Transitional Protection and the Housing Element

The Housing Element of Universal Credit will not exceed the LHA. As previously explained if your Housing Benefit is higher than the Housing Element of UC then this will be reflected in the transitional protection.

Hi David,
Many thanks for your reply.

To answer your question, I do not know of a reason why my TP should not include the difference between the LHA and my previous HB. The payment calculation only stated that no TP would be paid due to UC not paying more than the LHA
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I've followed your advice and been in touch with Help to Claim, where my queries were passed on to a supervisor. I've now received a long reply but at first reading it appears contradictory and non conclusive. Unfortunately I cannot reply to it for clarification, as the 'email account is not monitored'. I will read it again when my head is clearer and get back to you if that is okay. Thanks again.

Lionloves.

Hi Gladioli,

Thanks for your reply.

However I am still not clear if TP is meant to apply to the TOTAL sum one receives, or to specific elements of it separately. I presume it is the former, but I don't know.

I've crunched a few numbers, and if TP applies to the total sum one receives, then I may end up a situation where I get some TP because the Housing Element being lower, but that will be offset because the other elements of my UC claim would go up a little. I'd still be slightly better though, which of course is a lot better than being £1300 worse off! Thanks.

Lionloves

David asked me to update on how I got on, so tere are the relevant extracts from my reply from CAB in regard to my questions on TP, the Housing Element amount and how it relates HB and the LHA. My comments on them are below: “I want to reassure you that you will not be any worse off on Universal Credit than you were on your Legacy Benefits... ...The Housing Element of Universal Credit is less than what you were receiving when you were in receipt of Housing Benefit. It is acknowledged that you may have received more than the Local Housing Allowance rate and had an element of protection provided for older Housing Benefit claims. This protection does not apply in Universal Credit. However, your higher Housing Benefit paid will be considered and would have the effect of increasing your Transitional Element. This ensures you will be no worse off on Universal Credit than you were on your Legacy Benefits (ESA and Housing Benefit)... ...Turning to how this affects the 2008 regulations and Universal Credit, those regulations have been modified by the Universal Credit Regulations, specifically the Universal Credit regulation 2013, schedule 4, paragraph 25, subparagraph 5, which governs Universal Credit awards – please note this does not apply to Housing Benefit. Transitional Protection does not match your Housing Benefit. Transitional Protection is intended to ensure that you will be no worse off on Universal Credit than you were on your legacy benefits. When looking at Transitional Protection, the DWP look at your total legacy benefit on the day before you make your Universal Credit claim and then convert it into a monthly figure. Lastly, they calculate how much you would receive if you made a Universal Credit claim. If the amount of Legacy Benefit is more than what you would be entitled to on Universal Credit, the Transitional Protection would make up the difference. As Universal Credit will not cover your full rent due to the Local Housing Allowance, you can contact your Local Authority and request a Discretionary Housing Payment. This would help to cover the shortfall in your rent. Whether this would be granted is solely at the discretion of your Local Authority, who will look at your circumstances and determine whether you are eligible for the DHP, how much they will cover toward your rent, and for how long you would receive the payment. ...We are able to support you all the way up until you receive your first correct payment of Universal Credit, or if you have any issues with your claim before you receive your first payment. We can also help you with a Mandatory Reconsideration and/or an appeal within one month of the decision.” Okay, here is my understanding of the above: 1) I'm told I will not be worse off on UC. 2) The Housing Element of my UC will be less than my previous HB (due to it not being able to exceed the LHA). However my previous HB will be taken into account which will increase the Transitional Element to (presumably) cover the difference so I will not worse off, as stated. 3) Universal Credit will not cover my full rent due to the LHA, but I can contact your Local Authority and request a Discretionary Housing Payment. In summary it seems somewhat contradictory to me. I'm told I won't be worse off, due to the TP increase I'll get in my UC which makes up for the shortfall between the HE and my previous HB. But I'm also told that UC will not pay my full rent (this is strictly true, though the TP element with will raise my UC to the level of my previous HB) so I should/could therefore apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment... Also, none of this explains why my first and only UC payment calculation stated that I would not be receiving any TE for Housing (or for anything else for that matter). It makes me wonder if it is customary for UC calculations not to follow UC's regulations and to get the majority of the figures wrong, as mine did ? It seems that all that there is left for me to do now is to apply for “a Mandatory Reconsideration and/or an appeal" as the CAB advises, and then take it from there if the response is unfavourable. Thanks in advance for any replies or advice. Lionloves