I have a client who has been advised to move out of his home for 4 weeks while works are carried out to his home. because of his care needs and disability , he will be possibly going into a hospice, but will be returning home. I understand that he could lose all or some of his benefits after 28 days? I know his HB can be backdated for 13 weeks. Can anyone advise me further about this as I am not a benefits specialist

Thanks

Disability living allowance care component and attendance allowance are not payable once someone has been living in publicly-funded residential care or a hospital or something like a hospital for 28 days. This disallowance does not apply to anyone who is completely self-funding, or who is completely funded by another individual or a charity. It is only if some or all of the funding is from public funds (eg social services, NHS) that it applies.
If this rule applies, the person retains underlying entitelment so can ask for payment to start again on return home, without a need for a new claim.

DLA mobility component is not payable once a person has been in an NHS-funded hospital or equivalent for 28 days. Other forms of public funding do not affect this component. So for DLA (and AA) it is the funding and nature of the care that matters.

Incapacity benefit, income support and state pension credit are not affected by going into hospital or by going into residential care. The only potential problmes are the dependant's increase if the patient is getting one, but that only cuts in after 52 weeks in hospital and there is a way round it if you get there.

Finally, housing benefit and council tax benefit both ignore temporary absences of no more than 13 weeks.

So for this 4-week absence, the only issues which may arise if the absence lasts more than 28 days are:
who is funding his stay at the hospice; and
whether it is an NHS hospital or something similar.

If DLA is stopped this can have an affect on the premiums within IS so this could change.

Also for HB/CTB - IMO as this person will be going into a hospital or similar institution they can potentially get HB for 52 weeks if the absence is temporary.

It's difficult to advise on matters such as this when you're not a benefit person but if you have access to the Disability Rights Handbook this explains things easily and well.

Thanks for your advice

see page 124 of the disability rights handbook which sets out the rules described by Ariadne for DLA. See in particular, the rules about hospices, which are slightly different from other forms of residential care.