Housing Benefit Backpay

samwich1979

Does anyone know how long it takes to get a decision back?
Been waiting nearly 3 weeks now and still heard nothing and i REALLY need this money ASAP.

Thanks!

merlin68

3 weeks is nothing, i've had it take up to 12.

samwich1979

Really?! thats awful when you are struggling for money.
They are quick enough to want money back if they overpay you though................

BrettMorganxD

samwich1979 wrote: »

Really?! thats awful when you are struggling for money.
They are quick enough to want money back if they overpay you though................

Agreed. It took me about 4-5 weeks to get my housing benefit sorted in my old flat. When my wages went up and i was overpaid (only by £44 thank goodness) I received a letter the morning after I rang and told them.

missmontana

Ring up and ask them how long its taking, varies from council to council, taking between 4 and 6 weeks where I am depending on if its a new claim or change of circumstances.

Wee_Willy_Harris

If your LL is getting twitchy, ask him to give you a letter (NOT notice) that he intends to start the eviction process unless your rent account is brought up to date. Take that in to the HB department and they should prioritise your claim. It's because others are being prioritised that some claims take longer to process than they should.

samwich1979

Thanks so much for your responses!
Hopefully i wont have to wait much longer, just hope they decide to give me the back pay........................

fluffymovie

Hi there

Would just say that in my office (I am a Team Leader in HB) we have a backlog of 6-8 weeks.

However, when your claim is received, your benefit normally starts from the Monday following the date that you got your claim in so the issue of backpay is normally ok.

samwich1979

My problem with receiving backpay is the fact you have to prove you have a good reason for not claiming before.
I earn £26.000 a year and my husband doesnt work(despite trying very hard to find a job), we have 5.5 month old son and we constantly struggle with money, my wage is gone by week 3 of the month and we literally cant eat.
I now receive £93.70 HB every 2 weeks but the fact is i really thought my wage would stop us getting anything at all, so hence i didnt bother applying at first.
I have given this as my reason but does this sound good enough to you? I obviously cant provide any proof for this bar my wage slips as proof of what i earn but i gave these with my initial HB claim.

The other thing that does annoy me is that if you are claiming for back pay and are over 60 you do not have to give good reason you just get it!

Is this not a tad unfair? Whats so different about someone over 60 to a 32yr old struggling to provide for her family??

Talk about being ageist.................i thought everyone should be treated the same these days no matter what age, sex, disabillity? What happened to equal oppotunities for everyone?

AsknAnswer2

In accordance with the legislation, they have 14 days to make a decision on your claim. If it is impractical for them to make a decision within that timescale and that impracticality doesn't arise out of the failure of the claimant, without good cause, to furnish such information, certificates, documents or evidence as the authority reasonably requires and has requested or which has been requested, they should make payments on account of a rent allowance.

Deal_Chaser

You should find out exactly if they require any further data they should have written out to advise you but no harm in clarifying it. Then go to HB Section if you already have provided ALL data or they are now requesting something else, then go to HB Office with all data again & and rather than simply hand in request to speak to HB Officer might be a wait but at least you will know exact position and can ask how long etc.. Get the name of the officer who will be dealing with claim and be prepared to keep chasing via local council offices freephones if needed. I don't know your tenancy status if Local Authority sometimes have debt workers that can assist in your claim or can get you special office interviews at HB Section with an officer in order to process the claim as speedily as possible. If you have got written letters from LL take them with you esp if ou get into stage where Court Action being threatened. It can take quite a while due to vast amount of claims/p.work that they have etc
Good Luck