Hey Mike.
I work in a DV service. Caroline has recently moved in with her three children. We need to claim Universal Credit, but we have been told that she can’t claim for the children yet, because the Child Benefit claim is still in her husband’s name.
Then, when we enquired about getting the Child Benefit moved over we were told that this won’t be possible unless the husband surrenders his claim.
Is this right?
Amber
Hello Amber,
No! Both of the things that you have been told are wrong. Here is why/how:
Responsible for a Child or Qualifying Young Person
A child is someone under 16.
A Qualifying Young Person is a 16-19 year old who is still in school-level education.
In this post I’m just going to refer to child(ren) but I mean both children and QYPs.
To claim Child Benefit for a child, or to have a child included in your Universal Credit claim you must be responsible for that child.
The law of benefits spells out who counts as responsible – but the law is different for Child Benefit and for Universal Credit. Here are the rules and guidance.
Universal Credit
Regulation 4 of the UC regulations says that you are responsible for a child who normally lives with you.
If the child normally lives with more than one person, the person who has main responsibility is the one who can claim for that child.
The law does not explain what this phrase main responsibility means, but the official Advice for Decision Making (para F1065) suggests that the Decision Maker could ask:
- Who makes day to day decisions about the child’s welfare including, for example, arranging and taking them to visits to the doctor or dentist or enrolling and taking the child to and from school?
- Who provides the child with clothing, shoes, toiletries and other items needed for daily use?
- Who is the main contact for the child’s school, doctor and dentist?
- Who cares for the child when the child is ill?
The law contains some rules to deal with particular situations:
- It’s down to separated parents to chose who will be responsible for which children.
- If the separated parents cannot agree a DWP Decision Maker will decide.
- If the separated parents do agree, the DWP will accept this choice unless the Decision Maker believes that it does not reflect what’s going on in the real world
Also
- You can’t count as responsible for a child while they are being looked after by the local authority or while they are a prisoner.
- You can’t count as responsible for a QYP if they are your partner.
- You can count as responsible for a child while s/he is temporarily away from your home for up to six months.
So, the fact that Caroline’s husband has still got the Child Benefit in his name is completely irrelevant to the question of responsibility for Universal Credit.
The children normally live with Caroline and she can claim Universal Credit for them – right now.
Child Benefit
For Child Benefit, you can count as responsible for a child or QYP who:
- Lives with you, or
- does not live with you; so long as you pay at least the amount that you get in Child Benefit towards the “costs of providing” for them.
If a child who lives with you leaves your household they can can count as living with you for upto 56 further days.
If more than one person can be seen as being responsible for a child, the law contains a list to say whose claim gets priority.
These rules are quite convoluted but an existing claim always has priority over a new claim for three weeks after the new claim is made.
After this priority goes to the person who has the child living with them.
In Caroline’s situation, she must make a new claim for Child Benefit as soon as possible.
Her husband’s existing Child Benefit claim will have priority over her claim for three weeks, then her new claim will take priority.
It’s true that, if her husband surrendered his claim, her claim could start earlier, but she must not wait to see what he does.
It’s the fact that she makes her new claim that starts the clock ticking on his three week run-on.