UC and other benefits that count as income

Forgive me if I’m wrong, as I’ve been getting my information so far from sources such as the Citizens Advice guides, and I haven’t read the regulations yet.

But it looks to me that if a couple is entitled to UC and local council tax support, they will be worse off if one of them claims another benefit such as cb-ESA or cb-JSA. This is because it will count as income at 100% taper for UC and 20% for council tax. Is this right?

I don’t think they’d be worse off (*).

Assume they claim £x UC and have no other income.

Their income for CTR is therefore £x.

If one then claims £y JSA(C) then their UC falls to £(x-y). So their income for CTR £y JSA(C) plus £(x-y) UC = £x. So there is no change in income for CTR.

[* = this is true for both the Default Scheme (England) and Default Scheme (Wales); I’ve not come across a local scheme (in England) where this wouldn’t hold; it’s currrently a bit more complicated in Scotland but the effect would be the same]

Thanks Jon, that’s good to know. I’m now starting to look properly at how CTR will change where UC is payable.