housing benefit confusion, please help

katrina123

hi

My daughters entitlement for LHA is £103.56
Her rent is £450 per month
She gets £207.12 every two weeks into her bank account (HB).
The benefits decision notice given to her said "amount you must pay
weekly is 29p.

So if rent is £450 per month.
But shes getting roughly £414 per month (every 4 weeks via two payments). Isnt that £35 shortfall to make up?

So it is a £35 per month shortfall to make up, or is it a £15 per year shortfall ? (29p x 52 weeks = £15).

If its a £35 shortfall, well, it "feels" like a £35 gap every month, will she see a bigger housing benefit payment made to her some time in future?

450 x 12 months / 52 weeks = £103.85
So rent is £103.85 per week, i dont get how its £450 per month. 103.85 x 4 weeks = £415
Something to do with there not being 4 weeks every month?
103.85 x 52 / 12 = 450

so the £207 payments every 2 weeks are correct?

can someone explain this situtation?

just wondering as if its £35 per month shortfall (as it feels like) she could apply for a discretionary housing payment).

is this correct : it feels like a discrepancy, but after a full 12months it will come full circle and balance each other out...?

thanks

allen35

Your rent is per calendar month not 4 weeks therefore the fortnightly payment you receive covers all your rent minus 29pence.

It will balance itself out over the year as during some months you will get 3 payments example 1st, 15th and 29th

Hope this helps

HappyMJ

It's correct it feels like a shortfall as they pay 13 * 4 week periods in a year but she only pays 12 months of rent per year. So she needs to pay 29p per week.

paddedjohn

Total rent for year = £5,400, total benefit = £5,385.12, total for daughter to find = £14.88/year

katrina123

thankyou all, love this forum. xx

katrina123

hi again, rather than start a new thread 'confusion' title seems appropriate.

about these HB changes, weve received conflicting letters (or we just dont undestand)

in dec 2011 received letter "info about youre HB" saying it will be reduced, and the 9 month
protection is ending soon. The new rate will be £98
(assume they mean £98 per week)

Then in Jan 2012 received another letter "important changes to youre housing benefit"
"from jan 1 gvt is changing rules for calculating youre HB"
you will only be entitled to Shared Accommodation Rate.

her entitlement is 1 bedroom.
old HB was £103
new HB is £98, as CAB told us, and the dec 2011 letter states.

has everything changed and now they are making 1 bedroom tenants only the shared rate?
so then £98 turns to £55. (and only a few weeks to deal with this?)

Now received a new letter last week, summarising benefit entitlement: from end of feb it will be £55 HB per week. Next payment will be made on 28th feb.
But on the next page it says youre next payment will be for £207.
if its £55, it should be £110...?

Please help. this is very confusing.

First they say £98 per week, which leaves a shortfall of £20 per month. (£5 per week)
Now they say 1 bedroom turns into shared rate, so shortfall of £48 per week.

Thanks for any help given.

emsywoo123

How old is she? Any dependants?

katrina123

emsywoo123 wrote: »

How old is she? Any dependants?

no dependants, 32 yrs old.

emsywoo123

katrina123 wrote: »

no dependants, 32 yrs old.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/future_changes_to_local_housing_allowance

This page from shelter should help, as she is under 35, her entitlement will be for shared room rather than 1 bed.

katrina123

emsywoo123 wrote: »

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/future_changes_to_local_housing_allowance

This page from shelter should help, as she is under 35, her entitlement will be for shared room rather than 1 bed.

thanks.
oh no, thats bad news. We were led to believe that the shortfall would be £5 per week, not £48.
So this has just happened recently in 2012? Ive just checked out gvt website for LHA and it says 1 bed is youre entitlement based on the info i typed in.

katrina123

"when will these changes affect me?
you will have been told of the changes to the LHA from april 2011 and given
9 months protection from changes. the nine months start from 26 feb 2012.

so, we have 9 months to prepare, or 9 months have passed?

another letter says 9 months is ending in feb.

The 9 months they gave, was time for the £5 shortfall information.
Now the the 9 months is up, they are saying £48 shortfall?
This is shocking.