I was asked yesterday whether a person who had been working and had not been entitled to HB previously , gets sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, loses job and still has a liability to pay rent. Is that person entitled to HB while they are in prison based on the fact that they have no income? or not as they had no previous entitlement. I have looked this senario up in varoius Welfare Benefit handbooks however all talk about a continuing HB claim under 13 week rule and not making a claim once sentenced.

I am willing to be proved wrong but as far as I am aware the application of the HB rules around temporary absence from the home is not in any way affected by whether the absence occurs during an existing claim, or whether a claim is made once the absence starts.

After all as you say the reason for the absence is very often tied up with a change in personal circumstance which makes a benefit claim necessary.

I think it is just that, when various reference books explain the rules, they end to illustrate the point with an "absence-during- claim" scenario.

The important thing NOT to do in this case is leave claiming until the end of the absence. You're into all sorts of backdating problems then.

I agree with Andy. There is nothing I can see in the regs about the date of claim co-inciding with the absence. The criteria are liability to pay rent and occupation of the home which is not lost through temporary absence.