DWP failure to provide protection from bedroom tax to ESA claimants migrating to UC as a result of the death of their severely disabled partner

Use this template if all of the following apply:

• your client was receiving legacy benefits (ESA, housing benefit) as part of a couple and was not affected by the bedroom tax/ spare room subsidy
• your client's partner was severely disabled, and has now died
• your client now lives in a property with more rooms than they are deemed to need (which is the same property they occupied with their deceased partner)
• your client had to make a new claim for universal credit as a single person following their partner's death and has been awarded less than their full rent due to the bedroom tax / spare room subsidy
• your client is experiencing financial hardship due to this reduction in housing support (your client should also apply for a discretionary housing payment, DHP, to meet the shortfall)
• your client wants to challenge this gap in bereavement protection to help other people in their situation

This letter assumes (so can be changed):

• your client was receiving carer's allowance for caring for their partner
• your client and partner were joint social housing tenants
• your client and their partner were entitled to a bedroom each due to disability under the housing benefit rules
• your client has queried the reduction with DWP through their UC journal

Do not use this template if: 

• your client was not previously receiving housing benefit before their partner's death
• your client was already claiming universal credit as a couple before their partner's death
• your client has moved to a different property since their partner's death
• your client is pension age and eligible to claim housing benefit (instead of UC)

The main legal argument in this template is:

The absence of protection / run-on after a death for an ESA claimant whose severely disabled partner was the lead claimant in their legacy benefit awards (including needing an extra bedroom for an overnight carer) and whose death meant the claimant (who was their partner's carer) has had to make a claim for universal credit (UC), receives no protection from the bedroom tax / spare room subsidy. In contrast housing benefit claimants get 12 months protection under regulation 13ZA of Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 and existing UC joint claimants get 3 months protection under regulation 37 of Universal Credit Regulations 2013. That those forced to make a new UC claim due to bereavement get no protection at all is irrational. 

Information about your client and their deceased partner:

• name
• address
• national insurance number (NINo)
• date of birth (DOB)

Background facts, such as:

• the date of your client’s partner’s death.
• your client’s housing details, the reason their partner needed the extra room(s)
• is your client planning to downsize? Have they taken any steps to do so?
• any health difficulties or disabilities your client has
• what financial hardship your client is experiencing as a result of the lack of protection, details of any rent arrears and any risk to their tenancy.  
• any risk that your client will be unable to afford to pay for their heating or food, any need to use food banks
• any detriment to your client's health and welfare or to any of their family members' health and welfare
• whether your client has applied for a DHP, whether this has been awarded, how much, and for how long

Information about the decision:

• the date of the decision awarding your client universal credit with a reduced housing costs element
• dates of all relevant contacts and decisions
• whether and when your client notified the DWP of any risk to their tenancy, and how and when the DWP responded, including dates

We've created this guide to help you successfully use our judicial review pre-action letter templates: Guide to using CPAG's judicial review pre-action letter templates

Once you've finished your letter, please email it to us at: [email protected] before you send it to the lawyers acting for DWP/HMRC/your local authority. We'll try to reply as quickly as possible and will do so within 7 days.

This letter applies where a claimant on legacy benefits who was part of a couple previously exempt from the bedroom tax, suffers a bereavement which results in their having to make a new claim for UC, and is immediately affected by the bedroom tax. This is often the case where the client was a carer for the person who has died. You may also wish to check if their carers allowance has run on but the carer element has not been included in their UC.