CU v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
[2024] UKUT 32 (AAC)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Abdul Miah
1 March 2024
[2024] EWCA Civ 186
Court of Appeal
A man with a disability needed Universal Credit (UC) but missed a deadline to claim for a month. The government said it was too late, but the court ruled it wasn't. Even though the first decision was made, the man can still ask for the extra money and the government has to consider it. This is because even if it's a later request, there's a way to ask them to reconsider, like changing their mind. The court was critical of how the government's system made it hard to request this 'backdating' of money but said that it's still the government's job to review how to give people the correct money, even if the initial request was made after the official deadline.
Key Facts
- •Mr. Miah, a protected party with a severe learning disability, had his parents' child tax credit (CTC) cease on 16 February 2020.
- •A UC claim was submitted on his behalf on 16 March 2020, without mentioning backdating.
- •UC was awarded from the claim date, leaving a gap in support.
- •A backdating request was made on 23 July 2020 and refused; the refusal was upheld.
- •The DWP argued it lacked power to backdate after the initial decision.
- •The Upper Tribunal allowed the appeal, finding Mr. Miah entitled to seek backdating.
Legal Principles
Entitlement to benefit is conditional on making a claim in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time.
SSAA 1992, section 1(1)
Regulations may provide for treating a claim as made on a different date.
SSAA 1992, section 5(1)(b)
A claim for UC can be backdated up to one month if specified conditions (including disability) are met and the claimant couldn't reasonably have claimed earlier.
C&P Regulations 2013, regulation 26(2)-(3)
Once a claim is determined, it no longer subsists, except for revision.
SSA 1998, section 8(2)
A decision under section 8 can be revised within a prescribed period, either on application or the Secretary of State's initiative.
SSA 1998, section 9
The Secretary of State has a duty to make necessary inquiries to determine entitlement (Kerr duty).
Kerr v Department for Social Development (Northern Ireland) [2004] UKHL 23
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed.
The period of a UC claim is not a defining parameter preventing backdating requests via revision or appeal after initial determination. The Secretary of State should have considered the backdating request as a request for revision.