Millions of people who claim old-style legacy benefits have been given fresh hope that they could receive backpay worth £1,500.
Four benefit claimants have been given permission to appeal an earlier court decision that ruled in favour of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Mirror reports. The row centres around whether it was fair to exclude legacy benefits from extra covid support during the pandemic.
People claiming Universal Credit were given a £20-a-week boost to their payments for 18 months - but the same rate increase was not passed on to those on older benefits, such as Employment Support Allowance (ESA), Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - which campaign groups said disproportionately affected disabled people.
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In February of this year, a High Court judge ruled the policy was not unlawful discrimination that breached the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Justice Swift said the "difference in treatment" between Universal Credit and legacy claimants was "justified" because it was aimed at people who suddenly lost their job due to covid.
The four claimants' solicitor William Ford, of Osbornes Law, has now confirmed that the case will now be heard in the Court of Appeal. However, even if the appeal decision is successful, it doesn’t necessarily mean that any back pay would be granted.
The court would not be able to specify how the situation is rectified - it would instead be down to the Government to decide. One solution could be to issue back payments to those affected.
This could be worth up to £1,500 if the DWP matched the level of support those on Universal Credit received during the pandemic. But again, it might not be as clear cut as this.
The court could find the difference in treatment between those on Universal Credit and legacy benefits was justified for a period of time. The DWP could also decide to just extend the uplift to those on the old benefits system going forward, if the court was to rule in favour of an appeal.
Osbornes Law partner William Ford said: "We can now confirm that on August 3, 2022, the Court of Appeal has granted permission to appeal. This means the appeal will now proceed to be heard by the Court of Appeal."
Osbornes Law has been asked if a date has been set for the appeal hearing and we'll update this article when we get a response.
A spokesperson for the DWP said: “It would not be appropriate for us to comment while the litigation is ongoing. 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.”
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