| answer text |
<p>When moving from a live service claim to a full service claim on Universal Credit,
claimants must re-declare their housing costs and for claimants in Social Rented Sector
properties their landlord will need to re-verify their housing costs. The Alternate
Payment Arrangements (APAs) that they had on the live service, including a Managed
Payment to Landlords (MTPL), will be visible to their Case Manager who will be able
to transfer these across once their housing costs have been verified. The claimants
next APA review date is also transferred to the Full Service.</p><p> </p><p>Our Trusted
Partner scheme allows social landlords to play a key role in engaging with their tenants
who are on Universal Credit, helping those who can’t manage their housing payments
to access the support available and to help put managed payments in place where appropriate.
We are rolling out the scheme alongside the Landlord Portal, which provides social
landlords with the ability to submit information directly to the Universal Credit
online system, supporting the timely and accurate payment of housing costs to Universal
Credit claimants.</p><p> </p><p>Last year we made changes to the guidance to ensure
that when Private Sector Housing Benefit claimants move onto Universal Credit, we
know whether they had their rent paid directly to their landlord and why. This allows
DWP staff to determine whether a managed payment to the landlord for the Universal
Credit claim may need to be applied and will prompt a conversation with the claimant.
This will be the case for claimants who move over as part of the managed migration
process.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants in Scotland may choose to have the relevant housing
costs in their award paid directly to their landlord as part of the Universal Credit
Scottish Flexibilities. The Universal Credit Scottish Flexibilities are a matter for
the Scottish Government as part of the Scotland Act 2016 and is their policy.</p>
|
|
