People on legacy benefits could be due £1,500 back payments following appeal hearing next month

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An appeal hearing over the £20 weekly uplift which was paid to millions of people claiming Universal Credit during the coronavirus pandemic, but not to those on legacy benefits, is due to take place next month.

The legal team representing four benefit claimants will present their case to the Court of Appeal on either December 6 or 7, 2022 - the date has still to be confirmed.In August, the legal team representing the four legacy benefits claimants’ who lost a High Court challenge in February over the £20 weekly Universal Credit uplift, confirmed that an application to appeal the ruling had been successful.

William Ford QC at Osbornes Law, shared the long-awaited update that more than two million people on older-style benefits had been waiting months to hear.The right to appeal the ruling could now result in the four claimants involved in the case being awarded more than £1,500 in backdated payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - and set a precedent for everyone who missed out on the uplift.While there is no guarantee a ruling in the claimants’ favour would result in backdated payments for people across the UK also on legacy benefits who missed out on the extra support, it could trigger an avalanche of similar legal challenges.

At the time of the appeal announcement, Mr Ford QC wrote on the Osbornes Law website : “On 18 February 2022 the High Court dismissed the case brought by Osbornes on behalf of 4 claimants challenging the UK Government’s failure to apply the £20 per week uplift to legacy benefit recipients that had been provided to Universal Credit claimants during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The claimants sought permission to appeal that decision from the High Court.