Transitional Protection and the Housing Element

Hi again David,

I've just realised that your reply could be read and understood in a couple of ways. So in an attempt to have my own confusion dispelled I'll phrase my question in slightly different way:

Transitional Protection is stated as being there to ensure that a UC claimant does not receive less on UC than they did on legacy benefits on the day before they claimed UC.

On the day before I claimed UC my HB was higher than the LHA one room allowance due to the 7th April 2008 HB regulation. We now know from your colleague that UC does not recognise the 7th April 2008 HB regulation.

However notwithstanding this fact, I was receiving a higher HB than the Housing Element I currently receive on UC. So should TP follow its primary purpose and pay a TE to bring my Housing Element up to my previous HB, or will it follow the regulation of not paying more than the LHA? Whichever it is, if anyone can make reference to the regulations that inform their understanding, it would be much appreciated.

PS I spent well over an hour chatting to CAB's UC Claimant's Service today, and unfortunately got nowhere. They seem to have a very basic process they want to take you through (and which I complied with) - but anything outside of that is not rewarded with answers or useful information, or not in my case at least.

Hi David,

Thanks for our reply.
I presume that for some reason you can't see it in your reply in the thread.

Anyway, you wrote:
"To keep my reply succinct, your Transitional Protection will reflect the fact that your Housing Benefit exceeds the current LHA."

Pardon my ignorance, but as I said, to me this could be understood in two ways depending on whether the TP's goal of making sure a claimant does not receive less than while on legacy benefits overrules the regulation of not paying more than the LHA, or if it does not.

Unfortunately while seeking advice before before migrating I was informed that my Housing Element would match my HB. As usual the devil is in the detail, and as my HB exceeded the LHA by £110 a month (for legitimate reasons), as my payment calculation currently stands I will be £1300 per year worse off on UC than I was before.

I thought TP was put in place to prevent situations like this occurring. Hence my questions.
Thanks.

LionLoves

Hi Gary,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, my rent is private, and I do know my local LHA.

My question really boils down to what TP does in taking LHA into account – specifically, whether TP follows its primary purpose and pays a TE to bring my Housing Element up to my previous HB (which was higher than the LHA for legitimate reasons – namely the '7th April 2008' regulation) or follows the regulation(?) of not paying more than the LHA?

Whichever it is, if anyone can make reference to the regulations that inform their understanding, it would be much appreciated.

If it is the the latter, then TP is worthless to me and I will actually be £1300 worse off, despite all the reassurances to the contrary from UC Helplines and Jobcentre staff before I took up managed migration.

Thanks.
Lionloves.