housing benefit underpayment refund?

sporty1

hi my husband has been waiting for decision on dla award since feb 2010
so for the last 11 weeks we have been paying ppart of our rent to LHA as advised till a decision was made, i was told when i went in the housing benefit last week that we hence have now been underpaid since this date , and here on and will not have any Non Dependant deductions , deducted,
when i asked about a refund for the 11 weeks i have been paying, they said that they dont refund ? i will have to request a refund from the LHA
i dont understand this as if they are going to pay the underpayment from feb 2010 does that mean they are going to send it to the LHA which then puts me in credit on my rent account.
any help thanks

fluffymovie

Hi

Yes, DLA is a relevant benefit and if this is put on your Housing Benefit assessment, an underpayment will be created which will be issued to you.

If you are a Local Authority tenant, this will normally mean that the money is transferred to your rent account.

Sometimes, people forget that DLA is a relevant benefit and so even if the change happened more than a month ago, we can go back and put it on the claim.

We don't issue refunds in the same way that Ctax do however so you might want to contact your housing officer and discuss it.

This is a fairly common occurence tho so don't worry! Good thing is, DLA is not used as income but does mean no Non Dep deductions so you will be better off financially!