Cold Weather Payment on UC

6 Posts

Hi there, I was hoping for some help and information regarding the Cold weather payment whilst on Universal credit.
I am currently in receipt of Universal and there have been 2 payments triggered for the area I live in however I have not received anything, after checking the Cold weather payment eligibility on the gov website it appears I should have.
I sent a message through my journal and was told UC do not send out the payments and have nothing to do with it, if I am eligible it will be sent automatically and I don't need to do anything. Am I just being fobbed off and can I ask for a mandatory reconsideration or is there a phone number I can call to speak to someone about the Cold weather payment?
Just to clarify I am the only person in my household in receipt of Universal credit and I live with children aged under 5, however the children are not mine but my brother and his wifes, neither of whom receive Universal credit.
I hope someone can help with some advice or perhaps is in a similar situation.
Thank you in advance
I am currently in receipt of Universal and there have been 2 payments triggered for the area I live in however I have not received anything, after checking the Cold weather payment eligibility on the gov website it appears I should have.
I sent a message through my journal and was told UC do not send out the payments and have nothing to do with it, if I am eligible it will be sent automatically and I don't need to do anything. Am I just being fobbed off and can I ask for a mandatory reconsideration or is there a phone number I can call to speak to someone about the Cold weather payment?
Just to clarify I am the only person in my household in receipt of Universal credit and I live with children aged under 5, however the children are not mine but my brother and his wifes, neither of whom receive Universal credit.
I hope someone can help with some advice or perhaps is in a similar situation.
Thank you in advance
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https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1988/1724
F49 3(a)P’s family includes a member aged less than 5;
I checked the meaning of family [F16“family” has the meaning given to it in section 137 of the Act* and the General Regulations;] and it does point to responsibility for a child, not simply a blood relative.
(*https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/4/section/137. F5(c) )
[Citing my sources so other members can check my interpretation!]
Gov.uk eligibility information is a bit misleading as it does not explain what it means by having a child under 5 living with you.
It means that that the child under 5 is part of the same benefit claim and the person claiming would have responsibility in providing a warm place for them to live, so would need the additional money to help pay increased energy bill.
Indeed, i did refer to it as a "claimant" meaning both claimants.
The reason why I asked was because I am the only UC claimant in my household and so I knew the parents wouldn't get the payment and thought it possible I might as the gov.uk website just says a child under 5 living with you and does not specify any other requirements e.g you have to be a parent or guardian etc.
I tried looking on a few benefit advice websites but they just repeated what was said on the gov website and the information wasn't very clear.
When I checked the CWP section on gov.uk it said if you think you might be eligible leave a note in your journal or contact the helpline which is what I did but even after doing this I still wasn't sure as my work coach just kept saying 'I assume you are not eligible' instead of finding out properly!
It didn't seem like he knew much about the CWP and in fact stated UC do not deal with the CWP and it has nothing to do with them despite it saying on the gov.uk you should contact UC if you think you might be eligible!
So I was pretty much going round in circles and decided to ask on here, I wanted to know if someone in a similar position had gotten the payment, if that was the case I would have asked my work coach to find out properly and see if I was eligible too.
As you don't meet any of the eligibility criteria you would never be considered for the payments. Does not matter if the parents of the child under 5 do not claim benefits. Perhaps the parents if they were struggling financially could apply for UC or apply for other help available e.g. local Council welfare.