benefits advice

cantfinda

I live with my child and claim income support, housing benefit and council tax, my ex brother-in law has come to stay with me for 6 to 8 weeks because his house has been repossesed and he has nowhere to live, he also doesnt work and claims income support and some sort or allowance for disability which is 28.00 a week. He informed the DWP of a change of address, and the council have now sent me a letter stopping my rent and council tax for the time being untill i have sent in some information which they have asked for.
I have done this now, they wanted to know where he lived last and the date he moved in with me, i have sent all this in, also a letter from my brother-in law stating that he is only here temporarily untill he finds another house, and details of what income he has.
Does anybody know how i stand with this please as all the council are saying to me is that they will be in touch. I have gone through all the right channels and done everythng they have asked, sometimes you cant do right for doing wrong.

viktory

With hindsight, you would have been wise to have checked with the DWP as to the implications of moving your bro in law in before he actually moved in. When in receipt of means tested benefits you have an obligation to provide the DWP all the information they require to make sure that your claim is a legitimate one.

cantfinda

I have provided the Dwp with information and they say that it shouldnt affect my claim for anything as we are both on benefits, and i have informed them.

AnxiousMum

You likely would've been better off to inform them yourself when the change of circumstances took place, rather than them having to contact you due to finding that your brother in law had given your address as his new address, and having to request info from you.

Benefits_Bod

cantfinda wrote: »

...my ex brother-in law has come to stay with me for 6 to 8 weeks .... and he has nowhere to live, he also doesnt work and claims income support ...the council have now sent me a letter stopping my rent and council tax for the time being untill i have sent in some information which they have asked for.

It sounds to me that the council is looking at whether or not "non-dependant" deductions should be made from the OP's HB/CTB.

In reverse order of logic, I'll deal with the deduction first. If the non-dependant is on IS, there should be no deduction from CTB and, for HB, £7.40 per week if the non-dep is aged 25+; nil if aged under 25.

Next, is the OP's HB based on LHA rules? If so, the presence of a non-dep should result in an extra room being allowed.

BUT, all the above may be unnecessary. HB/CTB legislation defines a non-dependant as being someone who "...normally resides with a claimant...". Needless to say, there are caveats, but these don't *appear* to apply.

The OP says the stay is only temporary. On that basis, it is surely open to argument that the ex brother-in-law does not normally reside with the claimant. If the council decides otherwise and makes non-dependant deductions, I would advise the OP to formally appeal against the decision. For clarity, it doesn't matter that the ex b-i-l is unable to identify another address as his home. All that matters if whether he normally resides with the OP.

Of course, if the ex b-i-l continues to reside with the OP, there may come a time where the circumstances can be seen to have changed and he would be regarded as "normally" residing with the OP. But, as things stand, that doesn't seem to be the case.

cantfinda

thanks for the above advice it was very helpful, i will just have to wait and see what they say when they get back to me, thankyou.