Over two million people on specific state benefits could be in line for more than £1,500 in compensation if a judge rules in their favour.
At the height of the Covid pandemic and its economic impact, claimants on Universal Credit were given extra money from March 30, 2020, to October 5, 2021. The standard allowance was raised by £86 a month, first for one year and then for another six months.
The increase, paying about £20 a week on top of the normal amount, meant claimants received an extra £1,560 over that period. However, those on legacy benefits said the decision not to give them a top-up as well was discriminatory and in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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And in February, a High Court judge ruled in favour of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), saying its intention of providing support to people who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic and were forced to claim Universal Credit for the first time was fully justified, Birmingham Live reports.
The legal team decided to take the battle further and has now been granted permission for a hearing at the Court of Appeal later this year. Paul Spencer, policy and campaigns manager at Mind, said: "The UK Government must end this two-tier benefits system, by backdating payments to the hundreds of thousands of people on legacy benefits."
The DWP will have to come up with a package of support if the court appeal is granted in favour of claimants. The three benefits involved in the court case are:
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support
- Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
Edward Brown, representing the DWP, said the Universal Credit uplift was "an appropriate and effective response to the emergency facing society in the period since March 2020".
In his written submissions to the original High Court hearing, he said: "Careful consideration has been given to the specific issue, namely whether or not to uplift legacy benefits. The reasons why the Government has decided not to uplift legacy benefits are because it would be contrary to the specific fiscal and social policy goals... and it would be inefficient and not capable of delivery via legacy payment systems."
Two disabled people on ESA launched the original legal challenge and were joined by one person on Income Support and one on JSA. Around 2.4 million people would be in line to receive the extra cash.
That's made up of 1,846,000 people claiming Employment and Support Allowance, 264,000 on Jobseeker's Allowance and a further 247,000 on Income Support. If the appeal is won, the money paid out would amount to £3.74b in Covid cash compensation.
William Ford, solicitor for the claimants, previously told Birmingham Live: "If the court finds in favour of that and makes a declaration, the 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 Government comes up with some sort of package of support for those on legacy benefits."
He said this would likely be back payments because the Universal Credit uplift to the standard allowance was not maintained beyond 18 months. If it had been kept in place, then lawyers would be asking for an equivalent amount to be added to the other benefits.
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