Following a conclusive ruling from the Court of Appeal two severely disabled men known as TP and AR have called on the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to compensate up to 50,000 benefits claimants who have been unlawfully stripped of benefits worth thousands of pounds.
The pair made the call after the DWP’s bid to appeal against a High Court ruling of January 2022 was refused.
Last year the court found that the DWP discriminated against the men when it didn’t compensate them the full £180 a month difference in the amount of money they received on legacy benefits and the amount they were paid in universal credit (UC) after they moved into an area where the new benefit had already been rolled out.
The latest High Court judgment is the fourth in favour of the pair, who began their legal campaign after they suffered the severe drop in income when they were moved on to UC in 2016 and 2017 as a result of house moves to areas where UC was in operation.
Before they moved house, the men had each received the severe disability premium (SDP) and enhanced disability premium (EDP).
After TP and AR waged a long campaign in the courts, the DWP decided to make up for the loss of SDP but not EDP.
It meant that severely disabled people affected by the policy would receive just £120 a month rather than the full monthly loss of up to £180. The court ruled in 2022 that this was discriminatory.
The DWP tried to appeal the 2022 judgment but on 12 January 2023 the Court of Appeal refused permission, making plain that there was no merit in the Government’s arguments and bringing this long running litigation to an end.
TP and AR have now written to Government lawyers to ask the DWP to address the unlawful discrimination without delay.
They argue that the DWP must act to compensate up to 50,000 people affected. It is understood this will involve sums of up to £150 million to put right, as many affected were short-changed around £60 per month for several years.
That Court of Appeal ruling also means that the High Court’s judgment in favour of claimants AB and F, a disabled mother and child, represented by Southwark Law Centre, stands.
The failure to provide transitional protection against around £150 a month difference in the amount of money they received in lower disabled child element on legacy benefits and the amount they were paid in UC per disabled child was also found by the High Court to constitute unlawful discrimination.
Claimant AR said: “TP and I have had to fight for justice for 5 years and go to court four times. It is high time the DWP finally gets this right.
“The policy has caused me and others serious hardship and now that the DWP has been refused permission to appeal last year’s court ruling, we expect them to pay us back the money we have lost and fix what they have been told repeatedly is discriminatory.”
Ken Butler DR UK’s Welfare Rights and Policy Officer said: “It should never have been the case that Disabled people entitled to the severe and enhanced disability premiums lost the equivalent sum on moving to UC.
“Especially when benefit rules mean that due to a change in circumstances, like moving house, meant they had no option but to claim UC.
“The DWP should now prioritise compensating the many thousands of Disabled people caused serious hardship.”
See also our related news High Court rules loss of around £180 a month disability premiums on claiming UC is unlawful discrimination.