benefits tribunal help

christine_chris_chrissy

I need a representative I cannot get free legal help as I have a partner moved in with me,(self employed) all the cab law centres etc keep passing me round & back again no help available where did you get yours please help

healy

christine_chris_chrissy wrote: »

I need a representative I cannot get free legal help as I have a partner moved in with me,(self employed) all the cab law centres etc keep passing me round & back again no help available where did you get yours please help

Have you tried your local council, they often have welfare rights officers who can help.

Another alternative is the disability organisation DIAL.

welshmoneylover

What's the problem?

Perhaps if you gave more info we could point you inthe right direction?

christine_chris_chrissy

why do I keep replying to find I am not logged in ? then I loose my essay!you have probably gone to bed now,oh well tomorrows another day.

Vixie_Pixie

who are you taking to tribunal? DWP or your local Council?

unemployedJCP

Is it a tribunal or an appeal tribunal?

christine_chris_chrissy

Thank you for your replies,it is an appeal tribunal against their decision,the dwp & council, council tax & housing benefit & income support i/s want approx 1200 back (haven't got the file out) LA want council tax & housing benefit back over £20,000 03-07 my boyfriend moved in dec '08
my income support was reduced as I was in reciept of carers allowance for my son who had behavioural problems.

Vixie_Pixie

So you are appealing an overpayment which was due to failing to declare/late notification of a change of circumstances?? I think you definately need someone to represent you.

I want to point out tho that unless you can prove that you wasn't "reasonably expected to know you were being overpaid" you are going to have trouble in winning your appeal. That is what the law says and if you were getting these benefits when your partner moved in, you are, i'm afraid going to have trouble in convincing the tribunal your reasons for late notification/failure to notify of your change. However if you did report your change at the right time and your claim was unaffected and your benefit notification letters included all the correct information - you might have a case. However if you did tell them, your claim at the time was unaffected but your notification letters didn't reflect your circumstances - you will have trouble because it is up to you to check they are correct.

I don't mean the above to sound harsh, but these are the sort of things the tribunal are going to point out. The DWP and LA are likely to send presenting officers for their case and they will have a full background of your case and if you are at fault they will have enough evidence to prove that. However if they are at fault they should have records of that too.

I know this probably isn't the most positive of answers but i am being impartial and i think you should be prepared.

EDIT - if its due to your partner moving in - why have they withdrawn your HB/CTB back to 03??

Vader123

christine_chris_chrissy wrote: »

why do I keep replying to find I am not logged in ? then I loose my essay!you have probably gone to bed now,oh well tomorrows another day.

Type the reply in notepad or Word and then cut and paste it.

You won't loose your reply this way.

Vader

unemployedJCP

DWP rarely bothers sending anyone to Appeal Tribunals. The Council is likely to turn up.

Appeal Tribunals are aimed against you. They have no legal powers of enforcement. You aren't likely to be against DWP or your Council but the Secretary of State - who ironically creates the Tribunal laws. Any twists of the truth they make is acceptible but you make any of the same you could lose your case.

Appeal Tribunals are normally worse than a Tribunal. Am I right in thinking they have created the "Statement of Fact" and you have to try and disprove it? Thats more difficult then if they have to defend against you.

Vixie_Pixie

unemployedJCP wrote: »

DWP rarely bothers sending anyone to Appeal Tribunals. The Council is likely to turn up.

Appeal Tribunals are aimed against you. They have no legal powers of enforcement. You aren't likely to be against DWP or your Council but the Secretary of State - who ironically creates the Tribunal laws. Any twists of the truth they make is acceptible but you make any of the same you could lose your case.

Appeal Tribunals are normally worse than a Tribunal. Am I right in thinking they have created the "Statement of Fact" and you have to try and disprove it? Thats more difficult then if they have to defend against you.

I presented (for my LA) a few months back - i thought it was a fair process, we outlined our case - allowing the claimant to have their say whenever they disagreed. Presented the evidence I had. They presented their evidence to disprove what I had. Made their unhappiness very clear. The tribunal listened to both cases and went away to check that i had correctly interpreted the law in our case etc.. It was a civilised affair the claimant wasn't made to feel uncomfortable in any way. It was more like a discussion rather than a really formal process... but that might have just been that particular tribunal! I've only presented one!

They don't always go against the claimant either - the tribunal give presenting officers a hard time too! Especially if there is an error on the LAs part!!