| Basic Account Customer |  UNDERpayment of Housing Benefit... anyone else?
Hi folks,
I'm not sure if this is the correct section for my post, but I had a look and thought it may be the most appropriate. (any passing mod feel free to move it if you think it would be better off elsewhere)
It's a pretty long post, but also a slightly complicated situation, so I thought it best not to leave anything out.
Okay, so at the moment, it looks like I have been underpaid Housing Benefit for about 2 years. I thought I could start a thread just to see if this has happened to anyone else and to log progress, as it may involve me having to appeal against the council, depending on the result of their investigation.
I had the benefits officer out at my house, seems to be the new way that they are gathering information for renewal applications for Housing/Council Tax Benefit.
I have been receiving Housing Benefit for my current house since I moved in just over 3 yrs ago, it is a private rent so the monthly rent is pretty high, I only work part-time and am a single parent, so that made me eligible for Housing Benefit, based on my circumstances, rent amount and income.
So when the officer was going through the form with me and I was filling in the appropriate sections, we got to the section about Childcare costs. My son has been attending a private nursery (because it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE to get your children into community nurseries full-time in my area!) for around the past 3 years. He asked if I had any childcare costs and I said yes and told him how much. He said this must be a change of circumstances because there was no record of childcare costs on my file WHATSOEVER. I told him, no, he has been in nursery for over 3 years. The officer then told me that in that case, it looks like I have been underpaid benefit from the date my son started nursery!
Unfortunately though, it's not as clean-cut as that. I attended college for about 8mths, during the time my son was in nursery and I was also claiming Housing Benefit. The fact that I had received a Student Loan during that time and not declared it to the council, meant I was overpaid for the period I was at college. (The reason I had to leave college, believe it or not, is because I could no longer afford the travelling expenses to and from the college & nursery, twice a day, 5 days a week AND was unable to stay on top of debts I already had, with these added expenses.) So I had an interview with a very sympathetic woman at the council, to whom I explained in all honesty my situation. She advised me that I may be eligible for prosecution, but that she suspected it wouldn't go this far, that I would still receive Housing Benefit, but just at a reduced rate (with them deducting so much to go towards the overpayment)
So the underpayment is essentially only valid from the date I left college, which I believe to be April/May 2005. This means that for just over 2 years my claim for Housing Benefit has been calculated WITHOUT taking into consideration my childcare costs. (which I may add, have varied between 80-130 pounds per week. For the most part, they were over 100 pounds per week)
Now, the Benefit Officer said that if we put the childcare costs on my most recent claim for Housing Benefit, the council will probably just regard it as a change of circumstances from the date of that recent application. I informed him that I found it VERY difficult to believe that they had missed this information, for obviously, each time I had filled out my application for benefit (which I believe to be yearly, so that's two applications) I would state my childcare costs in the relevant section.
Not only that, I have been receiving Tax Credits/Child Tax Credit, with the Childcare Element for the duration I have been receiving Housing Benefit and in order for the council to calculate my claim, they need my Tax Credits award letter, as it is a part of my income used for the calculation of benefit. My award letter was sent with every application for benefit I made (they would not have been able to calculate it otherwise and would have eventually stopped my benefit had this not been received) and it just so happens, that on every award letter it clearly states my Childcare Costs and the amount thereof. So, it was always stated on the form, written by me and also is stated on the award letter that they receive with every application I have made. Therefore, they have missed this information two years running, regardless of them being in possession of two documents stating it.
Now, it seems possible that perhaps something went awry with the officers laptop that day, or maybe it was a glitch in the system or something. But he was adamant that if he didn't have it on his file then it was never there, because their laptops hook up directly to the councils computer system or something and therefore, he has access to all the information on my file that the council holds and has held for me since the beginning of my claim.
The officer came out on the 5th July, so my 'change of circumstances' will be recorded from that date. He advised me to add a note on my form stating that I would be sending information to corroborate this change and the relevant dates and that I should get a headed letter from my sons nursery showing his fee amounts, the dates the fees were incurred and also, the dates and amounts of any variance in fees (which there were a few of, due to fee amounts varying in accordance with my sons age).
When he advised me that the council may just take this new information as a 'change of circumstance' from the date of my new application (5th July), I objected on the grounds that the council had been informed on every application I made to them, in two separate documents, of these childcare costs and therefore, was it not their mistake that I have been underpaid for around 2 years and should I not now be entitled to the benefit I was underpaid for that time? He replied that technically yes, I should be entitled to it, but he believed it unlikely that the council would automatically just offer me the underpayment. He advised me that if they do not acknowledge this mistake after investigating my claim, I can appeal against their decision. He added, that based on the fact they had all relevant documents, he said there was a good chance my appeal would be successful.
I took this letter into the council on 16th July. I then called about a week later to check progress of the investigation. I was informed that the investigation had not yet been complete, that they had a backlog and I would receive my new calculation sheet soon.
I believe that if the council do agree I am entitled to the amount I should have received in the first place, that it will be first used to cover my overpayment from when I attended college, which is fine, it's one less debt to worry about.
To sum up, timescale-wise, it will be 3 weeks on Monday 6th August since they received my nursery letter with the relevant fee information.
Has anyone else been in this situation and successfully appealed against their local councils decision?
Last edited by Aqualibrium; 2nd August 2007 at 15:15.
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