Urgent advice needed

hayleyjl

Hi. I will try to keep this short because it is an exceptionally long and complex situation!

I was self employed, I moved house in August 2007. the removal company stole all of my belonging, the owner assaulting me and hitting me with the truck as I attempted to stop them.

My physical and emotional state as a result of this prevented me from continuing with my self employment.

* I claimed incapacity online in November, heard nothing and after several months finally managed to get through to someone who told me my claim had been lost.

* They then put me through a new claim including a backdate request.

*This then started an onslaught of letters from Incapacity, Jobseekers, and Income Support. All asking for the same info, all re asking for the same info despite me providing it.

* At the same time I was also trying to sort out a council tax benefit claim who were also sending enough letters to kill off a rainforest.

* Despite huge amounts of correspondance, phone calls and letters sent by myself everything remains unresolved.

* Incapacity states that I am not eligable due to insufficient NI contributions.

* Income support have said I am not eligable from the 1st of april (but have not payed me any benefit for the period before 1st April) as I had been receiving working tax. They then go on to accuse me of defrauding the system by not getting in touch with working tax, then said that they had requested a compensation payment for me?

* I was able to continue claiming working tax from August until the 1st April whilst not working so from the 1st April I attempted to return to work and get my business back off the ground. I have made no Income.

* Despite Income support saying I am not entitled to income support they recently made me a final? payment for the period 27th - 31st March

I am now totally lost in a benefits tangle and scared to death of where to move next. I need to contact working tax and inform them that I have finished work to be able to claim income support but WTCT is the only money I have coming in to support myself and my 2 children.

I receive DLA for my son who has an ASD spectrum disorder ( which prevents me from entering into normal employment).

I have had to live on credit for months and before that on insurance monies paid out for me to replace my stolen goods.

There has been issues with Council Tax and Income support regarding this money as they were trying to refuse my claims saying that this money was savings.

I am now at the point where I have no credit left, I can't pay my next mortgage payment (Should have received assistance with this via income support after 30 weeks) and I am totally lost in the benfits maze.

I can't believe that there is no help for someone in my situation. The last year of my life has been difficult and this benefit problem is finishing me off.

I hope there is someone out there who can offer some advice.

whitewing

I can give you a (hug), and suggest perhaps contacting your MP to see if they can help move things along, or Citizen's Advice Bureau.

JessicaF_2

I am slightly confused - did you receive Working Tax Credit from August 2007 - when did it stop?

Also - did you work at any time after August 2007 until April 2008?

Jess

hayleyjl

Thanks I did try my MP last year for help in the legal side (which is yet another problem that I am still dealing with) but despite receiving a promise of help, nothing happened.

hayleyjl

I have continued to receive working tax credit and still am to date. I did not work at all between August 07 and April 08 (allowed time to claim working tax credit whilst off sick) I attempted to return to work after April but have been unable to get it back off the ground.

dmg24

The problem is that you cannot claim WTC and IS for the same period. WTC are only payable to those working sixteen hours or more, and IS is only payable to those working up to sixteen hours. You need to decide which category you fall into? x

hayleyjl

dmg24 wrote: »

The problem is that you cannot claim WTC and IS for the same period. WTC are only payable to those working sixteen hours or more, and IS is only payable to those working up to sixteen hours. You need to decide which category you fall into? x

As from the 1st of April I fell into the Income Support Category but couldn't stop my working tax because my income support claim was taking so long (Income support have only just last week finalised my claim) I would have been left with no income at all.

dmg24

hayleyjl wrote: »

As from the 1st of April I fell into the Income Support Category but couldn't stop my working tax because my income support claim was taking so long (Income support have only just last week finalised my claim) I would have been left with no income at all.

Unfortunately that is not a valid reason to continue with your claim.

How much WTC have you been receiving each week?

JessicaF_2

Also - you can only claim WTC for up to 6 months when you are sick which means you have been overpaid WTC from around January.

I think you need to sort out your tax credits and benefits with a Citizens Advice or similar. They can help you get it all straightened out.

Jess

hayleyjl

I appreciate your advice I understand that it is not a valid reason to continue with my claim and I have no intention of doing so.
I am due a visit to citizens advice on Monday but due to their funding being reduced they can only offer a 10 minute appointment initially.
I don't want to be claiming anything I am not entitled to but I cannot afford to live on fresh air (yes its really bad) and was trying to get some advice on what I can do now whilst waiting for citizens advice.

hayleyjl

JessicaF wrote: »

Also - you can only claim WTC for up to 6 months when you are sick which means you have been overpaid WTC from around January.

I think you need to sort out your tax credits and benefits with a Citizens Advice or similar. They can help you get it all straightened out.

Jess

I am hoping they can, do you know of any other organisation other than citizens advice (as mentioned in my reply to dmg24, their service in my area is limited)