IS.