Why are we waiting for court decision on ‘legacy’ benefit back-payments?

Last Updated: February 11, 2022By

It is now nearly three months since the High Court held a judicial review into whether a decision to restrict a £20-per-week benefit uplift to Universal Credit was fair to people on ‘legacy’ benefits.

Why are we waiting so long for the verdict?

Hundreds of thousands of people on benefit like Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), didn’t get the extra money, that was intended to help with the cost of living during the Covid crisis.

Campaign groups say the decision by Boris Johnson’s Tory government disproportionately harmed people with disabilities.

The uplift lasted from April 2020 until October 2021, meaning legacy benefit claimants could be due a payment of around £1,560 if the court finds in their favour.

On November 17 and 19 last year, the High Court heard a judicial review on behalf of four legacy benefit recipients who say the failure to provide them with the £20 weekly uplift constituted “unlawful discrimination.”

Claimant representatives at Doughty Street Chambers have issued an update due to the number of people making enquiries about the outcome. It said:

Judgment is awaited in the case.

It is not unusual that in a case of this type and importance for many hundreds of thousands of people that judgment takes some time.

Chambers acknowledges that many people are anxiously waiting for the outcome… Please be assured that as soon as judgment is handed down it will be communicated. In the meantime, please bear with us.

Source: Update for benefit claimants waiting on court decision over possible £1,500 backdated payments from the DWP – Daily Record

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3 Comments

  1. jake February 11, 2022 at 5:37 pm - Reply

    don’t hold your breath! over 16 years for me…and i can’t even get a court date as identity stolen amongst other things. forced to survive as a slave basically….

    • Mike Sivier February 12, 2022 at 1:10 am - Reply

      I think you’re talking about a different thing. This is just about the Universal Credit uplift that happened because of Covid-19.

      • jake February 12, 2022 at 1:34 am - Reply

        yep…but have u ever considered the larger problem? must be millions of us in this situation and we’re basically invisible/ don’t officially exist…it’s about making people dependent on the state and when somebody switches you off your life is over- what’s next, programmable currency?

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