Universal Credit - Duty to report a Change of Circumstances

Hi All

Sorry if I appear a little dense.

Where in the Universal Credit Regs does it state that a person (tenant in our case) has a duty to report a Change of Circumstances?

We have a tenant who reported a FitNote through their Joint UC Journal on 09-Sep-2022 with effect from 05-Sep-2022 and continuously ever since.

There was a Report (via the Journal) that she was unfit for work on 24-Jan-2024 with effect from 11-Dec-2023.

UC50 completed and the tenant has been successful in getting the UC LCWRAG Element since 18-Jan-2024 (previously she was getting a Carer Element for looking after her mother) . The change effect is UC LCWRAG from 18-Jan-2024.

Question I have is
Should her UC case handler have taken regard to the FitNotes submitted continuously since 05-Sep—2022 and then issued a UC50 form after the 13 weeks or 05-Dec-2022?

1. The obligation to report a change of circumstances for UC purposes is in reg. 38 (4) of the Universal credit (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013. It isn’t found in the main UC Regs. 

2. However, that’s not what you’re really after here; what you’re interested in is reg. 28 of the main UC Regs, which prescribes the date from which the LCWRA element is to be included in the award. Generally, that is going to be the assessment period following the end of the ‘relevant period’ (i.e. 3 months after the claimant first provides evidence of LCFW).

3. So yes, unless one of the exceptions in reg. 28 applies (e.g. there were subsequently earnings above the threshold) the relevant period should have ended in December 2022 and the element included from January 2023. The fact that there was a delay in the UC50 being sent out is irrelevant - for the purposes of LCFWRA element entitlement, once a claimant has been assessed as having LCFWRA, time runs from the date that the claimant first provides evidence of LCFW, not the date the UC50 is issued (or the date the WCA takes place).

4. That said, you mention that the client was in receipt of the Carer Element prior to the LCFWRA element being paid. A claimant cannot be paid both. Where there is entitlement to both, it is the LCFWRA element that is paid. So what your client would be entitled to by way of arrears for the period Jan 2023 - Jan 2023 is the difference between the Carer Element she was paid and the LCFWRA element she was entitled to. I’ve frequently seen such arrears payments made without any payment notification (or anything else) in the UC journal to alert a claimant - just a random payment. So I’d want to check the client’s bank statements to rule out that as a possibility before pursuing if this were my case….

Looks like a couple of questions, which I’ve attempted to answer here :)

1. Where in the Universal Credit Regs does it state that a person (tenant in our case) has a duty to report a Change of Circumstances?
Regulation 38 (Evidence and information in connection with an award) of the UC, PIP, JSA & ESA (Claims and Payments) regs 2013

(4) A person to whom this regulation applies must notify the Secretary of State of any change of circumstances which the person might reasonably be expected to know might affect—
(a)the continuance of entitlement to benefit;
(b)the amount of benefit awarded; or
(c)the payment of benefit,
as soon as reasonably practicable after the change occurs.

2. When should the WCA referral have been triggered by the work coach?
UC guidance on Work Capability Assessments says:

When are claimants referred for a Work Capability Assessment?
In most cases, claimants are referred to the CHDA at day 29 of their health condition
related claim.

Hi Past Caring & Kelly

Many thanks for the pointers mentioned.

I think I’ll have to get hold of our tenant and look to make a further note to the Man Recon that was submitted.

It appears that UC have made an error from January 2023 through to the award of the LCWRAG from 18-Jan-2024?

Cheers :-)

Mark

MarkWood - 13 August 2024 04:06 PM

It appears that UC have made an error from January 2023 through to the award of the LCWRAG from 18-Jan-2024?

Potentially. But one can’t be certain of that without;

a) being sure there are no gaps in the client being covered by a Fit note/Med3 during that period - i.e. that the Med3s cover the entire period and she submitted them.

b) looking at her bank statements. What ought to have happened following the WCA decision is that she started receiving the LCFRWA element instead of the Carer Element and that she received arrears of the difference between the two elements for Jan 23 - Jan 24 period. But I have seen people receive such arrears payments without receiving any notice or any explanation of the payment - it just arrives in their bank account. In fact, I would say that is pretty commonplace because the journal software isn’t up to dealing with that type of payment. So I would want to rule out that possibility out before pursuing….