Universal Credit and moving

darklight2

Hi there,

I was claiming universal credit for rent for a few months and then moved back in with my parents from the 1st of this month. However they are refusing to help pay for last month's rent even though I paid for a full months rent and say if I had moved out after the 3rd of this month I'd have still been eligible. It just seems ridiculous.

Anyone heard of this and know of a solution?

Thanks

Sam

calcotti

There is no ‘solution’, that is how the UC rules work. Your UC is based on your situation at the end of the assessment period. This means that you get no help with rent for the assessment period during which you moved out even if you move near the end of the period.

When you move in to a property the rule works in your favour because you get help with rent for the whole assessment period even if you move in near the end of the period.

huckster

UC is not worked out on a pro-rata basis. It is calculated at the end of the assessment based on the information at the end of the assessment period.

So if you moved out of a property before the end of an assessment period and stopped the Housing, you would not receive any Housing when the statement was issued.

Nothing you can do about this. It is the way UC was constructed when Parliament passed the legislation.

darklight2

It's a pretty daft rule, no wonder everyone wants universal credit scrapped, apparently if I hadn't moved straight into my parents house and stayed in hotels it would have worked in my favour. The lady I spoke to said I could possibly claim discretionary housing payment from the local authority but there's no guarantee.