DWP refusal of the UC housing costs element because the claimant is not the named tenant

You can can use this template if all of the following apply: 

• your client is not the named tenant for the property they are living in but they must pay the rent as the named person is not paying
• DWP have refused your client the UC housing costs element as they have said your client is not liable for rent
• your client has explained why they are not the named tenant and provided evidence of their rent payments
• your client has sought a mandatory reconsideration of the decision not to include the housing costs element

This template assumes (so can be changed):

The property was your client ‘s family home and the named tenant has died.

Do not use this template if:

Your client has received a mandatory reconsideration notice refusing to change the decision not to include the housing costs element, if this is the case, your client should appeal instead. See CPAG's resources on expediting appeals if your client is in urgent need.

The main legal arguments in this template are:

1. Paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (UC Regs) allows a person who is not legally responsible to pay the rent to be treated as liable where the liable person is failing to pay.
2. DWP Advice for Decision Makers confirms at a para F2089 that a claimant is treated as liable to make payments where the person who is liable is not making payments, the claimant has to make payments in order to continue to live in the accommodation, the claimant’s circumstances are such that it would be unreasonable to expect them to make other arrangements, and it is reasonable to treat the claimant as liable to make the payments.
3. The DWP decision that your client cannot be treated as liable for the rent because they are not the named tenant in the relevant tenancy agreement is unlawful as it fails to taken account of relevant factors and as schedule 2, paragraph 2 is included in the UC Regs to cover situations where the person legally responsible for the rent is unable to pay and this is made clear to all DWP staff via the DWP’s own guidance. 

Information about your client and about the named tenant:

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

Background facts, such as:

• the date of your client became liable for the rent and why. Whether a request has been made to the landlord to change the tenancy into your client's name, and how their landlord has responded
• details of any rent arrears and/or risk to the tenancy
• any health difficulties or disabilities your client has
• what financial hardship your client is experiencing as a result of the lack housing costs element
• 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

Information about the decision:

• the date of the decision awarding your client universal credit with no 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.