Unreported housing costs

You can use this template if:

• your client did not report their housing costs when they claimed UC
• your client reported their housing costs to the DWP within 13 months of the DWP’s decision to award UC
• the DWP has included a housing costs element in their UC maximum amount only from the start of an assessment period related to the date that your client had told them about the housing costs, not from the start of the award
• the housing costs had not changed since the initial application

If a claimant did not provide information about their housing costs when they claimed UC, but this is corrected by the claimant within the time limit for an any grounds revision:

1. the appropriate means of changing the award is by an any grounds revision under reg 5 of the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2013 (‘the D&A Regs’)
2. revision under reg 5 allows the Secretary of State to alter the original determination in any case where it does not correspond to the claimant’s correct entitlement, even in circumstances where the claimant was at fault (SSWP v Miah [2024] EWCA Civ 186)
3. the decision of the Secretary of State to supersede the award in these circumstances is incorrect. Reg 32 of the D&A Regs states that a decision which may be revised may not be superseded

To complete this template you need the following information.

Information about your client

• name
• address
• national insurance number

Background facts

• the amount of your client's housing costs from the date of their UC claim
• the date on which your client notified the DWP of their housing costs and how they did this
• the reasons why your client did not inform the DWP of their housing costs when they made their claim
• the date your client submitted the appeal

Information about the decision

• the date of the DWP's original decision to award UC to your client
• the date from which UC was awarded
• your client's UC assessment period
• a breakdown of the DWP's calculation of the UC award for your client's first assessment period following their UC claim
• the date of the DWP's decision to amend the UC award following receipt of your client's notification of their housing costs
• if possible, a copy of the notification of this decision (for example either a letter or journal note)
• the date from which the correct housing costs included in the UC award

Note: to give your client instructions on how to download a copy of their UC journal and payment statements use our tool: Make instructions for clients on how to get information from their online universal credit account