Universal credit application on return from holiday

mrshappy

Hiya,
I’ve been looking online, but unable to find an answer.
My son is 22, he finished college in June and claimed universal credit for a couple of weeks. He then went to visit his dad in America and stayed for 10 weeks. Before leaving he contacted his job coach and cancelled his UC claim.
He is now home and been given conflicting advice on whether or not he can apply for UC until he finds a job.
He has been told that he is eligible and also been told that as he left the UK he is not eligible.
Can anyone shed some light on this for me please?
Thank you 😊

Spoonie_Turtle

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/british-and-irish-citizens-claiming-benefits/

... if you've recently returned to the UK after a period living outside of the common travel area, you may have to show that you satisfy the habitual residence test in order to claim certain means-tested benefits. You should not be subject to the test if you've simply been abroad on a long holiday. In these cases you should be treated as a 'returning resident'. However, if you've spent three months or more living or working abroad you could find yourself subject to the test ...

In theory it should be fine because he was not away for 3 months. In practice the automated system may not account for holidays, and advisors don't always give the correct advice.

Has he tried logging on to his journal? It should be available for six months after closing his claim, and he might be able to reclaim from there.

calcotti

Second what spoonie has said.login to his journal and make rapid reclaim. His assessments periods will remain unchanged.

huckster

Think the question is have you been out of the UK for more than 6 weeks. As this was the case, there will be a short Job Centre process, just to confirm reason for absence. As it was for a holiday and you confirm you have normally lived in the UK as a British citizen, then it should not be a problem. This is just to make sure you are not working/living abroad for periods and then claiming UK benefits when you return for periods.