moving house/housing benefit

hmc

hello
im hoping to move within the month
im on full is,hb and council tax
i dont get all the rent covered here and know i wont at other house as its same area,size and price
so when i hand notice in,i ring job centre + and hb and give them same date of change??
i am filling in a rent assment form
will the change over be straight forward?
i know they will need copy of new contract but surley everything else they have on file as nothing has changed

new landlord is prepared to wait for rent as its paid in arrears

any tips i need to know for a smooth change over??

any reason i have to stay here for the mths notice if im ready to move???

thankyou sooo much in advance

helen

lil_me

Nothing much you can do apart from getting forms in as soon as possible, it is best to hand in all evidence at same time, like proof of tenancy and benefit etc. They have it all on file but usually dealt with as new claim so they need it all again.

If you don't stay for your months notice you'll still have to pay the rent, unfortunately if the notuce on your current tenancy finishes after the new one starts they'll only pay for one

hmc

thanks for that
ud have thought they could use all the stuff they spent hours photocopying
7mths ago

never mind

thanks again
helen

lil_me

The reason they would give is to also clarify there had been no changes. I help people with these things a lot and the only time I have known them to not want another copy is when the tenant had completed a renewal 2 weeks previous. If you're wanting it sorting sooner rather than later always best to include everything you can at once.

Chrysalis

it isnt instant and goes in to a waiting list like new claims do, the only difference was with me I only needed to hand in new tenancy agreement and fill in form for # of rooms etc. proof of id and proof of income wasnt needed.

however I recently found this link which says if nothing after 14 days you can claim a payment on account.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-123.cfm

hmc

thanks all
i ran council today and lady said all i had to do was ring them when id moved and id then have 1 form to fill and they woud want rental agreement
then it would be sorted out
she wouldnt commit to how long id have to wait for money
good job landlord is prepared to wait, i can see how people cant afford to move

she said if i was deffo moving no need to send in rent determination thingy, i dont understand that as how will they know number of rooms etc

helen

SusanCarter

hmc wrote:

thanks all
i ran council today and lady said all i had to do was ring them when id moved and id then have 1 form to fill and they woud want rental agreement
then it would be sorted out
she wouldnt commit to how long id have to wait for money
good job landlord is prepared to wait, i can see how people cant afford to move

she said if i was deffo moving no need to send in rent determination thingy, i dont understand that as how will they know number of rooms etc

helen

I would make sure you get that in writing otherwise you could end up out of pocket. Normally if you move house it is a new claim and they only pay it from the Monday after you put in your form. This means you need to put in your new claim form BEFORE you move. It doesn't matter if you don't have all the details arranged yet as you can tell them later - you just need to make sure your new claim is "in the system". If in doubt, just put a form in - better safe than sorry.

The rent determination form is something you can fill out beforehand to find out how much is the maximum benefit they would pay you on that property. (They might limit the amount because they think the rent is overcharged or because it is bigger then you officially need.) The reason for this is so that you know whether you would be able to afford it before you actually take it so if you are definitely going to take it, you don't need to do it - the rent officer will come and do a determination after you have moved in.

mad-mum_3

I agree with previous poster thta the best thing is to put all the information in again that way they have the most up to date information possible on which to assess your claim. It shoud only take you a few minutes to put it all together and coudl save you weeks of heartache trying to sort it out if it goes wrong. if you do not have any particular document still submit your calim as soon as possible, then send the missing evidence in later. Ifyou submit a claim form prioer to moving in to a preopty it is also worth sending a letter in the day you maove in confirming the move. Don't forget to tell the council tax section of you move as well as this will also help to speed things up.

Chrysalis

I have an interim payment for myself confirmed approx 3 weeks after move (no cheque yet but should get one soon now). My council tax seemed to be auto as I got a council tax bill last week with the benefit credited but I had to fight to avoid a 6 month waiting list.

A letter telling them if they dont honour the 14 day law for payments on account else I will contact mp worked so if the same happens to you nothing happens then you get told to wait ask for payment on account.

SusanCarter

Chrysalis wrote:

I have an interim payment for myself confirmed approx 3 weeks after move (no cheque yet but should get one soon now). My council tax seemed to be auto as I got a council tax bill last week with the benefit credited but I had to fight to avoid a 6 month waiting list.

A letter telling them if they dont honour the 14 day law for payments on account else I will contact mp worked so if the same happens to you nothing happens then you get told to wait ask for payment on account.

(Sorry hmc - hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread to ask a question.)

What is this 14 day law? Our benefit has been randomly stopped without them even telling us they were doing it. I've written to them objecting to a) the fact that they've stopped the benefit and b) the fact that they didn't tell us and have had no response. Is it actually illegal for them to do this?

Chrysalis

Your situation is not to do with payment on account.

Payment on account is something you are entitled to 14 days after a new claim, they pay you a low amount to help tie you over whilst your claim is been processed.

Your situation I had myself earlier in the year tho I was suspended for a unknown reason (still dont know the reason today) and they didnt even bother to tell me, the payments just stopped. Contacting them got me nowhere, so I did a letter to the director of housing and contacted my MP. My complaint wasnt acted on but he suddenly replied to that complaint when my MP contacted them on my behalf.

Contact your MP it is surprisingly very effective.

http://www.writetothem.com/