Claiming Universal Credit after returning from abroad?

calcotti

Thanks for sharing that.

lacsines80

Papercl1p said:

dylanotta wrote: »

Yes I am currently on Universal Credit and although the quotes I am providing below refer to "JSA", I am sure that it is exactly the same for Universal Credit, right? Not allowed to post links so I have replaced the . with -

It overwhelmingly suggests as I first feared. that I wouldn't be able to receive any benefits for 3 months

That may be the case for JSA but it is NOT CORRECT when it comes to UC.

I know this is far too late to be of worth to the OP but seeing as this thread is high up in the search engine results for people wanting information on claiming Universal Credit after a period of time spent abroad, the information I can provide should be of use to many others who face similar circumstances or those who are returning with no means to support themselves once they get back in the UK.

Ok, here's the tl;dr on my situation:

My wife and I, both born and raised Brits, moved abroad nearly twenty years ago and ran our own business, raised a family and generally just got on with life. Unfortunately, due to various factors beyond our control, we found ourselves having to return to the UK last year, pretty much penniless and near-destitute, relying on family to get us home and give us an extremely cramped roof over our head while we could get back on our feet.

So, having been apprised of the situation regarding Universal Credit, in that it would take five weeks from the date of application to receive funds, my wife and I commenced the application process a little over a week after we landed back on home soil.

Following the extensive online form completion and innumerate visits, often repeating the same processes over and over again, to the nearest Job Center Plus, with passports and various proofs of identity concerning our status as British citizens, along with birth certificates et al. for our children, we were then told that the only thing they were waiting on was for a UC 'decision maker' to sign off on the 'Habitual Residency Test' (HRT) component of the application.

FOUR WEEKS on from the commencement of our Universal Credit application my wife and I received the usual 'UC Notification' email requiring us to log on to the digital platform to check an update and....

The decision-maker had marked us as having failed the HRT, resulting in our joint application being immediately denied and us no longer even able to communicate with our job coaches!

We'd provided all the proof they'd requested regarding having registered with a local GP, getting a UK bank account and that our children were now attending school in this country, pretty much everything one would expect would serve as evidence that we were, indeed, seeking to settle in the UK. But apparently the fact that we had applied so soon after we had returned, even thought the decision maker did not make this judgement until some month and a half after we'd arrived back, meant we were being denied access to UC in its entirety because we had not been in the country for 'an appreciable period' of time when we began our claim, albeit we were advised we could start a new application which would likely be accepted, with yet another five-week wait to receive any benefits of course.

I'll tl;dr the rest of the process:

1. We requested a 'mandatory reconsideration' of that decision which was subsequently denied, even though we provided them with correspondence from the good people at CPAG (Child Protection Action Group) who verified that the decision was incorrect as there was no specific time period mandated and that, unlike JSA which did stipulate a 3-month common-travel-area residency, Universal Credit did not, they upheld the original decision.
2. We then requested it go to Tribunal
3. Nine months later I attend the Tribunal hearing, and win.

The judge ruled that as my wife and I were returning British citizens (as opposed to foreign persons seeking to settle in this country), then Case Law CIS 1304/97 CJSA 5394/98 was applicable, namely, that

'residence for an appreciable period of time' is not necessary to establish habitual residence'

we needed only to have provided proof of an intent to settle which we had more than satisfied with the documented evidence which had been provided during the original application process.

So, don't let them tell you otherwise. As a Brit returning to the UK from having lived abroad, you are NOT REQUIRED to have to be resident for a length of time before being eligible for Universal Credit.


Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful to have had a social safety net to fall back on when we returned to the UK, but the sheer enormity of the stress we were put through during this process after having the rug pulled out from under us so abruptly over this HRT, cannot be overstated and it was, as it turned out, entirely unwarranted and unnecessary.

I don't believe this to be correct. I was out of the UK recently for around 8 weeks - longer than planned due to the Coronavirus and other unlucky elements delaying my return. I was refused Universal Credit, and neither told about a time period when I will be eligible. Although I am a British born 40 yrs old + I seemingly am not eligible for anything of benefits in my own country. Sadly it's only the second time I travelled out of the UK in 20 years. I knew that the UK was becoming rather unbearable to some degree, and I have had lots of headaches from the DWP along the way - usually due to them making the rules up as they go, making one rule for them and another one for you. They are quick to take overpayments but not re - pay under payments, basically you are continually on a pedestal - lots of sleepless nights worrying about right or wrong answers, correct dates and other bullsxxxt regulations which are just far more headache than it's worth. 

calcotti

You’ve posted on the end of a thread that is 15 months old. If you want advice I suggest you start your own thread. Although you were refused UC that doesn’t mean that the advice given above is wrong. DWP frequently get Habitual Residence Test decisions wrong. You should request a Mandatory Reconsideration of the decision to refuse.