Hi, I am considering applying for Industrial Injuries Benefit but I am finding it difficult to get any evidence of the accident I had. The accident was way back in 1990 (February) and I am unsure if records are kep’t this long by an employer. My GP has records of the treatment I received after the injury but nothing that states that it was a work place accident. I already qualify for PIP (lower rate care & higher rate mobility) because of the injury I sustained and the effect it has on my daily life. Would my claim be accepted without evidence to support it was an accident or would the benefits adjudicators just refuse the claim ? Any advice greatly appreciated. Nic

We've been through all the usual probate etc for my mum in law who died Feb 2018. We've now received letters from the DWP saying my late mum in law may have been overpaid an income related benefit. They say according to their records and those of the probate there appears to be a discrepancy and want us to provide all her financial statements covering 2003 - 2013. They've told us not to distribute any funds from her estate (which we had already as it all went to my husband, before we'd even heard from them). They've said they can work on the figures they have and calculate the possible overpayment but its best if we provide the information for them so they can make an accurate assessment. I assume the cheapest option would be to approach the banks with SARs? However, before I do this, can I ask the DWP to provide all the information they have regarding her payments of benefit and her applications for benefit because, to be honest, neither myself nor my husband recall filling in any forms for her (and its something we would normally do as she's registered blind). We do know she was getting a pension credit (savings based only) but we've no idea when it started or how she came to claim it - perhaps we've just forgotten as its so long ago. However, I don't want to just take their word for it so how best to approach this really, if anyone has any advice. I'm not trying to avoid any repayment (if one is due) but naturally I'd like to check for myself as well, if that makes sense. Any advice greatly appreciated.

hi everyone, today i recieved a letter from the pension service informing me from the 15th may 2019 benefit rules are changing. in most circumstances this means that both members of a couple will need to have reached pension age to be eligible to make a new claim to pension credit or housing benefit. i am 66 this year and my wife is 61 so my wfe wont retire untill she reaches 66 in 5 years so does that meen if i decided to make a claim for housing benefit id get nothing untill me wife reaches 66? many thanks for any advice or help

My landlord wants to increase my rent, and so he has asked me if I can get an increase from my Housing Benefit. I'm in shared accommodation with a private landlord, and I'm also claiming ESA. What are my options?

Hi All, My mum who is 74, and working full time for a big food retailer needs to retire. I have manged to convince her that she needs to quit her job, and move back near to me. She called the HMRC to ask about her state pension, and apparently its only worth £44 per week! not sure how thats possible, but anyway, she can apply for Pension Credit to receive the minimum £163. still rubbish. but hey. So the issue is around housing benefit. I have recently got a second property which is a 2 bed flat. I have convinced my mum to accept moving into this at a cheap rate. I could rent it privately for £875 a month, but, clearly i cant do that to my mum. I do need to clear £650 though to break even on my expense. Anyway the question. She hasnt quit yet, will do this in the next couple of weeks, but i shall start the process to apply for pension credit as soon as she does, but what about housing benefit? Is it better for her to declare the real rental value of the property £875 and hope she gets more benefit allowance which would help her or because she is on her own, and should not be in a big property she claims for the reduced amount that i happy to let it for to her at £650? Because of pension credit will she get 100% cover or reduced because of 2 rooms. it does not seem clear. if she isnt going to get 100%, then it seems sensible to me to claim the higher amount so that any shortfall is closer to the £650 making it not reliant on her to use any of her meagre £163 pension to cover rent. Id like to help her out and claim the higher amount so she has more, but am weary that a claim could be challenged

A friend of mine who is 27 yrs old had a 4 bed housing asso property in one part of town but had to change over to a newer part of town and a smaller property which is 2 bed with same housing asso. Now shes had to sort the housing benefit out for it and was told it was straight forward her being a tenant anyway. She went to sort out the housing benefit today and has been told she has to make a new claim for it which has a 4 week deadline and that she now needs to apply for Universal Credit even though shes on JSA. They are saying she has to apply for UC now which will take 6 weeks and that she'll be without anything till its sorted but she'd also run past the 4 wk deadline and would owe 2 weeks full rent. She has really bad depression and mental illness ... hence how she was given sick notes from her doctor as shes unable to work. Now the housing asso has also told her she will receive £60 per week on UC but from that she is responsible for paying the HA £30 per week as they are saying she won't be entitled to full housing benefit her only being 27 yr old.

Hi all, Thanks in advance for your assistance, my wife has receive a letter today with the below information: "My records show you have an outstanding balance of £279.72 in respect of ****** (address) for the period 7.1.13 to 17.2.13" My question would be ... is this enforceable and would the statute barred rule come into play for the amount of time that passed? Thank you

My 27 year old son rang me today saying he has received a letter Housing benefits from when he was in a bedsit at 18 attending college He moved and they have just sent him a letter saying he owes £500 and they are taking it direct from his wages as he did not inform them he had moved on time.. . He has always worked since leaving the property and has always paid council tax at his new addresses for 9 years and been on the electoral roll. He has never received any letters of over payment and has no knowledge of this over payment. I was guarantor at the estate agents for the bedsit and i never received anything. Is this legal for them just to take from his wages, he doesn't remember dates that long ago. He is on low income and he and his partner pay the rent on their home £1,000 a month as they both work. He has not claimed housing benefits other than for the 6 months he was at the bedsit 9 years ago. They want to take an extra 25 per week from his wages, he already pays £40 a month for arrears of council tax from his previous property. I think its unfair that they can chase an over payment without contacting you when you have been legally available on electoral role and council tax, we can not prove that he did not tell them when he moved as its so long ago. Any Advise please

Please advice.... I am income support, and my benefit is being audited that I am on the right amount, first they asked for my account and now they have asked for my sons bank account. My boys are 19 years old and their bank accounts are in their own names nothing to do with me. Is it legal for my income support claim to ask me to provide other adults bank accounts because we live in the same house, surly they should write to my boys individually and ask them for their accounts not me. They have asked for bank statements from the date they had over £3,000.00 in savings (why £3,000.00). I have searched the internet and I can't find anything about this, only children's account for under 16 year old's where you have joint name on the account as the parent (to check your not hiding money in their name) Is there a limit on the amount of money a child can have, is it £3,000.00? Is their a limit on the amount of money another adult in the household (not partner) can have in their account, is it £3,000.00? I would have thought it would be £5,500 the same as my own account. Where can you find the full income support rules/ handbook/ guide that the DWP use on the internet for myself to understand what is happening. Thank you for reading, I have a lot of questions, it all seams very strange and I don't understand why.

Hi all, its been awhile since I last needed your help but here goes.. ..I am a private tenant and back in February the boiler in my property became very poorly. I contacted the landlord to arrange a replacement. We came to an agreement for me to pay for the new boiler and installation and for the rent to be reduced over a two year period for me to recover the cost. All was going well until recently. We receive Housing Benefit and recently the local council decided to do a financial assessment and needed to know why the rent had been reduced. I sent them all the paperwork including the agreement with my landlord and explained why the rent was reduced and for how long. The council took this as the rent that I now pay and reduced the housing benefit accordingly. They also now want me to pay back the overpayment back to February, even if the landlord now puts the rent back to the original payment the council want proof that the boiler has been paid for, this leaves me out of pocket. Has anyone any idea where I go from here. Trevor

Rail passengers to benefit from ‘one-click’ compensation READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rail-passengers-to-benefit-from-one-click-compensation

I am posting on behalf of a neighbour, not sure if anyone can help here as its beyond me. Husband and wife window company, based at home. They were both working in the business until 3 years ago. Sadly their youngest child was born very ill and she was doing less and less and less work. They claimed carers allowance and took on a part time bookkeeper. The wife hours were reduced and the wages dropped to reflect this. Last year, the accountant upped her wages to be above the threshold and for 10 months they have been claiming illegally. They were not aware of this as the accountant doesn't send weekly wage slips and the wage is more of an entry into the books rather than an actual sum paid into an account each week/month. The accountant has told them that he knew about the benefits and forgot. He refuses to put this in writing! As a layman it seems that they are very naive, trusted an accountant and landed themselves in hot water without going out to defraud the system. Anyone have any advice and able to recommend a specialist solicitor?

After some advice here folks. Last August HB contacted me saying I had been over paid to the sum of £700, Down to the fact changes in tax credits, changes in tax code etc and I didn't notify them. I admit I didn't, it was my own fault and so my housing benefit was getting reduced to repay the overpayment, lesson learned, notify them of everything. So imagine my surprise when the exact same thing happened again this August, another overpayment for £400. I did notify them of everything this time. I disputed this, I gave them times and dates when I called in to notify them but they were not interested. When my money wasn't in last week I phoned to inquire why, they told me a pack of lies, saying it was a system error, nothing to worry about, payment will be in the next payment run. The next day in comes the overpayment letter. I put it bluntly to them any issues was down to whoever answers there phones, they are totally incompetent, not down to me, I played my part, I notified them and even gave them times and dates after searching my phone records, they would neither confirm or deny it was there fault. I have also put this in writing but I suspect it won't matter who is in the wrong it will still be my fault and i'll have to repay it. Is there anything else I can do?

All supported housing funding to be retained in welfare system - Housing Benefit READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all-supported-housing-funding-to-be-retained-in-welfare-system

Do part time carers who rent their own homes who care for someone on the highest PIP and ESA partially living with them 15 hours per week claim disability council tax reduction, while they live 15 or more hours in another carers home already receiving a reduction in that property?

Hi there, sorry if this ends up a bit long winded but, I really need an answer. My son 40 yrs with mental health problems and his long term partner split up at the weekend they have two girls. She is still living in the property they bought together but, he needs to find a flat . We have been told that because his name on the mortgage that he will not be able to claim housing benefit, does anyone know if this correct? His partner on the other hand said she was told he could claim as she is living in the house with the kids. He is unable to work due to his health so couldn’t pay rent himself. Any advice would be appreciated

I have 4 CC, 2 with cap 1 and 2 with aqua, so all classed as bad credit, credit cards, I am happy with aqua, but cap 1 I am considering cancelling, why, because ive had the cards for over 3 years, use them, pay off, never been late, or over limit, yet my limit on both is still just £200, now, am I cutting my nose to spite my face by cancelling these, ie, will it harm my credit file by cancelling them, I doubt id ever be that desperate to ever need to access the £400 total across both cards, but again, is there any benefit to keep them. Also my wife has 7 cards, but only uses 3 of them, so again, is she better of cancelling the other 4, or will they be helping, or hindering her credit file. Thanks

My partner, in a previous relationship, managed to get into housing benefit overpayment situation. It is being paid back through a DEA to the council but at a very small % of part time working at minimum rates of pay. It will take decades. I thought I'd ask here first, would a full and final settlement figure be an appropriate thing to seek under these circumstances, and if so, what figure. thanks

Hello, Sorry if I have posted this incorrectly, I'm at my wits end and so worried dont know what to do, I was claiming housing benefit, and then my partner moved in, at this time we were both working part time. I re-applied for a joint claim, Apr 2013 and gave wageslips and bank statements and so on to which I was advised I would still be entitled to Housing Benefit. In June my partner increased his hours from 20 to 37 and I went on my councils website in May to advise that there had been a change in circumstances and also that my rent had increased. A few weeks later I received a letter advising that I was not entitled to the full amount and was only entitled to around £28 a week. (I was under the impression that they had received my change in circumstances and acted upon it). Stupidly I didn't even check the amount in the paperwork as I just thought that we were still entitled to it as I was still part time and his wage hadn't increased by a large amount. In Sept 2015 I was advised that I wasnt entitled to housing benefit anymore and then in In February 2016 I was interviewed under caution and advised that I had not advised them that my partners wage had increased and that it was going to be investigated. I then received a letter advising that I had been overpaid by £5600, I was mortified and advised that I wanted to pay it back asap. I sent in an appeal as my circumstances at the time were not good, i received nothing back from them to advise they had even acknowledged my appeal, then when i spoke to them the other day they advised that they had closed my appeal down and just withdrawn it by £100 I re-applied when i was on maternity allowance, they advised i was entitled to around £10 a week of which they would claim that back towards my debt, then when i went back to work they advised me i wasnt entitled so I set up a payment plan of £30 a month. Now I have received a letter saying i need to go to court i am at my wits end. From the free legal advice that I have received they are saying if i plead guilty I will get a criminal record and fine but if i plead not guilty then it could be drawn out longer and court costs could go up more and i could be looking at prison. I have never done anything wrong in my life i'm so worried im going to leave my children.

Hi i am self employed on a low income and claiming Housing Benefit on a 1 bed (2 room) flat in an inner london brma. I have been renting one of the rooms out to a lodger on a permanent basis and receiving the 2 bed rate minus income deductions from the lodger. I would like to begin renting the room occupied by my lodger on a less permanent basis, to paying BnB visitors for weekend. Is this possible and what would be what is the best way to go about this without creating a change of circumstances every weekend that I have a paying visitor? All i can find is that there isn't any distinction at all in the regulations between a lodger and a temporary BnB guest - a 'lodger' is defined as 'someone who is liable to pay you or your partner rent, on a commercial basis, to live in your home'. There's no clarification on what 'to live in your home' means, and this means that it's quite possible that any paying weekend guest will be treated the same as any other lodger, and this may potentially mean that I have to notify the council of a change in circumstances frequently. Could i incorporate the business' under my self employed umbrella that does not interfere with my award which would be single occupancy with 1 bed LHA.? Would really appreciate any concrete info please. Thanks in advance.

New proposals to help vulnerable people benefit from cheaper energy READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-proposals-to-help-vulnerable-people-benefit-from-cheaper-energy

Hello. I am a single mother with a just turned 18 son. I have been notified that my Housing Benefit will be stopped as my child is now 18. He is still at sixth form college until the summer, then hopefully will go to University near home. I received a form from the Council now saying because he is 18 we are not entitled to housing benefit and he has been assessed as earning £9999 a week. Yes you read that right. In fact he earns nothing and is still studying his A level equivalents. I have produced evidence to show this but they say it doesn't matter as he is not a dependent now. Has anybody else encountered such a problem and what do I do? I work part time on minimum wage and will still get child benefit and tax credits to make up, but without the housing benefit and council tax rebate will be difficult to survive. Hopefully someone can help here as Croydon Council have been extremely unhelpful. Thank you in advance.

I have received a letter telling me I must attend an interview to talk about any changes in my circumstances. It is from the Local Service Compliance Team and the interview is not under caution. I receive I.S. & Carer's Allowance as I have a disabled child under 5. I also care for my mother who is in receipt of I.B. ESA Support Group and I am her appointee. I recently had to complete an ESA50 renewal and sent in a load of medical evidence, however, not heard anything about this yet. I receive DWP Letters relating to my mother as I am her appointee, but this compliance letter does not mention her name on it, so I think they are referring to my circumstances which has not changed at all, but am thinking is it something to do with her renewal? My mother and I share a joint bank account as it's easier for me to manage our outgoings. There are no other bank or savings accounts. I have a recent bank statement which shows an authorised overdrawn balance, also payments to credit cards and a loan - they loan is nearly paid off and the account has never had more than £4-5,000 in credit when the loan was originally put into the account 2 1/2 years ago - since then we have mainly been in overdraft. I have tried to call the number on the letter but the woman is not back from annual leave until Monday 26 Sept, so will call tomorrow, also I have just come out of hospital after having a major operation and don't really feel well enough to attend the interview this week, but of course I am worried about what they have got to say. I have spoke to some people and they have said it may be just a random interview. I do have an extremely vindictive ex husband who harasses me and I have to involve the police. He is always making up allegations to the police about me, now the police have warned him to stay away and stop bothering them with his nonsense otherwise they are going to lock him up. So now that he can't bother the police, I am wondering if he has made a malicious allegation about me. The stress of this letter has hindered my recovery even though I have nothing to declare I keep thinking 'well is it this or is it that'? really silly things come into my head. Can anyone advise me please. I will update this thread when I have spoken (hopefully) to the woman. Thanks very much everyone.

Hello, Im currently claiming ESA. I spoke to an adviser today asking when benefits are released from the system. I asked as I dont want any mistakes with my payment leading up to xmas and wanted to make sure if it was released. The adviser said that It hasnt been released She said if I dont get paid then to call back. I get paid every 2 weeks on a Thursday and thought payments were released monday mornings for payments on Thursdays? I called around 4pm if thats any help. Does anyone know when ESA payments are usually released for payments on a Thursday please? Thank you.

good evening, today when I came home, I had received a letter from the council about an overpayment of housing benefit for 487.59, from over 5yrs ago. the period 02.04.12 to 07.10.12. it was created on the 09.10.12 due to tax credits and start of higher paid job, notifications letters were sent to you informing you of this. they have said that they are going to send out an invoice for this over the Christmas period and to please call the office to set up an arrangement for a payment plan. I phoned the council as this was the first I knew of this overpayment. I spoke to a lady who brought up the account seemed surprised it was so long ago she confirmed that I hadn't received any letters about this, only notification letters. I presume they mean by notification letters, they mean award letters. thank you I have received nothing else from them and pay my rent in full and council tax, in fact have only got 26.00 left to, pay on my council tax. I have written an email to them complaining, which is what the lady advised what I would like some advise on whether you anyone thinks I have a case or if I will have to find the money which I don't have.