Housing/Council Tax Benefit

DanParker

Hi Everyone,

Thought this forum would be the best place for help. I'm currnetly on 12.5k pa for a job which I started in June (Changed jobs so I can go college in September on an evening course) and my girlfriend has decided not to go back to work as a teaching assistant due to the birth of our daughter and she would like to be there for our daughter plus childcare costs would be a struggle.

We have just applied for Housing & Council Tax benefit and today we recieved our confirmation on what we would be entitled to.

However, it says the entitlement would be paid direct to out landlord and council. Me and my partner have no problem with this but we are wondering how it works?

Should our direct debits be lower than usual from now on?

It also it says it won't be backdated due to us not making a claim soon enough but the reason why we didn't is because I didn't have the required 5 wage slips as evidence of earnings because as I previously said Ive only just started a new job. If i appeal do you think this would be a valid reason?

Thanks guys, any help would be truly appreciated.

Dan

dmg24

You should have applied and then supplied your wage slips as and when you received them. An appeal is very unlikely to be successful.

If you contact your landlord you can ensure that they have adjusted your direct debit accordingly. Remember that, even if the LA is your landlord, different teams will deal with HB and rent payments.

Duncombe

I agree - an appeal is very unlikely to succeed. My sister moved house and, like you, had no payslips etc but this was not considered a valid enough reason for back-dating.

Clearly, if the council are now paying some of your rent then your payments should be less. As dmg said, contact your landlord.

DanParker

Even though in the form it did say before you apply please make sure you have the required evidence which inluded the wage slips?

Surely most people wouldn't think of applying when they know they would get turned away like we did as were missing a bank statment? Plus you only have one calendar month from registering the claim to completing it.

So confusing

katiesmummy

DanParker wrote: »

Even though in the form it did say before you apply please make sure you have the required evidence which inluded the wage slips?

Surely most people wouldn't think of applying when they know they would get turned away like we did as were missing a bank statment? Plus you only have one calendar month from registering the claim to completing it.

So confusing

There will almost certainly a paragraph within the form which says to apply even if you don't have all of the required evidence i.e. you are waiting on wage slips etc. You normally get 4 weeks from submission date to provide the evidence that is needed.

Duncombe

DanParker wrote: »

Even though in the form it did say before you apply please make sure you have the required evidence which inluded the wage slips?

Surely most people wouldn't think of applying when they know they would get turned away like we did as were missing a bank statment? Plus you only have one calendar month from registering the claim to completing it.

So confusing

I agree. But that is the way of the world and how they choose to do it.

DanParker

Yep. The amount of paperwork we had to get made me think a couple of times it wasn't worth the hassle.

collingbone614

I have just applied for council tax benefit. No idea if i'll get it, the rules on my local authority website are very vague and leave a lot of room. It definitely says in the forms I got that you ought to return the forms ASAP once you have them and specifically states that ought not to wait until you have all documentation. Which is probably to guard against this sort of thing happening

CIS

I have just applied for council tax benefit. No idea if i'll get it, the rules on my local authority website are very vague and leave a lot of room

The rules are the same across E&W as they are set centrally by DWP - you can look at any council site to get information on the rules and regs, not just your own council's website.

Rob_Wills

CIS wrote: »

The rules are the same across E&W as they are set centrally by DWP - you can look at any council site to get information on the rules and regs, not just your own council's website.

The problem is that local authorities don't follow the rules and there is nothing an individual can do about it if you aren't an expert in law or have £tens of thousands to pay a solicitor.