Millions of benefit claimants could receive up to £1,500 in back pay ahead of an upcoming High Court appeal next month. The hearing is over the £20 uplift in Universal Credit, which wasn't paid to people on older, legacy benefits like tax credits.
The case, which has been brought by a legal team representing four claimants, will be heard by the Court of Appeal on either December 6 or 7, 2022. If the appeal is successful, the four claimants involved in the case could be awarded over £1,500 in backdated payments by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
This would set a precedent for everyone else who missed out on the uplift. In August, the legal team representing the four legacy benefits claimants’ who lost a High Court challenge in February, confirmed an application to appeal the ruling had been successful.
William Ford QC, from Osbornes Law, shared the long-awaited update that more than two million people on older-style benefits had been waiting months to hear.
If the appeal is successful, it could set a precedent for the two million people who rely on income Based Jobseekers Allowance, Income Related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.
William Ford, the solicitor for the claimants previously, said: "The case centres on a claim of unlawful discrimination between two groups, those on Universal Credit and those on legacy benefits. If the court finds in favour of that and makes a declaration, the [UK] Government has to go away and then decide how to rectify that.
“But the court can't tell the DWP what to do so we have to wait and see. The hope would be that the [UK] Government comes up with some sort of package of support for those on legacy benefits."
Universal Credit was introduced in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 to bring six benefits under one scheme. Not everyone has been given the chance to switch to universal credit yet.
Some two million people are still receiving legacy benefits and will not have been offered this extra COVID-19 support. When Express.co.uk first covered the story last November, a spokesperson for Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said: "It has always been the case that claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for Universal Credit if they believe that they will be better off."
Meanwhile, the second part of the £650 cost of living support payment will be paid to eight million people from next Tuesday (November 8). The DWP said it could take up to the week of November 24 to process all payments and people on certain benefits will receive their payment later.
Some people might get a payment even if they didn't qualify for the first round of instalments. Britons should qualify if they were eligible for means-tested benefits during August 26 to September 25 this year.
Britons should be eligible for £650 in cost of living support payments if they receive:
- Universal Credit
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Tax Credits.
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