Help please housing benefit

Originally Posted by crock17

local mp is not an option staunch conservative who regularly votes against human and workers rights. in the news for telling a student to f off back to scotland

have councillors got any say ?

according to them i don't have a claim as its law (not sure about that)

they have explained but in there language

They are correct. The law has been correctly applied & they can not intervene.

Originally Posted by Bazooka Boo

Did you preside over this case then??

crock, you say your local MP isn't an option, so that tells me you've not exhausted all avenues of complaint, regardless of your opinion of your local MP and Cllrs, they have a DUTY to their constituents.

You need to tell them that the LA they preside over is failing its constituents, and failing to answer complaints in a language YOU understand.

You could of course, roll over and accept being royally shafted, which makes this whole post pretty pointless?

You asked for advice, some have given it, but you seem keen not to action any of it.

IF the LA has given you its final response, or a ''deadlock'' letter, then they will tell you who you can escalate your complaint to.

From what you say, this hasn't happened?

Go back to the LA, tell them you do not accept their response, and wish to escalate the complaint further, once its reached the top of their complaints process, they will issue you with a deadlock letter, or their final response, and it will give you the address or contact details of who you're able to escalate it to.

If you're unhappy with the response you get from the LA, then copy in your local MP and councillors along with your complaint, so as you can escalate this further, out of the LA's hands and onto the local government Ombudsman.

The previous post is flippant at best.

No I didn't. What I'm saying is the councillor can't do anything and appeal is the only route.

What I am also saying is the law says that the HB can't be retrospectively adjusted because tax credits are which appears to be the crux of the matter.

thank you for the nudge bazooka

have asked them to point out the law that states wftc can not be deducted after it has been paid back. from what i have recived its a circular taged on to the bottom of regulation 32. how dose that make it law ?

Originally Posted by crock17

have asked them to point out the law that states wftc can not be deducted after it has been paid back. from what i have recived its a circular taged on to the bottom of regulation 32. how dose that make it law ?

It's a clarification of reg 32, which is law. You can challenge the circular but if you are going to go down that line you need to get professional help. What I would add is it sometimes works in people's favour - tax credits were underpaid but they don't go back and amend HB.

The crux of the matter is you had the income at the time the benefit was awarded and it was awarded and calculated on the correct circumstances at that time. i.e. you received the tax credits as an income.

You now have to pay it back, but you still had that income to spend at the time the HB was awarded and calculated, regardless of the overpayment that has now be calculated. as such you received the correct amount of HB at the time.

actualy the crux of the matter is that i have not had the money ! its unfair unjust and probably illegal. they only target people who are not in a position to defend themselve. i was overpaid by a couple of hundred and they expect me to pay back 5k do you think that is fair ????
the system is intended to support people in need and at the time i was in need. but the LA are now manipulating the system making up rules and lying to raise revenue.

i disagree that what they are doing is legal. i know for a fact that if a judge says you owe money you owe money. but if you have paid the money back how can you still ow it and have it added to another debt ?

i cant afford professional help or i defiantly would. believe me its not about the money its about injustice and people just accepting what they say. there is no difference between LA and cabot. yet people fight cabot and not LA and DFWP

sorry. im waiting for the wftc forms from my ex partner so will have some definite figures soon.

the wftc was overpaid by a couple of hundred pounds and they demanded 2k. i have a letter from them saying i have paid it back.

the la are saying because i was not entitled to wftc that i was also not entitled to hb yet still kept the wftc amount on the claim.

this is from 2014 2015 so not easy to remember. didn't here anything from them for well over a year.
have sent them an email saying i will not exept that this is the end of the matter and wish to take it to a higher leval.

yes repaid the wftc


yes the la are trying to claim the housing benefit back


i am employed ironically by the la somerset county council


the local mp has a sugary on friday mornings will try and go next week

Ok, a couple of questions.
1, what period is the overpayment for?
2, have you requested a statement if reasons?
3, you accept that you have been overpaid a small amount. What is that overpayment for?
4, you mentoin an ex? Was it a joint TC claim?
5, why were your tax credits over paid?
6, are you familiar with the phrase "late beneficial change"?

When I say professional help I mean the likes of CAB etc?

Originally Posted by crock17

i cant afford professional help or i defiantly would. believe me its not about the money its about injustice and people just accepting what they say. there is no difference between LA and cabot. yet people fight cabot and not LA and DFWP

I think it is about the money...

1. 2014 2015

2 should get the wftc paperwork today

3. yes i accept i have been overpaid wftc

4. it was a joint claim but they are not pursuing her . maybe because she is still on benefits

5. they say i earned to much

6. not a clue what that is

So did you tell the council when your circumstances changed and you were no longer entitled to WTC- there would have been a change which caused you to be no longer entitled to WTC.

As I and others have said the law (in this case the Housing Benefit Regulations) says that they can do this. They are saying that at the time you were paid those tax credits therefore at the time this is how much we should have paid you. As I explained to you, if you had been underpaid tax credits it would have worked the other way and you would have gained. The circular is issued by the DWP (councils admininster HB on behalf of LA's) and is a clarification of how that law should be applied.

To have any chance of succeeding your appeal needs to be more than "it's not fair", it needs to be a reasoned argument. To that end you need to approach welfare rights for help. They may well tell you the law has been correctly applied (which from the information you have supplied sounds as if it has) or they may take an appeal on your behalf.

Remember - some folks benefit hugely from this reg (underpaid tax credits as a lump sum would be treated as capital so unless they had other savings make no change).

My advice stands - take all the documents to welfare rights and ask someone with knowledge of the system to look at them and assist you with an appeal if they think it is appropriate.