How long can housing benefits service take / Can they reject if you meet criteria??!

Beta89

dmg24 wrote: »

I think you are in for a big shock - unless you are severely disabled, the most LHA you can expect to receive is £92.31 per week (or £88.50 depending on which BRMA you come under).

:huh: _pale_


If thats actually the case, and thats all i will get just because im not as old as some other claimants,
then why does their benefits calculator and the entitled-to website say £155,
even when i clearly indicated on them my age..

poppet

Beta89 wrote: »

am in the process of claiming jobseekers allowance (interview on friday).

I have a feeling that if you have only just had your JSA meeting, then it will be a couple of weeks before your new JSA claim is processed - and this in turn means that your housing beneift claim wont be finalised untill then either.

Im not sure housing benefit can pay out untill they have confirmation of your employment staus via your JSA payments?

devils_vixen

the benefits calculator is only there to give you a guide of what you may be entitled to. It doesn't mean that the calculation this comes back with is what you are guaranteed to receive. It is simply guidance. The assessor will decide how much you are entitled to and when this claim is to run to and from and you will be notified by letter. This letter will clearly have the breakdown of how the payments have been worked out and the weekly amount that you will receive. I don't know if all councils are the same but I receive my payments every fortnight.

Beta89

I just looked at the LHA and just because im younger than some some other claimants, who have had more time to buildup savings,
i will get barely half as much as they will.

£92 per week.


So il have rent of £675, but lha will only cover £368 of it.
But im gna endup falling £300 short per month.

fluffymovie

Hi Beta89

I am concerned that you are expecting HB of £155 a week.

I have been in HB for 8 years and some of it in an area next to Runnymede (Woking BC) as I used to live in Weybridge so I know the rents in that area are expensive and I don't believe anyone is suggesting that the rent you are charged is too high.

However, as you have stated you are under 25 and this is a big issue in HB. Unless you have children, are disabled or are a care leaver, you will be restricted to what is called the Shared Room Rate.

Having checked the Runnymede site, I note they have 2 BRMA's so it does change depending on which one you come in but you will be restricted to the SRR which is under £95 in both cases.

Also on the matter of waiting for your JSA to come through, the council can process your claim based on a nil income if you are able to demonstrate how you have been living.

Can I just ask, if you have been out of work for 5 months, why have you not claimed JSA or HB before now? If there is a genuine reason such as illness or the Jobcentre telling you not to bother, you could ask for HB to be backdated up to a maximum of 6 months. Just a thought.

Runnymede do have an on line calculator and the accuracy of this depends on the Local Housing Allowance rate that you input. If you input the Shared Room rate, as well as 19 years of age, you will get a much more accurate figure.

Good Luck

Beta89

poppet wrote: »

I have a feeling that if you have only just had your JSA meeting, then it will be a couple of weeks before your new JSA claim is processed - and this in turn means that your housing beneift claim wont be finalised untill then either.

Im not sure housing benefit can pay out untill they have confirmation of your employment staus via your JSA payments?

The jsa meeting is next friday,
but payment will be backdated to monday of this week just gone, so il atleast be able to get £100 during the week that to buy food.


Hopefully the housing benefits service will be able to just tell by my national insurance number that i am unemployed though.

Beta89

fluffymovie wrote: »

Hi Beta89

I am concerned that you are expecting HB of £155 a week.

I have been in HB for 8 years and some of it in an area next to Runnymede (Woking BC) as I used to live in Weybridge so I know the rents in that area are expensive and I don't believe anyone is suggesting that the rent you are charged is too high.

However, as you have stated you are under 25 and this is a big issue in HB. Unless you have children, are disabled or are a care leaver, you will be restricted to what is called the Shared Room Rate.

Having checked the Runnymede site, I note they have 2 BRMA's so it does change depending on which one you come in but you will be restricted to the SRR which is under £95 in both cases.

Also on the matter of waiting for your JSA to come through, the council can process your claim based on a nil income if you are able to demonstrate how you have been living.

Can I just ask, if you have been out of work for 5 months, why have you not claimed JSA or HB before now? If there is a genuine reason such as illness or the Jobcentre telling you not to bother, you could ask for HB to be backdated up to a maximum of 6 months. Just a thought.

Runnymede do have an on line calculator and the accuracy of this depends on the Local Housing Allowance rate that you input. If you input the Shared Room rate, as well as 19 years of age, you will get a much more accurate figure.

Good Luck

Aloha and thankyou very much for being so considerate and helping me..
Atleast now ive foundout about the under 25s thing so can take the hit and shock now, instead of during next week.


They did ask for how i had paid rent and lived since september,
but i had the receipt from when i moved in showing how i paid the 3months rent in-advance so i showed them that, and the last 2months i paid the rent from my final cash savings into landlords bank account.



And the reason i didnt start claiming hb and jsa sooner was because i just didnt think that i would need it.

Since i made sure i had 5months worth of rent and living expenses saved up,
and i thought that especially at the rate that i have been applying for jobs that i would have been able to get a job within 5months of looking.

When december time came i did start getting worried and did fill in the form and send the initial form off for hb, but then cancelled the claim as i decided that i didnt need to go down that route as it would be like giving up and thinking that i wouldnt be able to get a job,
But when febuary came and i saw how little money i had left i knew that i needed this.

fluffymovie

Having had another think about it, and a bit more wine!! I have also had another thought!

There is a rule which says that if you could afford the rent when you moved in and you have not been on HB in last 52 weeks, you can get the maximum rent paid for 13 weeks. This basically would mean that you should get your rent paid in full for the first 3 months if you can show that you could afford it 5 months ago!

Sorry I didn't think of this before! But after 13 weeks, your HB would drop.

This is something that some of my assessors forget to apply so I would check when your claim is assessed to see if this has been considered.

Hope it all works out for the best. If you are looking for cheaper places, perhaps Addlestone, bits of New Haw or Byfleet somewhere like that should work out a bit cheaper but you may already be somewhere like that! Just a thought!

real1314

fluffymovie wrote: »

Having had another think about it, and a bit more wine!! I have also had another thought!

There is a rule which says that if you could afford the rent when you moved in and you have not been on HB in last 52 weeks, you can get the maximum rent paid for 13 weeks. This basically would mean that you should get your rent paid in full for the first 3 months if you can show that you could afford it 5 months ago!

Sorry I didn't think of this before! But after 13 weeks, your HB would drop.

This is something that some of my assessors forget to apply so I would check when your claim is assessed to see if this has been considered.

Hope it all works out for the best. If you are looking for cheaper places, perhaps Addlestone, bits of New Haw or Byfleet somewhere like that should work out a bit cheaper but you may already be somewhere like that! Just a thought!

Good point re the 13 week rule. I can't recall off the top of my head whether you have to have been paying the rent for 52 weeks or just have not claimed HB?
Makes me wonder if someone could loophole the LHA restriction for 13 weeks by paying the first week themselves from savings, stating they were able to self fund and then claiming the 13 weeks full rent?
Wouldn't be worthwhile for some people, but might well be for others.
Might have a look at that next week! Unless anyone here works at the Adelphi and can check it?

Beta89

fluffymovie wrote: »

Having had another think about it, and a bit more wine!! I have also had another thought!

There is a rule which says that if you could afford the rent when you moved in and you have not been on HB in last 52 weeks, you can get the maximum rent paid for 13 weeks. This basically would mean that you should get your rent paid in full for the first 3 months if you can show that you could afford it 5 months ago!

Sorry I didn't think of this before! But after 13 weeks, your HB would drop.

This is something that some of my assessors forget to apply so I would check when your claim is assessed to see if this has been considered.

Hope it all works out for the best. If you are looking for cheaper places, perhaps Addlestone, bits of New Haw or Byfleet somewhere like that should work out a bit cheaper but you may already be somewhere like that! Just a thought!

Awww thanks for that..

Is it likely they will just do that naturally though when they process the claim??
Cos i dont think they will like me much anyways cos i phoned 3x over the last 2weeks. :embarasse


Is there any sorta legislation that i can use to backup the clause you said though??



And i do live in addlestone already, in a tiny studio flat that is about 6meters away from the railway track...

When i looked this was the 2nd cheapest flat on the market anywhere in the surrey/middlesex area.