Housing Benefit

hobbynobby

Hi,
My father recently passed away and he lived in a sheltered housing flat that was council owned.
As the only income he received was his state pension he was in receipt of housing benefit.
My father did not pay any rent and I am assuming that the housing benefit was paid directly into his rent account.
Thw council have contacted me as his next of kin and they are asking me to pay £120 overpaid benefit.
Surely they need to get this back from the rent account that was held in my fathers name as he did not receive monies paid direct to him.
I rang the council and I was told my dad should have given four weeks notice!
Surely a relative should not have to repay a benefit that has been paid from one council department to another ,especially when there is no estate to pay this money?
Thanks

allen35

Contact the Local Council Office and request a breakdown of the overpayment.

As far as i'm aware you receive a couple of weeks extended benefit to empty the flat of a relative's belongings.

As it is not your debt you shouldn't be responsible but if you have taken care of your dad's affairs and there is money in his estate this may be a different proposition.

If, after you've received details of the overpayment and they are right request in writing that they use discretion in recovery and write this debt off due to the circumstances.

hobbynobby

Thanks for your reply,I think they are trying to claim four weeks rent from me,a total of £120.18.
The benefit department of our local council just kept saying that there should have been four weeks notice given on the flat,even after a bereavement.
I pointed out to them if my father could not afford to pay the rent when he was alive then he certainly cannot pay it when he is dead as there is no income,assets or estate and if the money has gone into his rent account then why can't the Debt Recovery Department recover it from there?
Bureaucracy gone mad perhaps!

allen35

it seems a little daft expecting 4 weeks notice even after death.

£120 for 4 weeks rent doesn't seem right, it may be for other services.

Did you inform the council at the time of death.

You are entitled to appeal an overpayment or request discretion in recovery, ask for a breakdown of what the charges were for.

fluffymovie

This is a very unfair part of the law regarding HB but the council are correct.

1 of the primary conditions of HB is that you are occupying the property as your home. Sadly, as your father passed away, he was not occupying the property and so HB cannot be paid.

I haven't seen this with councils for a while but am aware that Housing Associations do often ask bereaved relatives for 4 weeks notice as otherwise, they will be out of pocket. You may be able to appeal to their good intentions but I don't think you have a case that there has been any error

allen35

fluffymovie wrote: »

This is a very unfair part of the law regarding HB but the council are correct.

1 of the primary conditions of HB is that you are occupying the property as your home. Sadly, as your father passed away, he was not occupying the property and so HB cannot be paid.

I haven't seen this with councils for a while but am aware that Housing Associations do often ask bereaved relatives for 4 weeks notice as otherwise, they will be out of pocket. You may be able to appeal to their good intentions but I don't think you have a case that there has been any error

Hi Fluffy

Does this then become a debt to the family though or is the overpayment sought through the estate.

i recall when my nan died we got a bill but this was then scrapped.

anguk

We had something very similar when my mother-in-law died, she also lived in a sheltered housing flat, she received a very small police widows pension alongside her old age pension so she didn't get any housing benefit and paid full rent. When she died we informed the council and within a week we'd emptied the flat and handed the keys back. Then a short while later we received a letter saying she owed 4 weeks rent, I couldn't understand this as I knew she had no arrears, I used to pay the rent weekly for her.

I rang the council and was absolutely gobsmacked when they told me that the money was owed because she hadn't given 4 weeks notice! I argued the point that there's no way she could have given them 4 weeks notice that she was going to die! In the end after speaking to someone higher up they agreed to scrap the charges as a "gesture of goodwill at this difficult time" but it still amazes me that councils expect to be given 4 weeks notice that someone is going to die and vacate their property!

fluffymovie

Hi

I am not responsible for recovery of overpaid HB but I do think that in the first instance, HB overpayments are sought from the estate. However, in this case, it would appear that your late Dad didn't have much of an estate (Council house, Housing Benefit) and I don't think that they can ask family to repay so any debt would be written off. That would be my suggestion anyway but I will try and do some digging!

fluffymovie

Found this in the HB overpayment guide

Deceased person’s personal representative
4.330 The decision of how far to pursue recovery of an overpayment following the death of a claimant
is entirely up to the LA, subject to general administrative law requirements.
4.331 An LA may decide not to pursue such debts at all or they may decide to contact the deceased
person’s personal representative, the executor of the estate, to make arrangements for the
debt to be repaid from any estate the deceased may have had.
4.332 The LA should make sure overpayment decision notices are issued to the personal representative,
in order to allow for appeal rights, before seeking recovery. For example letters, see Good
practices later in this guide.
4.333 If the deceased person had more than £5,000 in their estate at the time of their death, the
personal representative must take out a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration when
there is no will and advertise for creditors. The personal representative is then advised not to
distribute the estate for at least two months to allow creditors to come forward.
4.334 The LA will have to make a search for an estate of the deceased and find out who the personal
representative is. The LA should then register as a creditor in the estate to make a claim for
the debt.

Mrs_Arcanum

If the HB was paid directly to the landlord surely that is who the HB department should chase. Also point out HB is always paid in arrears.

fluffymovie

HB is usually paid in arrears but for Council tenants in my LA, it is paid weekly in advance. We also have some old claimants who are paid 1 week in advance and 1 in arrears