Universal Credit help service case study

Universal Credit help service case study

8:48 AM, 11th May 2017, About 8 years ago 4

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Recently, we were approached by a landlord after he had not received rent for 3 months. Why? His tenant had switched from Housing Benefit to Universal Credit.

The claimant was a disabled man on High Rate DLA. His wife was his full-time carer and they had two children.

The family moved to the UK from Portugal 6 years ago. Since their arrival the wife had been working on and off, her longest appointment was for 1 year.

When the wife started her recent appointment the family contacted Housing Benefit and provided the payslips and contract of employment. They also contacted DWP to notify them of the change in circumstances.

As a change in circumstances was a trigger for the claimant to go onto Universal Credit, the claimant’s Housing Benefit was immediately cancelled.

The claimant applied for Universal Credit, however the claim was declined as he failed the “habitual residency test” (HRT) as he had not achieved “worker’s status”. He could not inherit the wife’s worker’s status as she had also failed the HRT.

The tenants owed more than 8 weeks rent arrears. The landlord did not want to evict the tenants but just wanted his rent.

We took on the case and immediately contacted Housing Benefit to find out why the claim was cancelled as we felt that the change in circumstance should not have resulted in the claim being cancelled and the tenant being told to apply for UC.

Whilst the Housing Benefit request for reconsideration was being looked at, we contacted Universal Credit to find out why the claimants failed the Habitual Residency Test. We also highlighted the fact that the wife was primary carer for two children both in full time education.

We also contacted Universal Credit who confirmed that the tenants failed the HRT as the wife had no workers status as she has not worked in the UK since entering. This information was incorrect as the tenant had payslips to confirm she had worked in the UK for over a year. After going back and forth with the Universal Credit and providing the supporting evidence we have finally managed to get the claim into payment and the APA agreed.

The result: arrears of housing costs were paid significantly reducing the arrears, with monthly deductions instigated which would wipe out the debt.

Contact Sherrelle for offline Universal Credit advice

Sherrelle is an independent consultant and is recommended by Property118 for landlords who require professional advice and assistance in regards to dealing with Universal credit related matters


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Comments

Dr Rosalind Beck

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10:03 AM, 11th May 2017, About 8 years ago

That's a great result. I think landlords would be interested in knowing roughly what fees would be charged for a service like this. It's not one I need at the moment, but I think it would be useful to know.

CARIDON LANDLORD SOLUTIONS

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11:28 AM, 11th May 2017, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Dr Rosalind Beck" at "11/05/2017 - 10:03":

Dear Dr Rosalind,
For this particular case the landlord was charged £200.00. We recovered £3900 equivalent to 3 months rent.
I am currently finalising our rate card and will post once completed.

Dr Rosalind Beck

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11:33 AM, 11th May 2017, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Sherrelle Collman" at "11/05/2017 - 11:28":

Well, that sounds like excellent value for money and a brilliant service. I wish you well with this valuable service. Landlords so need this kind of good value service as we already lose so much.

CARIDON LANDLORD SOLUTIONS

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13:09 PM, 11th May 2017, About 8 years ago

Thank you very much.
We have tried to keep our pricing as low as possible as we understand that many landlords have not had rent for months and still have to pay the mortgage and other associated costs..

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