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Losing PIP and winning an appeal, can transitional protection be backdated
My client was in receipt of PIP and this was removed in October 2018
Client claimed UC
Client has now won her PIP appeal and so PIP has been reinstated and is in affect continuous
If she tried to claim UC now she would not be able to do so due to the SDP
Can my client argue that as PIP has been restored that she should never have been allowed to claim UC?
It seems grossly unfair that she appears to be stuck on UC only by the fact the DWP made a bad decision in respect of PIP
Any help is greatly appreciated
Many thanks
This has been discussed a few times on here. It seems DWP’s position is that you are stuck on UC. See the second last paragraph of this post. I would definitely look to appeal this though.
Were they in receipt of HB as well?
What was she getting before in the way of legacy bens?
Thanks both, I will look into why she lost legacy benefits, as it is surprising as client works but, as far as I am aware, got HB top up as well as CTC and WTC so I am not sure what changed, it was all pre coming to the bureau - we assisted with the PIP appeal, as well as assisting client to claim PIP for the daughter
Will get back to you when I know more and if it is still not clear!
BTW happy hippy solstice Friday!!
Update:
My client was fleeing DV and hence needed to make a new claim to HB, as temp accomm, but the DV also meant cl felt that she could no longer work, and so needed to claim UC
Seems from reading the responses, and to the other discussion, that cl is stuck on UC and lost the SDP - seems really unfair but unless i have missed something the client cannot argue that her PIP appeal being allowed means that UC should fall away and cl move back to legacy benefits
I assume others agree?
Is she still in temporary accommodation?
Yes, still in temp accommodation
Then she should be able to close her UC claim and claim legacy benefits. You can close the UC claim, and then claim ESA backdated to the day after the last completed assessment period.
On what basis ?
On the basis that her HB applicable amount includes an SDP.
As soon as she comes off UC with no outstanding issues (no MR pending etc), it’s as if she never claimed it. ESA(ir) is “unabolished” and, with an SDP in the HB award, can be reclaimed.
Sorry to be dense, and just to be clear, that is even if the SDP is now only awarded i.e. she has just won PIP appeal and that when she claimed UC she was not getting, or remained entitled in the last month to the SDP?
I hope the above is correct as it will help my a client a lot
You are always able to close a UC claim whenever you want. See A4120-A4131 here.
Once that is done, she cannot make a fresh claim for UC due to the SDP within her HB, and will be able to claim ESA.
Sorry to be dense, and just to be clear, that is even if the SDP is now only awarded i.e. she has just won PIP appeal and that when she claimed UC she was not getting, or remained entitled in the last month to the SDP?
I hope the above is correct as it will help my a client a lot
Yes, that is correct. What matters is that now she has an SDP.
Ok, that makes more sense
Thank you all for your time
Best wishes
Just be warned that some clueless DWP employees may tell you that this cannot be done - with excuses like “You can’t close a UC award” or “There is a UC interest, so a claim for ESA cannot be made”, but don’t believe them!
Is there an issue in these circumstance that a person who is in temp accommodation and getting HB have the applicable amount the same as their Universal Credit applicable amount (so no SDP included)? I can’t see why this would be the case but the local authority i have just spoken to said that this is the case and for a person on UC that having PIP award dose not attract a SDP in the applicable amount because the applicable amount stays the same as Universal Credit?