We sent all our correspondence to DWP in Birmingham not the local job centre as they have really bad record in making errors. They made an error on my daughters Housing Benefit some time ago when she was going through a bad time and are making her pay back £1,500, they even admited it was their fault in miscalculating it but said she still had to repay it even though she appealed in writing. She is not receiving housing benefit now only child tax credits and statutory maternity pay until she goes back to work next month. She is really struggling financially and paying this back each month is making matters worse. I believe if they make the error then you should not have to pay this back. I hear the same thing over and over again about them making these errors and forcing you to repay the money.

My husband has just had the same problem. The jobcentre said he was not entitled to contribution based JSA as he had not had enough contributions. We did not believe this so we wrote to HMRC for a breakdown which they sent to us and we sent this to DWP. They totally ignored our correspondence asking them where they got their information regarding NI contributions and sent them the report from HMRC. Only by getting in touch with our local MP who wrote to them on my husbands behalf did we get a reply to our queries. On receiving correspondence from our MP they finally wrote back to us (nearly 12 months later). They apologised that they had made an error when processing our claim(what a suprise), but they said they would not pay him JSA because failed to continue signing on. The reason he did not continue signing on was that they said we was not entitled to JSA. It is worth checking with HMRC about your NI contributions because the DWP do not know what they are actually doing. They have since sent my husband a 17 page claim form to complete for a very small sum for the 3 weeks that was signing on. He is refusing to send this back to them as it is a waste of taxpayers and our resources. What a shambles for a government department. My husband has been working since he was 15, now 62 and them saying he has not paid enough contributions!

I wonder if anyone has any advise concerning 'Licence to Occupy'. My daughter rented a room for 6 months in a shared house. We are having difficulties getting our deposit back. There was a six months break in clause in the licence so she has now left the property. I have in my possession the paperwork that the landlord gave to my daughter a couple of months after she moved in. This states that the landlord is (Resident Owner), but the fact was he did not reside at the property, but he did conduct his business from the address and was their most days. The landlord has not signed this document, and my daughters name is not on the paperwork as Licensee, other than her signature, which he asked her to sign. The reason's she left the property was due to one of the tenants having a pet which he fed with live crickets and she was forever finding them in her room and in other parts of the property, even though it states on the paperwork under 'Terms and Conditions, NO PETS. Also she was constantly harassed by the landlord. Rent was paid monthly and he was paid in cash and gave no receipts. The only thing paid directly into his bank was the deposit of £520, which we paid him and have proof of this. My daughter moved into the property 21/09/2008, she did give the landlord notice verbally, by text and in writing on 07.02.09. Which resulted in her leaving earlier than 21/03/09. He is now wanting rent for one month up to the 21 April 2009, plus refusing to give back the deposit. My daughter left on the 27/03/09. We are refusing to pay up to 21 April 2009, but told him that he can take 13 days rent from the deposit which covers the period from 27/03/2009 to 07/03/09. Which I believe to be reasonable since she did not appear to have a geniune tenancy contract and the harrassment and problems she had whilst living at the property. If anyone as any advise it would be appreciated. I do realise it is very difficult regarding 'licence to occupy', but how can we find out if everything he has done is above board, especially collecting rent in cash and saying that he resides at the property.