Cold Weather Payment on UC 29 December 2022 at 2:57AM in Benefits & tax credits 30 replies 1.2K views

KB32

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 

Spoonie_Turtle

I don't think you qualify as the child is not your responsibility.

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!]

huckster

Agree with Spoonie.

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.

poppy12345

I agree with others, the children are not your responsibility, they are your brothers and his wife. You do not qualify for a CWP.

spingoblin

KB32 said:

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 

If you have LCW or LCWRA on Universal Credit you will be entitled to a Cold Weather Payment, it is irrelevant whether you live with your Brother and his family, your Aunty Nelly or live alone - as you don't state LCW/LCWRA applies then you will not be entitled.

Spoonie_Turtle

spingoblin said:

KB32 said:

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 

If you have LCW or LCWRA on Universal Credit you will be entitled to a Cold Weather Payment, it is irrelevant whether you live with your Brother and his family, your Aunty Nelly or live alone - as you don't state LCW/LCWRA applies then you will not be entitled.

It's not totally irrelevant, if they are responsible for a child under 5 or a disabled child then they would be eligible too.  It just happens that they're not, and as huckster explained the confusion arose from the gov.uk saying "a child under 5 living with you" rather than specifying being responsible for such a child.

poppy12345

spingoblin said:

KB32 said:

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 

If you have LCW or LCWRA on Universal Credit you will be entitled to a Cold Weather Payment,

That's not quite correct either. A claimant will only be entitled to a CWP if they have LCW/LCWRA providing they're not employed or self employed. https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment/eligibility

NedS

poppy12345 said:

spingoblin said:

KB32 said:

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 

If you have LCW or LCWRA on Universal Credit you will be entitled to a Cold Weather Payment,

That's not quite correct either. A claimant will only be entitled to a CWP if they have LCW/LCWRA providing they're not employed or self employed. https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment/eligibility

or have a partner who is employed or self-employed

poppy12345

NedS said:

poppy12345 said:

spingoblin said:

KB32 said:

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 

If you have LCW or LCWRA on Universal Credit you will be entitled to a Cold Weather Payment,

That's not quite correct either. A claimant will only be entitled to a CWP if they have LCW/LCWRA providing they're not employed or self employed. https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment/eligibility

or have a partner who is employed or self-employed

Indeed, i did refer to it as a "claimant" meaning both claimants.

KB32

Thank you everyone for your replies and advice. I thought as much and what you are all saying makes complete sense.

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.

huckster

The eligibility criteria for the CWP is written into the UC claim system, so the payment is made automatically to those claimants who are eligible for the payments. 

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.