council tax benefit - evidence

[wanderlust9]

My very first post...so hello to anyone reading this....

I have recently made a claim for Council Tax benefit & was asked to provide evidence of Capital & Savings (i.e bank statements). I did this, but blanked out transactions & account details as I consider this unnecessary info and also backed up by advice from a CAB counsellor. What they could see was 'Money In' & 'Money Out'. The council have not accepted my application because of this. They state "...they must show your account number, transactions and final balance". I dont have thousands in the bank & I am certainly not trying to defraud anyone but I dont see their need to know what I spend my money on. Finally, even although they are supposed to treat info as confidential, I would have thought they definitely could not demand to see my bank account number & sort code etc... This is confidential - to me!!! What is the purpose of that?

Any positive feedback or helpful comments/info appreciated

[zazen.warrior]

I don't know if this is the requested 'positive' comment, but I have just been through this myself, my main problem being that I bank on line and you cannot print off statements which include your name and account number.

I was equally outraged by the intrusion into my privacy but if you want and need the benefit you will need to compromise. I obtained hardcopy statements from my bank and handed them over.

I also made many references to involving a local councillor when they still seemed to be dragging their feet processing the claim. This seemed to bring about a prompt result

The purpose of it is to prevent fraud.

[bazak1]

I suggest that if you do indeed pass over these statements with such delicate info' on them, question how they dispose of them later. If you dont receive them back, then they should be "security shredded" but mistakes do happen so be very careful.

[buckju]

If it is of any help. I deal with my daughters housing & council tax benefits. She only has on line banking, At first the local council advised these statements were not acceptable because they do not show your name and account number. When I pointed out she does not receive paper statement ( help the environment) they accepted the print outs from the internet providing the bank stamped them. so all she done was go into the branch and they stamped and signed them.

[sarahj8079]

My council were even worse than yours!

First they requested a copy of my premium bond certificate worth £2 even though they had had one from my previous claim that had closed only one week earlier and they also took 3 months to deal with my HB/CB claim as my ex would tell me his new address and therefore the council thought I was trying to defraud them!

I hope your claim is a lot quicker!

[Messydesk]

See my thread on The Policemans Cucumber which relates to exactly this - the council being ridiculous over what evidence you should give them. I have appealed against a claim by my local council that they orpaid me benefit in 1995/6/7 and the appeal was adjourned so that I can provide a list of evidence going back to these years and which some of it is just not available any more. They want every bank statment, for example, of every bank account I have ever had between 1995 and 2008. I honestly cannot even remember where I was banking then! I hate to tell you but this dispute is now in its third year and shows no sign at all of being resolved. It must have cost the council far more than it can ever hope to recover.