Millions of legacy benefit claimants have missed out on backdated payments worth £720. The High Court has dismissed an appeal against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), leaving almost two million benefit claimants missing out on back payments.
The DWP was taken to the High Court by four legacy benefit claimants. The four claimed that it was unfair that those on older benefits missed out on the £20 weekly uplift given to those claiming Universal Credit during the Covid pandemic.
The four claimants lost the case back in November 2021. But they were later allowed to appeal the decision with the appeal hearing taking place on December 7, 2022.
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The four claimants wanted DWP to back pay the amount that they didn't receive during the pandemic. In the appeal in December, they asked for payments of £720, reports the Mirror.
This total is based on the payments of £20 a week for 36 weeks or nine months. Originally, the claim wanted back payments worth £1,560 for the entire 18 months, but, this was shortened at the last appeal.
It was never guaranteed that the back payment would be given if the claimants were to be successful. Today (January 17), the High Court upheld the ruling made in the original hearing which was held in February 2022.
The four claimants, who were represented by William Ford, of Osbornes Law, Jamie Burton, of Doughty Street Chambers, and Desmond Rutledge, of Garden Court Chambers, argued that the decision by the DWP was "discriminatory contrary to Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights".
This is because those with disabilities were more likely to be claiming the older legacy benefits or Personal Independence Payments (PIP) instead of Universal Credit. Two of the claimants in the case were in receipt of Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and the third and fourth were in receipt of Jobseekers’ Allowance and Income Support.
In today's verdict, the Court of Appeal judges accepted the DWP’s claim that the £20 uplift was not intended to alleviate hardship but to reduce the financial shock to the newly unemployed and prevent them from becoming dependent on benefits in the long-term. The court accepted that the uplift was paid “in recognition of the fact that sudden, short-term unemployment can trigger social and health problems, leading to dependence on welfare, and hampering a return to employment”.
The court went on to find that: “The uplift was not targeted at alleviating hardship as a result of increased costs during the pandemic. It was targeted at alleviating a particular type of financial disruption, namely that experienced by those who had lost or were at risk of losing employment or significant income, and who as a result were making new claims for social security benefits for the first time having previously been financially self-sufficient.”
It also ruled that legacy benefits claimants were not a priority for help because they were “either not in the labour market at all by virtue of their disabilities, or only to a limited extent". The judge added: "That does not mean they were not a deserving group, and they were undoubtedly vulnerable. Nonetheless, a hard choice was made to prioritise those in the labour market but who it was anticipated would quickly become unemployed as a direct consequence of the pandemic and the lockdown measures that followed, and do so in large numbers.”
The court documents also noted that the decisions in the case "involved complex social and political judgments and difficult socio-economic choices" which were only introduced as a temporary measure to address the situation which was "regarded as a national emergency". However, the judge again recognised, as in the previous hearing, that amounts paid to legacy benefits claimants during the pandemic were low and it was "obvious that any person required to rely on that level of income would suffer hardship and would find it more difficult to meet basic living expenses during the pandemic".
William Ford, the solicitor who represented the claimants, said: "I appreciate that this outcome will be a great disappointment to many people on legacy benefits who have been waiting patiently for this judgement. All possible effort was made to persuade the Court of Appeal to reach a different outcome and it is deeply disappointing that this did not prove possible."
A DWP spokesperson said: “We welcome the Court of Appeal’s findings in our favour. It has always been the case that claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit if they believe they will be better off.”
Osbornes Law told Mirror Money their legal team was considering the judgement and looking at their options.
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