universal credit restorespectively reduced for one assessment period because we informed UC late.

seatbeltnoob

We had baby back in 2021. For similplicity let's say our assessment periods starts onnthe 1st of the momth.

Baby was born in November, we informed November baby to uc a bit late (in december). This is because we didn't gave birth certificate, and knew it would trigger birth certificate request as soon as we notified also we were very slow with picking name for baby as we were very undecided and didn't want to name baby before seeing her.

In hindsight I should havr probably told them we had a baby, but we do not have a name for her. And no birth certificate. But the form requires a name of baby so thought I'd wait.

So getting the birth certificate was quite late. Coupled with the backlog post covid. So everything took ages.

During the time, when we finally notified and confirmed baby's arrival, they retrospectively amended November award and paid us for the child.

Now 3 years later, all of a sudden  they say they overpaid because we informed them late and want to claim back the amount from us.

Ia this correct?

Wife was on maternity and they knew the due date. So it's not like baby wasn't expected. I replied back asking for explanation and I haven't heard from them since about 2 weeks now.

NedS

It sounds like a retrospective recalculation has triggered on your claim for whatever reason, and it's come up as an overpayment. This is likely as the correct process was not followed at the time.

You will likely need to request a backdating decision for the child, to back date entitlement to the date they were born as you reported the change late (after the end of the AP). You can give reasons as COVID and delays in obtaining a birth certificate for the late reporting.

I see no reason why UC cannot sort this out other than they may be confused why the overpayment generated and how to fix it.

Ask for backdating of the change from the date you reported it to the date of the birth of the child. That should nudge them in the right direction.

seatbeltnoob

Thanks NedS. But could you clarify. Is it correct policy to pay for childcare element from the date you reported it, not the date the baby was born?

NedS

Yes, the UC system can only pay from the date you report the change (and you have agreed in your commitments to report all changes immediately when they happen). This is why it's really important to report changes as soon as they happen (or at least before the end of the AP in which they happen).

If you want the change to apply from an earlier date, then the change needs to be backdated, and for that you will need a good reason for late reporting of the change. You will need to request it is backdated providing your reasons for reporting it late, they will then send it to a Decision Maker (DM) together with your reasons who will consider if the backdating can be accepted. If the DM decides you had good reason, they will perform the backdating on the system which will cancel out the overpayment.

The fact that the system has now suddenly decided it was an overpayment says to me that it was never correctly backdated on the system at the time.

IMHO it would be pretty harsh not to allow backdating, especially if you give Covid and delays obtaining a birth certificate as the reason for late reporting. In my experience, backdating is normally allowed in such circumstances.