Joint UC claim where one of the joint claimants is on the claim as a claimant and an NDD- removal and backdate?

We are currently supporting a couple on joint UC
We advised that there should not be a non-dependent deduction on the UC account as they have been the only adults in their household since the beginning of their UC claim which started on 20th June 2018. At the start of their claim there was no non-dependent deduction but one was added on 20th November 2019 (clients are not sure by who or how). There was no change in circumstances. They contacted UC by phone on approx. 4 occasions at the end of November and beginning of December 2019 and were told by UC that the non-dependent deduction was correct as Mr lived in the household and worked. They were given incorrect advice and would like the non-dependent deduction removed from their claim and backdated. One would’ve thought this error on the claim was an obvious one as the name and details of the joint claimant were identical to those of the non dependent. Any advice or guidance on this one would be great???

From the facts you’ve described, it sounds like official error so could be an any time revision anyway, but it also sounds as though they requested a reconsideration straight away after the decision to apply the Housing Costs Contribution and still haven’t been given an MRN. So I would suggest there shouldn’t be any problem with challenging the decision now.

Obviously you’re dealing with UC so it’s down to the luck of the draw whether you get somebody who understands what you’re asking for, or the reason why you’re not out of time to ask for it.

In this case, I would probably put a note on the journal to explain what has happened and that they would like a written decision for the MR they asked for in November 2019. If UC refused to entertain this then I’d start the appeal - UC’s refusal to issue an MRN doesn’t mean they haven’t refused the MR, it just means the clock hasn’t started ticking for the appeal. So in the appeal, you acknowledge that you don’t have an MRN but you make it clear that this is because UC refused to give you one.