Unannounced visit regarding HB and CTB claim??

staceysteve

Hi,

We have just begun receiving HB and CTB (first payment beginning of August).
Yesterday I came home to find a note through the door from someone at our council who had apparently been to visit regarding our HB and CTB claim and according to the note I need to call them back a rearrange another time for him to visit?

I've never heard of this (granted we've never claimed HB or CTB before) and it seems really strange we proved via paperwork that we were eligible, why do they pay us a visit also?

Thanks for any help

kingfisherblue

I receive CTB. Every two or three years, I get a visit from the council and they fill in the forms. I asked why they visit people in their homes, as surely it is more expensive than having people visit their town centre offices, and the reply was that this way, they get all the information without having to keep chasing people. I have to add that they have never needed to chase me for further information!

Mupette

Its normal spot checks,

adamantine

never heard of this and ive been claiming for over 2 years. dont think they do that up here. do people elsewhere have to reapply every year or so?

one person i know got visited but thats coz she was under investigation for benefit fraud for having her boyfriend live with her and hadnt declared it so think they used this as a way to see if any of his stuff was around. they did question her about his shoes lying by the door.

not saying you are fraudulently claiming of course!

Macro_3

Totally normal check, I wouldn't read anything into it. There are loads of reasons why visits are carried out and most are just routine.

crystaltipps

Our council also does periodic home visits although they are always done via a letter and an appointment made. I was under the impression that it is to make sure there is someone actually living in the property as they have claimants that don't sometimes - they can also check all the required details and it does save some people a trip or several trips to the offices - which wouldn't be a problem for me as it is 10 minutes walk away - but for some in our area it would be a time-consuming chore, given the state of our local public transport.

nonnatus

I claimed HB 6 years ago for just 8 months. During that time I had 2 unnanounced home visits. He was lovely and explained it was routine and just the luck of the draw.
It was great actually because it made me feel confident that everything was in order.

You'll be fine.

caris

Our local council have done these checks for quite awhile now. When we were on benefits a few years ago we had a visit and they explained that it was to check that everyone listed on the form actually lived at the address, they expalined it was to crack down on benefit fraud. It didnt bother us aswe had nothing to hide.