Housing Benefit Suspended Please Help!!!

[appyammer]

Hello

 

I am in a terrible mess and can take no more!! I will try and make this as short as possible.

 

I claimed DLA 3 years ago for first time and was awarded high rate care and low rate mobility. I was told I should claim Income Support because of this. I live with my ex wife - I am disabled and cannot live alone. She is my carer. I was told that she should claim carers allowance for looking after me. I sent in my IS claim form but my ex wife got a letter back from carers allowance telling her she is entitled but they cant pay her due to underlying entitlement so she should claim Income Support instead which she did. Whilst our two claims were being processed, we were both asked to attend an interview at local Jobcentre+. Told when we both got there that the DWP needed to be satisfied we were not living as a couple before our claims were processed. Interview and Decision Maker were both satisfied so both invidual claims were processed and we both received small amounts of IS. She was then entitled to full Housing Benefit and CTB.

 

I had to renew my DLA and sent in my form at beginning of September. Mid September I was asked to attend a review interview at local Jobcentre+ to make sure there were no change to any circumstances i.e., were we still living as disabled person and carer or were we now living as a couple. Interviewer said he was satisfied we were not a couple. I received letter from DLA informing me I was now awarded high care and high rate mobility as my disabilities had got worse. 2 days later my ex wife and myself received idential letters from income support stating our claims had been suspended as the decision maker had decided we live as a couple and have done for the last 3 years!!!!! I can't tell you of the shock from both of us.

 

Income Support refused to send a copy of the decsiion maker's report so we could not write appeals as we didnt know what we were both appealing. It took the CAB to demand this to be sent to us which left us only 2 weeks to write both our appeals. We have done this and sent them both recorded delivery a couple of days ago.

 

The decision maker's report is something to see! The CAB said if it wasn't so serious it was something you would see on a comedy tv programme. I suffer from uncontrolled grand-mal epilepsy, osteo arthritis, COPD, asthma and very high blood pressure though the decision maker decided to completely ignore all my disabilities and also said in the report that we do not live in a care situation because I could take care of myself 8 years ago! I didn't have osteo arthritis, COPD or very high blood pressure 8 years ago and my epilepsy has got worse. My ex wife was not interviewed at all yet the decision maker spoke on her behalf in the report and wrote that he was drawing conclusions! the whole report was based purely on a couple living together with no disabilities and care needs. i honestly see no reason why our appeals should not be upheld.

 

Because IS was suspended, so has my ex wife's housing benefit and CTB - this is her home so these are in her name with me down as living here for care purposes. HB have sent her a form to fill in about change of circumstances. She has told them on the phone there is no change apart from IS is suspended pending appeal but they have said they will reassess housing benefit and CTB based only on incapacity benefit. My ex wife has told HB that she sees no point in this as the local authority dont refund money to tenants who have paid too much rent. She told HB that there is no reason why IS wont be reinstated and it is not stopped, it is suspended. They are insisting she fill in this form but will mean we have to pay almost £26 per week in rent alone. Firstly, we can't afford to pay that amount of rent and secondly whats the point in paying it when it's just going to sit in the Council's rent account as a credit forever as they dont refund in money?

 

Please does anyone know how she can fill in this form or should she write a letter instead? We are at our wits end.

 

Thanks for any help

[Aviva]

As IS is not currently being paid then HB/CTB will have to be reassessed on the current income. There is no guarantee that the IS will be reinstated no matter how strong you think your case is. The Council have to act on the current situation not what it might be in the future and at the moment IS is not being paid.

 

I am a bit confused as to how your income has gone down as IS is not currently being recieved but you are saying that you will have to pay more rent on the lower income than you did on the higher income.

 

You can only be legally paid the HB/CTB you are currently entitled to so whether or not the Council will refund overpaid rent has nothing to do with your current benefit entitlements and needs to be dealt with separately if the situation arises. As you have not had a HB/CTB reassessment yet nor has a decision on the IS appeal been made nor it seems have you made any extra payments to the rent account then this situation has not and may not arise.

[leemack]

It is always very important to respond promptly to any hb/ctb enquiries as if you don't they may actually cancel your claim instead of suspend it which will cause far more trouble than you have right now, including having to reapply.

 

I'm also not sure why you would have to pay more rent, except if they are applying overpayment recovery to the claim - if this is the case you should appeal the overpayment and negotiate with the council to reduce to level of overpayment due to hardship.

 

Local authorities do not refund credits usually unless the person writes to them requesting repayment of the credit. If they refuse to repay it I would then get your MP involved with a letter explaining how the credit occured.

 

Living together cases can be difficult even when the case looks like a no brainer. If it is as simple as the decision maker overlooking the information about your disabilities and care needs, then it might be resolved quickly. However, that is not always the case. You're already in touch with the CAB which is a good start. Hopefully they can give you the help you need with the appeal.

[appyammer]

Thank you for your replies.

 

The reason why I would be paying more rent is because Income Support is at present suspended. When Income Support was being received, there was no rent to pay as HB were paying the whole amount. Now because IS has been suspended, if HB do a reassessment, they will reassess on current income which is incapacity benefit only. I have been told that there is a strong possibility that they will reassess as a couple for the time being and that the shortfall on rent is almost £26 per week. There is no overpayment to apply to the account, that is the bog standard rate I have been told assessed as a couple in receipt of incapacity benefit.

 

The Council, both the HB department and the Rent Office have both told me that if payment of almost £26 per week is payable, even if and when IS is reinstated and all the rent owed is backdated and paid, I will reveive nothing as a refund. It is Council policy here that council tenants are not ever given a cheque if there is a credit on their rent account. I explained that in this case I would be paying almost £26 per week for how ever many months it takes to sort this IS mess out which will result in the end that the rent account sits forever in a large amount of credit. This just doesn't seem right to me at all.

[leemack]

I understand - you're both on incap, with your ex getting income support top up, that makes sense.

 

Just because the council has a policy does not mean its actually law to do that. The usual excuse they use is that they keep it in case of future arrears. But in the end its your money that they are keeping, which if the appeal is succesful, then they only got this money due a dodgy income support decision. Personally, I think with a bit of pressure they would give the credit back. But in the end you have options - don't pay the rent, hope the appeal is sorted out quickly and risk eviction, pay the rent and accept the money will be lost, pay the rent and then fight hard to get the credit back. I wouldn't recommend the first option.

 

Once they've assessed the rent you have to pay, you could try and apply for discretionary housing payment - you do this via a form from the council. Each council has a a fund of money that can be used in cases of hardship for a short period, most of the awards I've seen are for 3 months. Your ex would have to explain the circumstances, why the appeal has a good chance, and why you both can't afford the £26. Its a bit of a punt, some councils are more generous than others.

[45002]

Thank you for your replies.

 

The reason why I would be paying more rent is because Income Support is at present suspended. When Income Support was being received, there was no rent to pay as HB were paying the whole amount. Now because IS has been suspended, if HB do a reassessment, they will reassess on current income which is incapacity benefit only. I have been told that there is a strong possibility that they will reassess as a couple for the time being and that the shortfall on rent is almost £26 per week. There is no overpayment to apply to the account, that is the bog standard rate I have been told assessed as a couple in receipt of incapacity benefit.

 

The Council, both the HB department and the Rent Office have both told me that if payment of almost £26 per week is payable, even if and when IS is reinstated and all the rent owed is backdated and paid, I will reveive nothing as a refund. It is Council policy here that council tenants are not ever given a cheque if there is a credit on their rent account. I explained that in this case I would be paying almost £26 per week for how ever many months it takes to sort this IS mess out which will result in the end that the rent account sits forever in a large amount of credit. This just doesn't seem right to me at all.

 

What is the weekly rate of incapacity benefit you get ?

 

Sounds like to me,your incapacity benefit is More than income support rate,if this is the case you wont get full housing benefit.

Edited December 12, 2010 by 45002
rate

[appyammer]

Well we have filled in the HB form and will wait and see what they say. If a large rent payment has to be made, we will fight to get it returned if and when the IS appeal goes our way.

 

You are right that we won't get full Housing Benefit 45002 but if the IS appeal goes in our favour, the suspension will be lifted and the backdated full rent will by paid. The point I am making is that whatever amount we are asked to pay in rent in the meantime, the Council have said that they will not refund it if the appeal goes in our favour which means we could be paying £26 per week to sit as credits on the rent account till the day we die which is why we are going to fight to have it returned if the appeal goes our way.

[45002]

Well we have filled in the HB form and will wait and see what they say. If a large rent payment has to be made, we will fight to get it returned if and when the IS appeal goes our way.

 

You are right that we won't get full Housing Benefit 45002 but if the IS appeal goes in our favour, the suspension will be lifted and the backdated full rent will by paid. The point I am making is that whatever amount we are asked to pay in rent in the meantime, the Council have said that they will not refund it if the appeal goes in our favour which means we could be paying £26 per week to sit as credits on the rent account till the day we die which is why we are going to fight to have it returned if the appeal goes our way.

 

 

 

Could be wrong,but i dont think your ever get back the £26:00 a week your paying now,as it's based on you income.

 

Is that £26:00 your pay All rent,something else or does it include CT as you wont get 100% CTB on high rate of incapacity benefit or 100% rent as you know.

 

Just out of interest,who's name is on the Rent book/tenancy agreement /is it joint tenancy or in your name or ex wife ?

[paulb1310]

I think the situation can be summarised like this .. at first you were not treated as a couple. Your wife claimed HB as a Single person and your income was ignored. Now you are being treated as a couple so your income is combined and may be over the threshhold for HB. That sound right? As for being treated as a couple - it depends on how the household is set up. Do you share the bills? Eat together?