Late application and award of EUSS - can Pension Credit extend back-date? 

My client a German National who has lived in the UK since 2000 failed to make a claim for EUSS due to mental health issues until March 2024.  Finally EUSS was granted in on 25.03.24 enabling us to make a Pension Credit claim and backdate three months however she turned pension age and was entitled to PC since September 2023. Can we insist that the PC is backdated to this date - what regulations could I rely on?

I am already seeking an MR on the UC decision to close her claim with reference to Upper Tribunal [2022] UKUT 330 (AAC); SSWP v AT [2023] EWCA Civ 13071 “where a refusal of universal credit would mean such a person was exposed to an actual and current risk that they…....could not live in the UK in dignified conditions, then the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (“SSWP”) should award universal credit. An actual risk of not being able to live in the UK in dignified conditions was held to mean a risk of being without, even for a temporary period.” Could reference be made to this ruling also for PC?

Thanks for any advice.

Unless an earlier PC claim was made, I can’t see how you’re going to be able to seek more than 3 months’ backdating I’m afraid.

This post suggests that settled status is only effectively granted from the date of the decision,, so if you’ve got a backdated PC award made for a period before she was awarded settled status, you’ve done pretty well anyway.