2 child limit previously claimed UC but never paid due to failing HRT

Hi I have a client who came to see me today for the first time so I am just trying to work out what has happened and what to do, she has 3 children. UC is still baffling me daily so hopefully someone an show me where to go with it.

She was taken off CTC and WTC last July when her 3rd child was born and told to claim UC. She waited to claim UC till the september and was refused in November with the decision she failed HRT. No MR.

She claimed again in November and a decision was made again no HRT, she submitted an MR and the decision came back she had passed HRT then 3 mins later a different decision that she did not pass HRT due to not retaining her worker status due to the break in claiming and working and she could not give a reason why. She was not working.

She spoke to someone on the phone who said she was not entitled to the benefit but her claim would remain open and to inform them when she started working again because she would be entitled then. In Feb she logged on, submitted a change in circs as she now worked, nothing happened so she rang someone who advised her to do this again and note it in her journal.  Which she did.

She kept logging on and no one had replied to her.

She logged on again to find that her claim was ended on 31st March relating to th no HRT decision in December.

I have spoken to UC who will not do an MR of the close claim as that wasnt a decision and it was as a result of the MR outcome in December. To me if they had closed her claim down properly in December she would have made a new claim in Feb as she is working shouldnt have encountered any problems.  As it wasnt closed she had no choice to put in a change of circs.

They want her to make a new claim - but what about payment from Feb as surely she should be entitled from then.

Since then the 3 child rule is in for TAx Credits, she has applied forUC but hasnt been paid UC could she just apply for WTC and CTC?

Can anyone help with the best way to come to a solution?

i should add she is italian nationaility and arrive in UK 3 years ago

Your answer is I think in this post on a separate topic. In short, your client with 3 children must claim CTC, not UC, and will get CTC for 3 children as all were born before 6/4/2017.

Mark Willis - 01 August 2016 11:21 AM

Hi David

Section 13 of the Welfare Reform Act, as applies to child tax credit, refers to new babies born on or after 6 April 2017 only:

“(3A) Subsection (3B) applies in the case of a person or persons entitled to child tax credit where the person is, or either or both of them is or are, responsible for a child or qualifying young person born on or after 6 April 2017.
(3B) The prescribed manner of determination in relation to the person or persons must not include an individual element of child tax credit in respect of the child or qualifying young person unless—
(a) he is (or they are) claiming the individual element of child tax credit for no more than one other child or qualifying young person, or
(b) a prescribed exception applies.”

Section 14 refers to universal credit, and was intended to apply to new claims made on or after 6 April 2017, but this has been delayed according to Damian Green’s announcement last week:

“Therefore, we will direct new claims from families with more than two children to Tax Credits until November 2018. Thereafter, new claims from families with more than two children will be taken through Universal Credit. Families already on Universal Credit who have a third child after April 2017 will remain on Universal Credit and receive two child elements.”

The other change that will be affected by the policy will be new claims from ‘blended’ families. For example, two lone parents get together and form a couple. They each have two children from previous relationships, one of whom born after 6 April 2017. If they get together after April 2017 and make a couple claim with four children, they will only receive CTC for the children born before 6 April 2017 - unless this is to be one of the prescribed exceptions.