Housing Benefit query

[Chayton]

Hi

 

 

I have a strange problem with Three Rivers District Council regarding Housing Benefit.

 

 

For a little background.. my daughter moved into student accommodation in September 2012. She moved back home shortly after her 19th birthday in December 12 because she had been kicked out of her student accommodation and had nowhere else to go other than come home. This meant that she had to continue her level 2 electronic engineering course via a distance learning arrangement which she agreed with the college. She continued with her studies via the college website and visiting the college at least once a week, and during the half terms to do her practical assignments, and eventually passed the course with a distinction.

 

 

I was under the impression (due in part to discussions with the jobcentre the previous year) that I would only be able to claim child benefit until she was 19, therefore I didn't see the need to advise anyone of her return to the household.

 

 

In April the "bedroom tax" came in and I was penalised to the tune of £16 and some odd pence because I had a spare bedroom since so far as Three Rivers was concerned my daughter was no longer living at the property. Due to various financial and health problems I was a bit overwhelmed with trying to sort out other important issues and realised in August that I hadn't actually yet told the Council that my daughter was once again living with me. I obviously corrected that as soon as I realised, and within a few days the council asked for a review of my circumstances so that they could review my claim. I completed their form and returned it to them, again advising them, amongst other things, of my daughters return to the property.

 

 

There was much tooing and froing of documents from the council with their requesting various information in dribs and drabs over the next few months, but finally by November they had completed their review. In it I was surprised to see that from the period April 13 to August 13 they had not only included a deduction of £13.16 for a non dependant deduction for my daughter (which deduction had been backdated to January 13 when my daughter moved back in and continued until September 13 when she started at a local college for her level 3 engineering course), but also had applied a deduction for an extra bedroom, which my daughter was now occupying.

 

 

I of course queried with them how, from April to August 13, my daughter could both have been living at the property and apparently not living at the property. Their response, received on 7th January, was that since they were notified late of an "advantageous change" they would not go back to April when the bedroom tax was brought in.

 

 

Is there anything I can do to change this quite frankly ludicrous situation where my daughter was both here and not here at the same time? Or is their "advantageous change" thing set in stone.

 

 

I also find it quite disgusting that although my daughter completed six months of her course via a personal distance learning arrangement with the college, and indeed continued on to pass her, quite frankly, difficult course with the highest pass she could get, that the Council will not assess her as being in full time education merely because she was not physically attending the college premises full time. She had actually started the course at the college but due to circumstances totally beyond her control (and part of those circumstances was that the local Council to the college refused to give her any Housing Benefit help towards getting different accommodation) she had no choice but to return home and continue her education as best she could. I doubt that anything can be done about this - but if anyone has any ideas about that I'd be grateful to hear them.

 

 

((EDIT: She had, from January 13 until the end of her course, been in continuous and constant contact with her various tutors via the college online facility (Moodle) and by telephone and email so that she could continue with her course. She also attended at the college building every Monday and for the whole of every half term to carry out her machining and practical assignments - does this not constitute supervised study?))

Edited January 17, 2014 by Chayton

[id6052]

Write to them asking them to apply underlying entitlement to the HB overpayment between April and August 2013

 

This should result in non-dep deduction not being applicable for this period, however you would be subject to size criteria

 

Regulation 104(1)© of Housing Benefit Regulations 2006

 

in calculating the amount of a recoverable overpayment, the relevant authority shall deduct any amount of housing benefit which should have been determined to be payable in respect of the whole or part of the overpayment period on the basis of the claim as it would have appeared if any change of circumstances had been notified at the time that change occurred.