housing /council tax benefit!!!

Taffyscot

Hi all,
Rental benefits. We are presently in rental accomodation and get rental benefits as my partner gets DLA and DWP. He had to retire early from work with Parkinson's Disease and is now 64. His health is deteriorating and we would like to move closer to his hospital. We currently travel about 3 times a week 40 miles each time. Where the hospital is situated is not the best of areas and my sister would like to get her foot on the property ladder in Scotland for when she retires in some 7 years. She is concerned about where we would live if we move and has suggested buying a place in a better area and renting it out to us. She would have peace of mind about where we are living and we would be closer to the hospital. Would we still be able to get help with the rent and pay her? There are conflicting answers about the fact that she is a close relative and the landlord. Then others say that doesn't matter if she is not residing in the same residence. If there is a social worker out there that could give me a definitive answer it would sure help us with our decision. It is very distressful being in this situation after 35 years of hard work and never being out of work.
Also I wanted to start a new thread about this but could not seem to do it somehow. Can anyone help with this too? Thank you all Taffy

seven-day-weekend

Taffy,

If you click on the speech bubble at the top marked 'Forum', then go into 'Benefits Tax Credits and Jobseeking' halfway down the board, then 'Benefits and Tax Credits', there is a a button at the top left of the board that says 'New Thread', click on that and you can post your query on its own thread.

In England it is quite often not possible to pay Housing Benefit to relatives, you have to be able to prove that the property was bought as an investment property and has been offered on the open market. I don't know whether the law is the same in Scotland.

Post your own thread and people will be able to advise you.

Taffyscot

Thank you so much seven... Taffy

brimau_2

Last year I had no option but to apply for Housing and Council tax benefit. I took all my financial proof/information to them, they filled in the forms for me there and then and I signed. All was well and I was then awarded the benefits. After a year long court/solicitors fight with my husband I am now in receipt of maintenance. I'm an honest person and informed the Housing benefits people of my change in circumstances. I was rewarded with a letter last week detailing that my army pension had been omitted from the initial calculation/application (I gave them the p60 so its their fault) and therefore I am now no longer entitled to any benefits and in fact there has been a large overpayment. I have this week been slapped with an invoice demanding repayment of £4,476 by 24 March!! I'm a single parent, no job, have a small child and in a private tenancy which I now may lose. When I called Housing to complain I was told....'Not our problem' and its your fault for not checking! I am now seeing the Citizens Advice Bureau. I'm worried sick at my current situation and horrified at their attitude. I warn others to make sure you get written proof that they have seen your documentation ( i stupidly did not) and double check everything as it seems they always have the last word.

Barcode

Brimau:

Exactly the same occurred to me with York council. I sent them information, they ignored it. A year later, I had a repayment demand for almost £2000.

DON'T assume they are right, and that you must do what they say as they are a large official organization.

Here is what I did:

(1) Went to the local M.P.
(2) Contacted the local paper - story went in a few days later.
(3) Then another student newspaper contacted me - story appeared soon.

In their quote to the paper, a council spokesperson said that yes, it was their mistake, but I should have checked the information sent to me. We all know these things are difficult to make sense of. It was when the M.P intervened that I coincidentally had a very apologetic letter and saying the overpayment was going to be written off.

I suspect had I not taken a very public course of action, they would have attempted to intimidate me. Don't let them. I also think not many people will think they can take the course of action I did, and will just do whatever the council tells them. Do let us know how you get on.

brimau_2

:A Oh that is so good to hear! I have not slept much this past week for the worry of it all. On speaking with CAB and they have been helpful but I must admit that when they said i would have to default on my current commitments in order to meet the possible council repayments , I almost fainted. The prospect of gaining an horrific credit rating because of the Councils mistake, is the straw to break the camels back. I admit I could not make sense of the info they sent, largely because at the time I was mid breakdown and rattling with anti depressants! I will look into what you have said and keep you posted. Thanks again.

swt61

Hi, This is a post on behalf of my 70 year old Mother.

Going back to jan 2006 My Mother fell ill and needed to Move out of her Owned Flat to live closer to us, I found her a place in Council Sheltered accomodation.
When we completed all the neccessary forms including declaring that she owned a property they still awarded her nearly full rent allowance.
In Nov 2006 the property was sold and after all her debts etc were paid off she had an asset of £35000 approx. She declared this immediately and her allowance for rent obviously stopped.

She gifted some of the monies so to speak to direct Family as a thank you for looking after hetr for many years ( Not that we wanted to take it) But she insisted. After discussions with My brothers family she found out that they were heavilly in arrears with there morgage and repossesion was on the Horizon what did she do bail them out. After this she had a rview from the council and she had just under 16k left and they refused her benefits.

She now today has a total capital left of only £1000 as she is having to pay full rent and council tax the money has gone fast and she is no very worried.

I have just phoned the Housing benefit office to try and re-apply for her anyone got any advice on where she stands with this ,How long can they hold this against her for having money in the past?

Many thanks,

simon

steevd

Could anyone help me? my father has been paying full council tax (he's 79, been paying the full countil tax since 1993) despite him being on a fairly low pension income,i have found out that my friend who is in similar circumstances is paying a LOT less & in a band D property whereas my father is in a band A property. I have recently helped him fill in the necessary council tax benefit forms, however he has had a letter back informing him he can only claim the benefit back from March 2007, is this correct anyone know please?

H_is_for_H

The answer to question re: 52 weeks 'backpay' on your father's Council Tax bnefit (CTB) is yes - pensioners (sorry, people over the age of 60) are the only group of people able to receive an automatic entitlement to the past 52 weeks benefit entitlement (assuming they were over 60 for the whole of that year - can explain this if needed)

Anyone else claiming Housing and/or Council Tax benefits can apply for the backdate but it is determined on the reasons for the delay in making a claim

I understand your reason for frustration in not getting any further help prior to the 52 weeks additional entitlement but this is down to the regulations that state a claim can only be determined once received, ie: no claim, no benefit.

I hope this helps although probably not what you wanted to hear

karenuk101

please could some one help me does anyone know is it possible if my ex partner could stop at my house at the weekend and will it stop my housing and council tax benifits is there a law as too how many days they are allowed to stop