Housing Benefit and Working Tax Credit HELPPP!!!

[rocky852]

hi,

 

so basically, me and my wife have 4 children, 2 adults and 2 under 16. we are a happy family. we are receiving child tax credit for my 2 younger kids, housing benefit due to my low salary and my wife not working, as well as working tax credit for me. In june 2011, my 2 adult children and wife went back home for a holiday. due to unforeseen circumstances, my daughter now has to get married there, so my wife and daughter were still there while my son came back. i did not inform any of the benefit companies about this, as it was just meant to be a small holiday. unexpectedly, my wife and daughter were still there until feb 2012, when me and my other 2 young kids went abroad too. since they had school, they came back with my wife now in 3 weeks (feb 2012). so now i was there with my daughter (to be married soon) until may 2012 when i came back home. we let the daughter handle everything from then. suddenly my mother who lives abroad, went really ill due to old age in july 2012 and i had to go see her, as would any son. my wife had to come with me too as she had not seen my mother in a very long time. so now my 2 younger kids and 1 adult son are alone in the uk. they have managed so far but school is about to begin and me or my wife need to be there now. so my wife is leaving to UK on the 22nd september, and i will be making my way soon. by october hopefully.

 

during this period, we received a letter saying our housing benefit and working tax credit has been suspended due to change in circumstance, so i sent all the required documents to them before i went to see my mother (july 2012). it was a while since we got any reply from them and our landlord bugging us about not receiving his rent in time. so my son while alone with his siblings called the department asking for progress. he told them he was our son and that the parents went abroad for a couple of weeks. they told him to contact them when they are back. out of stupidity, he called in again the next day posing as me just to get things going (as me and my wife left in emergency, and would be back soon), but the person on the telephone got suspicious and passed the case to the fraud department thinking someone else is living in the house or whatsoever. now that the landlord is bugging us about the rent and i cannot just leave my mom here. my wife would be coming back soon on the 22 sept 2012. ( its too expensive to amend the flight date). now they are asking to check my passport when my son posed as me (which i was unaware of until he told me)

 

did we commit any fraud? because the only thing wrong we did was not informing them about leaving the country in between. we have not left the country for more than 13 weeks except for the time when my wife was with my daughter about the marriage situation, while i was still in the UK with my kids. what will happen now? will they ask for the housing benefit back from when my wife was away? or will they backtrack the housing benefit from this past month since they have suspended it? (as my wife will be back on the 22nd sept, no more than 13 weeks since she left).

 

please help me, my kids are alone in the UK and need some help on this. if you are confused about anything. please reply back.

[id6052]

first things first, who is claiming hb/ctb? is it you or your wife?

[rocky852]

the housing benefit is under both our names as my wife doesn't work and i have a low income.the working tax credit is me. and the child tax credit is under my wifes.

[id6052]

it does appear from what you have said that you have failed to declare several changes in circumstances that may have affected your benefit, though a lot will depend upon whether any of those changes would have resulted in an overpayment,

 

what happened to your employment during february and may?

 

in relation to your housing benefit, are you a council/social tenant? or a private tenant? if you are a private tenant, then your hb is calculated based upon the number of rooms your family needs, this would have reduced when your daughter moved out. so that may have caused an overpayment

[rocky852]

would it result in an over-payment if lets say my wife is away from the country for more than 13 weeks, while im here with my children. and yes we are private tenants. (not in regards to my daughter being away)

[rocky852]

i am self employed. from feb-may, i was living at my very close cousins house back home, hence very little expenditure. as for the working tax credit, they say i can still be receiving it if i am away for no more than 13 weeks. does it make a difference as i was away for about 11/12 weeks from feb and left again now in july due to emergency, will be back within 13 weeks for good.

[id6052]

although some benefits have joint claims, housing benefit and council tax benefit are claimed on the basis that one person is the claimant, whilst the other is a partner

 

who was the claimant for hb/ctb? was it you or your wife

[id6052]

for hb/ctb

 

claimants are normally allowed to be temporarily absent from property for up to 13 weeks

partners are normally allowed to be temporarily absent from property for up to 52 weeks

 

so it is very important to work out who the claimant was

[rocky852]

oh i see. my wife is the claimant im afraid. and im the partner in that case.

[id6052]

well if your wife was absent from country for more than 13 weeks, she would not have been entitled to hb/ctb

 

from what you have stated, there is possibility that your wife has been: -

 

1. overpaid hb/ctb between june 2011 and february 2012 as she was absent from property
   
2. overpaid hb from february 2012 until it was suspended as your daughter had moved out
   

[rocky852]

i see. so even if i was there with my kids at the property, i would not have been eligible for the hb? is there any possible solution around it? also will they look into the situation before the suspension? as this whole thing started when my son told them we left for emergency in july 2012 after the suspension. how can they find out that my wife was away last year if i dont tell them?

[id6052]

if you were there with the kids, then you would have been eligible for hb/ctb if you had made a claim for it

 

it is possible that they may be able to offset any benefit you would have been entitled to between June 2011 and February 2012 against your wife's overpayment for the same period

 

it would still leave an overpayment of hb as a result of your daughter moving out

[rocky852]

oh ok. and how does the working tax credit work. as i left the country for less than 13 weeks in between, but came back for 6/7 weeks and left again for less than 13 weeks. does the working tax credit continue as i came back in may for but had to leave again in july for emergency. this has been a very difficult year for our family, really very stressful. on top, my car broke down badly when i was here in may, so i couldn't really work either.

 

thanks for the help though, really appreciated.

[MARTIN3030]

Can you also confirm if the period abroad was in the European Union ?

[rocky852]

NO, it was not in the europe.

[rocky852]

ALSO, my main concern is if the benefit company (HMRC) can check if i was/am abroad? from my passport of whatsoever? can they somehow track my absence in the past?

 

thank you

[abc123def]

The LA, DWP and HMRC do all communicate to each other and yes they can and do check passport and flight records. It is best to be totally honest from the start and they will deal with any overpayment in a much better way than if they discover after investigations that you have lied and not been honest.

[MARTIN3030]

Someone will no doubt correct me if I am wrong but I think that entitlement to continue to be eligible for benefit if leaving the UK,is restricted to areas within the EEC.

[MARTIN3030]

Yes DWP and HMRC both work with the UKBA.

If you have been travelling outside the EEC then your passport will have been electronically scanned as well.

There is also the entry and exit stamps whilst passing through Non Euro Countries,which will be clearly visible in your passport-so the dates of absence can be easily worked out from those.

[rocky852]

well, i have citizenship of that country too as well as the uk, so there are no entry/exit stamps on that passport. will they bother to actually acquire previous entry/exit details to the uk?

[abc123def]

If you are being investigated, yes. Plus they can request flight details.

[rocky852]

even details/travels from more than a year ago?

[abc123def]

Yes, all those details will be available and if you are being investigated they can go back years. It is best to be entirely honest and answer any questions truthfully, then you will receive all the benefits you are legally entitled to and any overpayment can be dealt with.