housing benefit confusion, please help

Dunroamin

katrina123 wrote: »

thanks all.
Not happy to be honest, council did not inform us of this change.
All we were told of was single rate is reducing eg less £5 per week.
That was manageable. Now the bombshell news that you have to find £49 per week extra.

You're missing the point. The reduction of the single rate is less £5 per week but she isn't eligible for this rate any more. You seem to have been asking the wrong questions, which may explain the confusion.

katrina123

Dunroamin wrote: »

You're missing the point. The reduction of the single rate is less £5 per week but she isn't eligible for this rate any more. You seem to have been asking the wrong questions, which may explain the confusion.

I see now.
She presumed the council would tell her all important changes in time, the only changes she was told about was the £5 shortfall, no mention of Shared Rate until Jan/Feb 2012.

Still the letters are wrong.
"youre 9 months is about to finish, so youre rate will be reduced, to £98 (£5 shortfall)"
No mention that this is irrelevant now, as entitlement has changed to Shared. Misleading letter and not 9 months to prepare at all : more like 3 weeks.

DylanO

katrina123 wrote: »

I see now.
She presumed the council would tell her all important changes in time, the only changes she was told about was the £5 shortfall, no mention of Shared Rate until Jan/Feb 2012.

Still the letters are wrong.
"youre 9 months is about to finish, so youre rate will be reduced, to £98 (£5 shortfall)"
No mention that this is irrelevant now, as entitlement has changed to Shared. Misleading letter and not 9 months to prepare at all : more like 3 weeks.

The changes have been well-publicised for more than a year. You daughter has no real excuse for not knowing about this.

paddedjohn

Unless your daughter wants to move to shared accomodation she needs to get some work to make up the shortfall, no amount of complaining that she didnt know the changes were coming in will change this, its in the press often enough. Is there any reason why your daughter cant work? disability/children?