Need some advice re DSS & benefist

[seanamarts]

I was living on my own for quite a number of years when my 15 year old niece came to live with me due to family problems at home. For the first few weeks I didnt claim for her and wasnt really going to as I felt I could cope with the money I was recieving on benefits.. Then my son (26) became seriously ill and had to move back home, this was on a temporary basis until he found alternative accomadation as I did not have the room for him. He signed on, this was the first time he has signed on as he has always worked since he was 15. He has signed on as sick from my address. I informed all the right people ie housing benefit income support as he is signing on as sick and that this was temporary , and was told that this would not effect my benefits. A week later my disability premium was stopped. thats a little over £50 a week out of my benefit, which has left me just over £70 a week to live on for me and my niece to eat, pay bills and pay rent etc. This has forced my hand to claim child benefit for my niece and child tax credits so I can survive. I do have my DLA and I have now had to use that to pay bills instead of using it for my car, specialised treatments which I cannot get on the NHS, and for my carer which I have now had to stop because I cannot afford to pay them. I cannot understand why they took away my disability premium, I have called and asked them and all they could say is that I have some one living with me over the age of 18 regardless of who it is and why they are there, surely this cannot be right. I am now awaiting to see if I can appeal against this, but in the mean time I have been left to struggle with what I am left with at the moment. Child benefit have told me its going to take another 12 weeks at least to process my claim and with out that I cannot claim for full rent or for child tax credits.. does any one know if or how I can speed up this process.

Thanks in advance

[kinkyklee]

hi seems oddley strange they have stopped the premium,i think that is very wrong as your son is not well so he is not earning..so you have no income off him...ring them all again and say things need speeding otherwise your going to the ombudsman for poverty reasons there is a certain amount the law lets you live on.

can you put in for a budgting loan you prob wouldnt get a crisis one as you get a weekly income and its a farse.....

i would ring and ring until something was sorted..

can i ask what did the tax credits say and are they sorted yet...child benefit is usually alot quicker than 12 weeks usually only 1 or 2..

[ErikaPNP]

Okay. From what I can gather from what you have posted, you were receiving the single rate/lower rate severe disability premium as part of your Income Support claim. If this is correct, then they are correct in their decision. To qualify for the single rate/lower rate severe disability premium, you need to fufill the criteria:

 

You are aged under 60

You are a single person

You live alone and receive either the middle rate or higher rate of disability living allowance

No-one gets carers allowance for looking after you

 

 

So in effect if that was the rate that you were receiving they are correct in their decision as you no longer fulfill the criteria of "living alone"

 

Unless your son falls into one of the below categories, you will not get the decision overturned:

 

 

• A child aged 17 or under 20 and in school or non advanced college education
  
• or a person who is registered blind (if a person regains their sight, they are treated as blind for a period of 28 weeks after they cease to be registered blind)
  
• or receiving the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) at the highest or middle rate, or Attendance Allowance (AA)
  
• or people caring for you who are employed by a charity that makes a charge for this service
  
• or landlords/ladies and their partners
  
• or co-owners or co-tenants with you or your partner.
  

Edited July 22, 2009 by ErikaPNP

[seanamarts]

Thank you both for your replies

This afternoon I rang the DSS and spoke to a very nice lady who was more than willing to help me. Although you are quite right Erika she did say she was sure that they should of informed me that I could claim for the family premium as I am classed as a single parent, its not much but every penny counts here. Having to lose £52 a week is a lot especially when I am also paying back a social loan at £14 per week plus on top of that I have to pay a top up on my rent at £16 per week That leaves me £40 pounds for food shopping gas and electric water tv licence and other bills .. if it wasnt for my DLA I could not possibly survive. My son how ever has now found alternative accomadation and has also been out of the household for over a week due to the fact that we have had swine flu here and I didnt want him to get it because of his illness, but The lady at the DSS said I may not get my premium back dated to then if at all. which is also a worry now as its going to take at least 12 weeks for my chb and ctc to get sorted. Why its going to take that long I have no idea, but its something to do with the fact that it is a transitional claim not a straightforward one.. can any one tell me if this is right? once this has been soeted I will get a decision on whether I can get child tax credits

[seanamarts]

oh for got to say my son has put in a claim for DLA, recomended by his specialist.

[ErikaPNP]

Yes it is correct what they say about transitional claims.

 

Are you aware that you can ask for your Social fund loan to be "rescheduled" if it is causing you financial hardship? What this means in a nutshell, is....

 

You contact the Social Fund office, explaining that you are struggling to pay and would like to request that the amount you repay weekly be reduced. They will send you a form (or maybe complete one over the phone) where they will ask you specific questions about outgoings, why you are suffering hardship and what you would like the repayments reduced to.

 

A decision maker will then look at your case and decide whether your situation mertis a reduction or a deferral of the recovery sum.

[MIKEY DABODEE]

the family premium is awarded to you only if Income Support is already paying for any children and you are not in receipt of child tax credits for them.

if you have claimed child tax credit as you say you have then you will not be entitled to the family premium,

 

as for your SDP or severe disability premium they need to send you out a new form an IS 10 to complete, on that you will declare who lives in your houshold, if your son has moved out you should get it from the date he left the houshold, this when received should be done quickly for you

 

they may check his JSA claim or ESA claim to see if he has changed his address so he needs to inform them so his records can be updated

 

try and get tax credits and child benefit backdated if you can

[seanamarts]

Yes it is correct what they say about transitional claims.

 

Are you aware that you can ask for your Social fund loan to be "rescheduled" if it is causing you financial hardship? What this means in a nutshell, is....

 

You contact the Social Fund office, explaining that you are struggling to pay and would like to request that the amount you repay weekly be reduced. They will send you a form (or maybe complete one over the phone) where they will ask you specific questions about outgoings, why you are suffering hardship and what you would like the repayments reduced to.

 

A decision maker will then look at your case and decide whether your situation mertis a reduction or a deferral of the recovery sum.

 

I have only 4 weeks left on the social loan and by the time I get a decision on the reduction side of things it would of been paid off. so its not worth getting it reduced, but thank you for the info

[seanamarts]

the family premium is awarded to you only if Income Support is already paying for any children and you are not in receipt of child tax credits for them.

if you have claimed child tax credit as you say you have then you will not be entitled to the family premium,

 

as for your SDP or severe disability premium they need to send you out a new form an IS 10 to complete, on that you will declare who lives in your houshold, if your son has moved out you should get it from the date he left the houshold, this when received should be done quickly for you

 

they may check his JSA claim or ESA claim to see if he has changed his address so he needs to inform them so his records can be updated

 

try and get tax credits and child benefit backdated if you can

My son has already changed his address with regards to the JSA. I am hoping my situation is short term and things will get back to normal with regards to my benefits, if things do not change soon though I just dont know how I am going to cope. I have been informed that they can only back date monies for upto 3 months if its not done within the next 4 weeks my 3 months will be up as I put in a claim for ctc and chb almost 6 weeks ago now. I have had some good news from my housing benefit though, they have informed me that they will back date my housing benefit to the day I get chb from so I supose that is one consulation. Its just waiting and penny pinching until then, thanks to every one who has responded to this you have been a great help.