Can the council request your bank statements for past 6months (discretionary housing)

MissSexyBum

Hiya does anyone know if when you are getting discretionary housing payments for the 6months,
then re-apply for it again after that for another 6months.. ect,
can they ask to see your bank statements for those 6months to basically check what stuff you've bought??



thanks

Caz3121

I guess councils may be different but this is Dartford where they ask for 2 months statements
http://www.dartford.gov.uk/benefits/dhpguidance.htm

Also note that it mentions that DHP is meant to be short term - I understood this was to protect people tied into a lease to complete the lease and move somewhere cheaper (or as they state - improve their circumstances)

viktory

I would sincerely hope so - if you are seeking to claim money from the Government then you should be prepared to demonstrate that you genuinely need the money.

MissSexyBum

viktory wrote: »

I would sincerely hope so - if you are seeking to claim money from the Government then you should be prepared to demonstrate that you genuinely need the money.

For how many months can they ask to have statements going back for though??

is it definitely just 2months?

dmg24

As long as it is not excessive, they can request them for as far back as they wish to. I would not consider six months excessive.

I would also reiterate Caz3121's comment, a DHP is intended to be a short term measure. The likelihood of being granted a further six months is low.

SailorSam

I think in the past i've only ever been asked for the latest statement.

real1314

MissSexyBum wrote: »

Hiya does anyone know if when you are getting discretionary housing payments for the 6months,
then re-apply for it again after that for another 6months.. ect,
can they ask to see your bank statements for those 6months to basically check what stuff you've bought??



thanks

Yes, they can. As DHP is purely discretionary, they can indeed carry out this sort of check. And they can refuse to re-new the DHP payments if they are not satisfied with the evidence provided.

MissSexyBum

Its so ridiculous and unfair that they would monitor how i spend my money though! :mad:

Cos even with the £100 per month discretionary housing payments im still £50 short on the rent (so i have to pay it out of my JSA),
and am roughly £400 short of the standard LHA rate for the area!

So the housing payment money is technically being used towards my rent, and so is part of my JSA,
and so i should be allowed to use the remainder of my JSA n money on whatever i want to, without having to justify it to the council!! :mad:

Its cos i got some forms in the post yesterday afternoon about end of year benefits, stats from council for the year, council tax details... ect

And one of the forms about the discretionary benefits said that they may request ''proof of income and expenditure'' for it.
And so it got me concerned.

dmg24

MissSexyBum wrote: »

Its so ridiculous and unfair that they would monitor how i spend my money though! :mad:

Cos even with the £100 per month discretionary housing payments im still £50 short on the rent (so i have to pay it out of my JSA),
and am roughly £400 short of the standard LHA rate for the area!

So the housing payment money is technically being used towards my rent, and so is part of my JSA,
and so i should be allowed to use the remainder of my JSA n money on whatever i want to, without having to justify it to the council!! :mad:

Its cos i got some forms in the post yesterday afternoon about end of year benefits, stats from council for the year, council tax details... ect

And one of the forms about the discretionary benefits said that they may request ''proof of income and expenditure'' for it.
And so it got me concerned.

According to a previous post, you live in a flat worth over £500,000. Do you really expect the state to pay for such a lifestyle?

Caz3121

They need the bank statements to confirm all your income and expenditure. This comes from central government and is limited so they need to ensure all the facts are correct - even if there is no change from last time you may still get rejected if the funds have been exhausted, this will then leave you £150 per month to pay from your JSA...have you looked for somewhere cheaper?

bunny999

MissSexyBum wrote: »

Its so ridiculous and unfair that they would monitor how i spend my money though! :mad:

Cos even with the £100 per month discretionary housing payments im still £50 short on the rent (so i have to pay it out of my JSA),
and am roughly £400 short of the standard LHA rate for the area!

So the housing payment money is technically being used towards my rent, and so is part of my JSA,
and so i should be allowed to use the remainder of my JSA n money on whatever i want to, without having to justify it to the council!! :mad:

Its cos i got some forms in the post yesterday afternoon about end of year benefits, stats from council for the year, council tax details... ect

And one of the forms about the discretionary benefits said that they may request ''proof of income and expenditure'' for it.
And so it got me concerned.

So you expect them to just give you other peoples money without doing any checks! Nobody is forcing you to do anything - it's all very easy if you don't like the system don't claim.