Hi all

Sorry this is a bit long but please bear with me

A few years ago i was made redundant & had to sign on & claim housing benefit.

Housing benefit was paid directly to my ex landlord, i then moved as i was offered a house with a very good housing association & i was still claiming HB [ new claim] .

Unbeknownst to me the HB was still being paid to my previous landlord, to cut a long story short they started taking " overpayment" monies from my HB & i had to make up the shortfall to the housing association.

When i found a new job, i agreed to pay them £30 per month but that soon got to be to much & they simply would`t except any lower payments, so i stopped paying.

Now there saying that there taking me to court for just over £600 & i`m not happy as i never had the money in the first place.

Can i SD them & are there any other options i have

You can send a SAR to determine what has been going on and who've they paid, http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/576-subject-access-request-debt-a-dca

Sounds to me like an administrative error where your ex landlord was in receipt of sums not due to him . When you fill out these housing benefit claims , you enter the dates you are at resident at these properties ? , they did not think to cancel payment to the landlord to an ex address you no longer used as an abode ? Why are they not chasing him ?

It's the responsibility of the claimant to tell the council they are moving from the address for which they were claiming benefit. The council pay a landlord on behalf of the claimant - it is still benefit paid to the claimant and any overpayments are the claimants responsibility.

Well, I reply on the assumption that all these are made good and that there are other factors that are causing this discrepancy. Otherwise it would be a normal procedure to rectify this than to ask this kind of query .

It's the responsibility of the claimant to tell the council they are moving from the address for which they were claiming benefit. The council pay a landlord on behalf of the claimant - it is still benefit paid to the claimant and any overpayments are the claimants responsibility.

Hi Pinky

I fully understand your point but when i made a new claim i gave my old address from where i was moving from. In addition if i had`t then i was committing fraud by claiming for two addresses.

I think its easier to pursue me than try & recover the payments from my ex landlord.

If there is any HB people on here could they give me some advice please.

Many thanks

Middxx

I do not know much about housing benefit , but from what I see , in between the time of your old application and the new , they were making payments to your old landlord , who was not entitled to these sums . And now they are chasing you for their ill allocation of sums to this person . I think there is another forum thread better dedicated to this kind of thing as opposed to general debt collectors , who could help you more . Do not worry , there are many here with experience in these kinds of misappropriations.

I do not know much about housing benefit , but from what I see , in between the time of your old application and the new , they were making payments to your old landlord , who was not entitled to these sums . And now they are chasing you for their ill allocation of sums to this person . I think there is another forum thread better dedicated to this kind of thing as opposed to general debt collectors , who could help you more . Do not worry , there are many here with experience in these kinds of misappropriations.

Thanks for the advice Drexl

They were actually paying both at the same time, could you point me in the right direction of the other forum thread.

thanks

Middxx

I am not really an expert , you can see by my post count ) .

This would be a good place to go , by the look of it :

Local Authority, Council Tax and Business Rates Issues - The Consumer Forums

A mod could move the thread there , or maybe start a new .

I am not really an expert , you can see by my post count ) .

 

This would be a good place to go , by the look of it :

 

 

Local Authority, Council Tax and Business Rates Issues - The Consumer Forums

 

A mod could move the thread there , or maybe start a new .

Thanks Drexl

Could i ask any mods who drop by to move this to the section pasted above as i dont want to start 2 threads on the same question.

You can click that exclamation mark icon to get their attention . They may even find a better forum section for it to go to than the one I suggested .

You can click that exclamation mark icon to get their attention . They may even find a better forum section for it to go to than the one I suggested .

I could if i knew where the feck it was:D

This symbol in the bottom left hand coloumn of your post.

I've moved to the local authority forum - see if you ge tmore help there. If not, click again

As Pinky states, it is ultimately your responsibilty to inform them when there is a change of circumstances which could affect your benefit. But I think you may have already, though not sure.

When you moved home, did you move to a different local authority area? Or was it within the same local authority area?

If it was within the same area, and you claimed as soon as you moved, then it's very likely it would be deemed as "administrative error" as they should cross reference the claim with your old address which you say you informed them of. They would have seen benefit was being paid and should have immediately placed a suspension on it. Very little can be done between the time you should have stopped receiving benefit and actually informing them, and they do have the right to take this money back, as far as I understand it. So if for example, you moved on 01/01/08 but didn't submit a new claim until 01/02/08 only the benefit paid from 01/02/08 could be written off, if at all. The payments made before that (from 01/01/08 to 31/01/08 ) can be recouped by them.

If you moved to a new local authority area and placed a new claim, without informing your previous local authority of the change, it could be considered fraudulent. (Yes, even though you have not gained financially from it)

They could not claim it back from the Landlord as the agreement is between you and them, even though it has been paid to him. They could ask him for it back but he can refuse.

As Pinky states, it is ultimately your responsibilty to inform them when there is a change of circumstances which could affect your benefit. But I think you may have already, though not sure.

 

When you moved home, did you move to a different local authority area? Or was it within the same local authority area?

 

If it was within the same area, and you claimed as soon as you moved, then it's very likely it would be deemed as "administrative error" as they should cross reference the claim with your old address which you say you informed them of. They would have seen benefit was being paid and should have immediately placed a suspension on it. Very little can be done between the time you should have stopped receiving benefit and actually informing them, and they do have the right to take this money back, as far as I understand it. So if for example, you moved on 01/01/08 but didn't submit a new claim until 01/02/08 only the benefit paid from 01/02/08 could be written off, if at all. The payments made before that (from 01/01/08 to 31/01/08 ) can be recouped by them.

 

If you moved to a new local authority area and placed a new claim, without informing your previous local authority of the change, it could be considered fraudulent. (Yes, even though you have not gained financially from it)

 

They could not claim it back from the Landlord as the agreement is between you and them, even though it has been paid to him. They could ask him for it back but he can refuse.

It is the same council, i moved & started a fresh claim with my old address on the new forms, i also ended my JSA claim from the old address & they updated there files database almost immediately

As Pinky states, it is ultimately your responsibilty to inform them when there is a change of circumstances which could affect your benefit. But I think you may have already, though not sure.

 

When you moved home, did you move to a different local authority area? Or was it within the same local authority area?

 

If it was within the same area, and you claimed as soon as you moved, then it's very likely it would be deemed as "administrative error" as they should cross reference the claim with your old address which you say you informed them of. They would have seen benefit was being paid and should have immediately placed a suspension on it. Very little can be done between the time you should have stopped receiving benefit and actually informing them, and they do have the right to take this money back, as far as I understand it. So if for example, you moved on 01/01/08 but didn't submit a new claim until 01/02/08 only the benefit paid from 01/02/08 could be written off, if at all. The payments made before that (from 01/01/08 to 31/01/08 ) can be recouped by them.

 

If you moved to a new local authority area and placed a new claim, without informing your previous local authority of the change, it could be considered fraudulent. (Yes, even though you have not gained financially from it)

 

They could not claim it back from the Landlord as the agreement is between you and them, even though it has been paid to him. They could ask him for it back but he can refuse.

Hi folks

This may have moved to another thread but I will say it anyway - the rent can be claimed back from the Landlord if it is paid directly to them and in my area it most usually is!! As a Landlord one has to sign various bits and pieces, Landlords Declaration, Confirmation of Rent Charged etc etc and somewhere on those forms it states that rent can be reclaimed and therefore by signing the landlord is agreeing to be bound by the scheme!! It has happened to myself and other Landlords I know and we have been left out of pocket, normally due to someone losing their benefit and not telling anyone! I do not have one handy or I would post it up, but someone must have one or get a new form and look at the Landlord's page!

JQ

Hi all

Just a further question regarding this thread.

Is an e-mail proof of contact?,

the reason i ask is i have deliberately decided on this route because i don't wish to speak directly to the person dealing with this case, i sent an

e-mail to the over payments department marked -FAO xxxx xxxxx [ BTW they are the head of department]

I have set out my case & asked for a confirmation of my e-mail, i`m playing for time as i intend to seek legal advice & wish to slow the process down.

Many thanks

Middxx