Can you go on multiple consecutive 1 month holidays abroad while on Universal Credit?

xxxxxxxx

You are correct, DMG is the one I am used to and I misinterpreted the "common to all benefits" heading. I have noticed before about a month ago, when I was looking at DMG Chp 4 for a similar topic, I found it was the same in ADM 4.... but in my rush to post, I had totally forgot. Under normal circs I check ADM when dealing with a UC query to be sure I am referencing the correct law.   should have double checked ADM for a similar paragraph before posting.  

DMG/ADM accurately reflect law in the majority (I have never found a problem) and is an excellent place to start because it quotes the relevant law which is very useful because I find law to be a nightmare to navigate from scratch.  I mean who would have known the relevant law here was "The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 - Regulation 38 ?

You can then check the relevant law to be sure the DMG/ADM is accurate.

On the other hand, DWP Operational Instruction, I think they call it Universal Learning for UC is full of errors as shown by this example. You will notice the complete lack of legal references in Operational Instruction/Universal Learning. They don't even put in their own DMG/ADM references to back up what they are saying.

A tip I have found is that old DMG stuff is given a similar number in ADM 
DMG 04151 = ADM4151

Notification of a change of circumstances
A4151
Beneficiaries and every person by whom, or on whose behalf, sums by way of benefit are receivable are required1 to notify the Secretary of State of any change of circumstance which they might reasonably be expected to know might affect
1. continuing entitlement to benefit or
2. the amount of benefit awarded or
3. the payment of benefit as soon as reasonably practicable after the change occurs.

In addition there may be benefit specific rules requiring changes to be notified.
1 UC, PIP, JSA & ESA (C&P) Regs, reg 38 

calcotti

xxxxxxxx said:

DMG/ADM accurately reflect law in the majority (I have never found a problem) and is an excellent place to start because it quotes the relevant law which is very useful because I find law to be a nightmare to navigate from scratch.  

I agree with that - it’s usually my starting point too. 

xxxxxxxx said:

..any change of circumstance which they might reasonably be expected to know might affect ..

Lot of qualifiers isn’t it!

Re the deposited papers, I agree that they are not statements of law (and it infuriates me that they don’t have dates on them). However it is my understanding that they are operational guidance so they are useful to refer to to see how DWP should be expected to behave. So, re this thread, I was surprised to see the suggestion that even absences of less than one month would be referred to a DM as the deposited paper clearly states that they shouldn’t be (which is logical given that such absences are expressly permitted and therefore there is no decision to be made).

NedS

calcotti said:

xxxxxxxx said:

DMG/ADM accurately reflect law in the majority (I have never found a problem) and is an excellent place to start because it quotes the relevant law which is very useful because I find law to be a nightmare to navigate from scratch.  

I agree with that - it’s usually my starting point too. 

xxxxxxxx said:

..any change of circumstance which they might reasonably be expected to know might affect ..

Lot of qualifiers isn’t it!

Re the deposited papers, I agree that they are not statements of law (and it infuriates me that they don’t have dates on them). However it is my understanding that they are operational guidance so they are useful to refer to to see how DWP should be expected to behave. So, re this thread, I was surprised to see the suggestion that even absences of less than one month would be referred to a DM as the deposited paper clearly states that they shouldn’t be (which is logical given that such absences are expressly permitted and therefore there is no decision to be made).

I think I suggested that, as I (generally) take the view that it is not the claimants decision to make whether something can be disregarded or not - only a DWP decision maker can make a decision to disregard something. The overarching legislation requires a claimant to be present in the UK to claim UC. Maybe I'm wrong in that view, as per the deposited papers?

calcotti

NedS said: The overarching legislation requires a claimant to be present in the UK to claim UC. Maybe I'm wrong in that view, as per the deposited papers?

I think the idea of a temporary absence is that a claimant is treated as if still present in Great Britain because the temporary absence is disregarded. The regulations state that if an absence meets the definition of temporary then the absence is disregarded so it would appear there is no need for a Decision Maker to be involved. There may of course be circumstances in which a DM is required to decide whether or not an absence falls within the definition of a temporary absence but this will be if the absence exceeds one month and it needs to be determined if any of the extenuating conditions are met.

All as set out in regulation 11
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/376/regulation/11