home visit housing benefit and council tax benefit

sporty1

Hi i recieved a letter this morning from the said department saying that i was to have a home visit to review my personal circumstances for these benefits ?
as my ccircumstances have not changed since i informed them in May this year that i was now in reciept of DLA,
i dont understand why this visit, as its only been approx 5 month since i went in and gave them the necessary info i.e iwas entittled to dla.. and why they are doing a home visit, ?
Does anyone have any answers, as i am sure some people never get home visits for years i seem to take everything in regularaly but have a home visit

paddedjohn

As long as everything is above board and you are happy your claim is in order i wouldnt worry about the visit, it may be just a routine check.

tomitma

They have to do so many checks per year, its just by chance that your name came up this time, they are not there to inspect the house, or check your wardrobes, its just someone calls in stays for about 20 minutes and goes, they usually want to see proof of your identity.

There are a few reasons for this nothing to do with them suspecting you of anything, but there are a lot of council houses/rented houses that have been sub let, there are a heck of a lot of people that never get a check, your name just came up this time, nothing to worry about.

sporty1

paddedjohn wrote: »

As long as everything is above board and you are happy your claim is in order i wouldnt worry about the visit, it may be just a routine check.

Oh yes everything in order and up to date no worries there I an just seem very suspicios about them as i never hear anyone else having a unexpected visit and they never seem to take any uptodate forms in, i do everything above board and always tell them of any changes weather i think it would affect my entitlment or not .

sporty1

tomitma wrote: »

They have to do so many checks per year, its just by chance that your name came up this time, they are not there to inspect the house, or check your wardrobes, its just someone calls in stays for about 20 minutes and goes, they usually want to see proof of your identity.

There are a few reasons for this nothing to do with them suspecting you of anything, but there are a lot of council houses/rented houses that have been sub let, there are a heck of a lot of people that never get a check, your name just came up this time, nothing to worry about.

on the letter it says they want to see proof of income , benefits etc is this normal for a home visit surley they can check i am still on the benefits which entitles me to the rebates (even though i gave them all this info in May ) i have no issues i just get suspisious of them what they are up to

tomitma

Yes it is normal, I will bet that they won't even look at it, but you do need ID with your photo and signiture on.

fluffymovie

It's called an intervention and is done on all claims anytime from 6 months to 3 years.

It really is nothing to worry about.

Vader123

You cant ask for the state to intervene in your life (paying for the roof over your head) and then not expect an intervention when the pop round to check everythings as it should be.

Vader

sporty1

Vader123 wrote: »

You cant ask for the state to intervene in your life (paying for the roof over your head) and then not expect an intervention when the pop round to check everythings as it should be.

Vader

Hello i have no problem as i have nothing to hide !
as explained in my previous post above, my question was "is it normall for these visits as i have never had one before " it was a polite question hoping someone could give a polite answer ( to which i have had thanks to those people who have replied )
.. i now understand more and that these visits are not unusual and people do have them.
thanks

TOBRUK

sporty1 wrote: »

on the letter it says they want to see proof of income , benefits etc is this normal for a home visit surley they can check i am still on the benefits which entitles me to the rebates (even though i gave them all this info in May ) i have no issues i just get suspisious of them what they are up to

Hi sporty1, is the letter headed 'Notification of a visit'? I know how you feel as I had a letter like this from jobcentreplus saying that a 'custom Compliance Officer' will be calling at your home.

I couldn't understand why or what it was for and I have always done everything above board etc. At the bottom of the letter it says:

Things the Customer Compliance Officer will need to see:
Proof of identification, such as:
passport
driving licence
utility bills
rent agreements
bank staements etc bearing your name and address.

Evidence to support your claim to benefit.

sporty1 wrote: »

Hello i have no problem as i have nothing to hide !
as explained in my previous post above, my question was "is it normall for these visits as i have never had one before " it was a polite question hoping someone could give a polite answer ( to which i have had thanks to those people who have replied )
.. i now understand more and that these visits are not unusual and people do have them.
thanks

I had the visit in May and didn't know why but I had everything ready: a load of bank statements, letters from DLA and DWP etc. The chap came and I was told that I may have had an overpayment of around £200!

Anyway, there seems to have been a mix up at the offices and the different departments hadn't all the facts.

The mix up arose from the time my re-application for DLA at the beginning of the year. My care rate award was lowered from middle to low, but then I sent a letter asking for reconsideration - within 4 weeks I received a letter from DLA stating that they had reconsidered and my care rate was changed to high!

A mix up happened during this time and therefore they believed that an overpayment had happened. After looking through all my correspondence and award letters the chap said that he could see where the mix up was and he didn't thinrk that I owed them anything.

Don't worry about the visit if you haven't done anything wrong.

FRESTER

We have had a few of these from the council over the years.Your name is selected at random from the computer.
The man who came to ours wanted to take photos of all our documents eg,two bank statements,child benifit award notice,tax credit award notice,tenancy agreement,two months of five weeks wage slips etc.
Like others have said nothing to worry about and if there is anything you havn't told the council ( I am not suggesting this is the case) best tell them before the visit.