[2025] UKUT 288 (AAC)

The facts relevant to this appeal are not in dispute. The Appellant (to whom I will refer as the “claimant”) was in receipt of a Personal Independence Payment. On 17 April 2021 he left the UK to go to India, intending to stay 3 to 4 weeks. On 23 April 2021 India was placed on the UK’s ‘red list’ for the purposes of travel restrictions in place due to the Covid pandemic. This meant that the claimant was unable to return to the UK.

On a date which is not entirely clear, but is not material to this appeal, the claimant’s previous award of Personal Independence Payment came to an end after the application of the rules relating to temporary absence from Great Britain. On 20 December 2021 the claimant contacted the Secretary of State to enquire about making a new claim. This enquiry appears to have been treated as the date of claim on the basis that on 12 January 2022 (within a month of the initial enquiry) the claimant submitted an online claim form providing the further information required by the Secretary of State to process his claim.

On 09 April 2022 the claimant returned to Great Britain.

On 29 July 2022, a decision maker for the Secretary of State decided that the claimant was not entitled to a Personal Independence Payment because he did not meet the residence conditions of entitlement, having been living outside the UK (in India) from 17 April 2021 until 09 April 2022 (the “SoS Decision”).

The claimant’s mother sadly passed away shortly after the claimant’s return to the UK, necessitating another trip to India from 25 June 2022 until 23 October 2022.

The claimant didn’t agree with the SoS Decision and requested a mandatory reconsideration. However, the SoS Decision was confirmed on reconsideration. The claimant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal.

On 24 June 2024, Tribunal Judge Jackson of the First-tier Tribunal sitting alone at High Wycombe (the “Tribunal”) dismissed the claimant’s appeal and confirmed the SoS Decision (the “FtT Decision”).