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Horrible experience "customer compliance officer"
davejuk_2
Posts: 18 Forumite
My girlfriend has managed to get hereself into a bit of a mess with job seekers and housing benefit. Sorry for the essay but I think it's necessary.
We met when we started university in September 2007. We lived in university halls (different flats) until June 2008. I have a growing business and in August 2008 I bought a 4 bed house and we moved in, along with 2 other lodgers who happen to be friends.
We are all financially independent and I have a contract with each of them. All bills are split equally 4 ways. She finished her course in June 2010 and I'm still at uni, as are my two lodgers.
After completing her degree in the summer, she wanted to do a PGCE to become a teacher. To do a PGCE you need English, Maths and a science GCSE - but she only has English. She looked into doing Maths and Biology at the local college but the fee was around £400 per course. If she was on job seekers then they were £90 each.
Since she didn't have a job, we thought she would be entitled to this so she signed on to job seekers. She started the course and only had to pay £90.
At the same time as she signed up for job seekers, she was told she was eligible for housing benefit. She explained our living arrangements and the person on the end of the phone said they would do the assessment as a single person renting a room.
She now has a part time job (about 10 hours a week) and has another job starting next week (a santa's grotto elf!) which will take her over the 20 hours or whatever it is. She informed them of this and I thought that would be the end of her benefits.
Last week she had a letter saying a "Customer Compliance Officer" would pop round between 9.30am and 3.30am on the 15th (today), although they couldn't say specifically what time. It wasn't worded well at all and implied she'd done something wrong, "There may have been changes you have not yet told us about. It is important that you are available so we can discuss the matter further."
Anyway, she had a maths exam until 11am so she called up and told them he would need to come after about 11.20am. They said they'd let the "officer" know. They didn't and he turned up shortly after 10am.
He asked me who I was and I said I was her boyfriend. He said he'd be going to another house and left a mobile number. When my girlfriend got back she called him and he came back.
I could hear them talking downstairs. He told her that she needed to do one of two things; either withdraw her claim and repay the money she had been paid (around £500) or complete form LTAHAW/CP (Living together as husband and wife or as civil partners). He didn't question her any further about the nature of our relationship. He just went on the fact I said I was her boyfriend when I answered the door.
I could hear her getting more upset and confused so I went down. I said again we weren't married or civil partners. He repatedly said she could be reported for benefit fraud if she didn't withdraw her claim. He wasn't at all interested in making an assessment. He said that even if we did complete this form that it would be rejected and the benefits would be cancelled and she would have to repay everyting anyway. At every stage he was pushing her to withdraw the claim.
This really irritated me and I said that we would take the form and complete it ourselves. He said he had to complete it. So I asked for a leaflet explaining this process, since he was failing to explain properly. He said he had run out but could send us one in the post.
When he'd gone my girlfriend was even more upset. She panicked and called up the job seekers people and told them to cancel her payments.
She then went to see the housing benefit people at their office round the corner, and the guy there was much more helpful. He said he wouldn't freeze her allowance or cancel it, since as long as she has a seperate room, is paying rent and has receipts then it's fine.
She's not too bothered about the money now she has a job lined up but this experience has really annoyed me. I'm convinced she was entitled to the money she claimed.
She might live with me but she's completely financially independent from me. We have a tenancy agreement and she pays me rent and her share of the bills. We don't have any kids and certainly don't have a joint bank account.
1.) Is the "compliance officer" right and she should cancel the claim, or did he just have a target to meet and was taking advantage of the situation?
2.) Was he telling porkie pies that we are not allowed to complete the LTAHAW/CP form ourselves? I suspect so, as the questions are worded like "How long have you known each other?"
Many thanks in advance for your help!
We met when we started university in September 2007. We lived in university halls (different flats) until June 2008. I have a growing business and in August 2008 I bought a 4 bed house and we moved in, along with 2 other lodgers who happen to be friends.
We are all financially independent and I have a contract with each of them. All bills are split equally 4 ways. She finished her course in June 2010 and I'm still at uni, as are my two lodgers.
After completing her degree in the summer, she wanted to do a PGCE to become a teacher. To do a PGCE you need English, Maths and a science GCSE - but she only has English. She looked into doing Maths and Biology at the local college but the fee was around £400 per course. If she was on job seekers then they were £90 each.
Since she didn't have a job, we thought she would be entitled to this so she signed on to job seekers. She started the course and only had to pay £90.
At the same time as she signed up for job seekers, she was told she was eligible for housing benefit. She explained our living arrangements and the person on the end of the phone said they would do the assessment as a single person renting a room.
She now has a part time job (about 10 hours a week) and has another job starting next week (a santa's grotto elf!) which will take her over the 20 hours or whatever it is. She informed them of this and I thought that would be the end of her benefits.
Last week she had a letter saying a "Customer Compliance Officer" would pop round between 9.30am and 3.30am on the 15th (today), although they couldn't say specifically what time. It wasn't worded well at all and implied she'd done something wrong, "There may have been changes you have not yet told us about. It is important that you are available so we can discuss the matter further."
Anyway, she had a maths exam until 11am so she called up and told them he would need to come after about 11.20am. They said they'd let the "officer" know. They didn't and he turned up shortly after 10am.
He asked me who I was and I said I was her boyfriend. He said he'd be going to another house and left a mobile number. When my girlfriend got back she called him and he came back.
I could hear them talking downstairs. He told her that she needed to do one of two things; either withdraw her claim and repay the money she had been paid (around £500) or complete form LTAHAW/CP (Living together as husband and wife or as civil partners). He didn't question her any further about the nature of our relationship. He just went on the fact I said I was her boyfriend when I answered the door.
I could hear her getting more upset and confused so I went down. I said again we weren't married or civil partners. He repatedly said she could be reported for benefit fraud if she didn't withdraw her claim. He wasn't at all interested in making an assessment. He said that even if we did complete this form that it would be rejected and the benefits would be cancelled and she would have to repay everyting anyway. At every stage he was pushing her to withdraw the claim.
This really irritated me and I said that we would take the form and complete it ourselves. He said he had to complete it. So I asked for a leaflet explaining this process, since he was failing to explain properly. He said he had run out but could send us one in the post.
When he'd gone my girlfriend was even more upset. She panicked and called up the job seekers people and told them to cancel her payments.
She then went to see the housing benefit people at their office round the corner, and the guy there was much more helpful. He said he wouldn't freeze her allowance or cancel it, since as long as she has a seperate room, is paying rent and has receipts then it's fine.
She's not too bothered about the money now she has a job lined up but this experience has really annoyed me. I'm convinced she was entitled to the money she claimed.
She might live with me but she's completely financially independent from me. We have a tenancy agreement and she pays me rent and her share of the bills. We don't have any kids and certainly don't have a joint bank account.
1.) Is the "compliance officer" right and she should cancel the claim, or did he just have a target to meet and was taking advantage of the situation?
2.) Was he telling porkie pies that we are not allowed to complete the LTAHAW/CP form ourselves? I suspect so, as the questions are worded like "How long have you known each other?"
Many thanks in advance for your help!
0
Comments
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Means tested benefits do take into account the income of partner. A person doesn't have to be married or have children with them to be classed as their partner for the purposes of means tested benefits. Their personal financial arrangements are irrelevant. There's nothing unusual with this - college grants/bursaries will also want to take into account a partner's income, too. These types of institutions believe it is the duty of a partner to support another financially rather than the taxpayer.
A tenant cannot claim housing benefit if they live in the same property as their partner who is also their landlord.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/housing_benefit_if_renting_from_a_family_member0 -
Lets hope they claim back all the HB money from 2008 till now!
Why on earth OP thinks tax payers should pay for his girlfriend to pay his mortgage is beyond me.0 -
Here is a DWP document I found on the 'web which demonstrates why, for the purposes of social security, you are considered to be a couple on par with those that are married, even though you don't feel any financial responsibility towards your partner. For the purposes of means tested benefits, your relationship is supposed to be based on mutual support and dependency.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/hbgm-c1-aggregation-of-needs.pdf
You may have a formal business relationship with her (namely the tenancy agreement) and you have received contradictory advice but the onus is on you supporting your partner rather than the taxpayers, even if you both feel that you should have to because you have chosen to keep your finances independent to date.
The forms that your partner filled in for JSA and LHA would have explicit fields in asking if they lived with a partner and for details of the partner's income. For example, this one from a local council for HB asks
By partner we mean someone you are married to or are in a civil partnership with, or some one youare living with as if you were married or in a civil partnership.
Do you have a partner who normally lives with you?
0 -
To be fair to the CCO, the experience was only horrible because he told you something you didn't want to hear.Gone ... or have I?0
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Thanks for your advice.Lets hope they claim back all the HB money from 2008 till now!
Why on earth OP thinks tax payers should pay for his girlfriend to pay his mortgage is beyond me.
Neither of us have any previous experience with the benefits system until a couple of months ago. She claimed for a matter of weeks and the only reason she was aware of housing benefit is because they told her she was eligible for it.
I'm not suggesting anyone should pay my mortgage. I charge her very little rent, which just covers the interest I pay. I think this is fair to her (since it is what it costs me), and by extension the tax payer.
If she didn't let the room then I would have someone else in there. If she had a 1 bed flat on her own she would be paying more than twice as much.
If they're the rules then that's fine but it was not made at all clear. If we were gaming the system I'd hardly have told them I was her boyfriend, would I?To be fair to the CCO, the experience was only horrible because he told you something you didn't want to hear.
It wasn't a nice experience because the process was not explained. Instead of explaining the rules and making an assessment he just wanted to scare her into cancelling her claim. I don't think that's right.0 -
I charge her very little rent, which just covers the interest I pay. I think this is fair to her (since it is what it costs me), and by extension the tax payer.
You have tripped yourself up here - you are not charging a market rent, I doubt you would do that for a stranger?Gone ... or have I?0 -
So after 3 years together you're sharing a house, but still have separate rooms? Pull the other one!I was born too late, into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair0 -
...I charge her very little rent, which just covers the interest I pay. I think this is fair to her (since it is what it costs me), and by extension the tax payer.
If she didn't let the room then I would have someone else in there. If she had a 1 bed flat on her own she would be paying more than twice as much.
.
Yes, lack of experience of the benefits system has probably has contributed to your partner's accidental claiming of benefits in which she is not entitled despite filling in a series of forms that explicitly ask if she's living with a partner.
Since you don't believe that you should support her when she is in need, you should serve her notice and replace her with a different lodger who can pay the market rate, particularly as she's a pesky drain by not matching her rent proportionally to your mortgage...0 -
You have tripped yourself up here - you are not charging a market rent, I doubt you would do that for a stranger?
Correct.
I thought the fact that we are financially independent would mean she was eligible. Obviously not.
If it was one of my other house mates (a guy) then he would be eligible.0 -
Out of curiosity - I take it that she has told the jobcentre that she has been working for 10 hours a week? Any earnings over £5 a week should be deducted from her benefit.
Every time she signs on she would have signed a declaration that she has done no work, paid or unpaid - unless she has told them otherwise.0
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