JSA claim. Undeclared savings. Please help!

boobies

McKneff wrote: »

But please, not to the job centre, go or ring the DWP, the job centre will only confuse the matter for you.

Do you mean the local authority? They administer Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. Claimants cannot visit the DWP.

BigAunty

Paying off a loan early when there is no legal requirement can be classed as deprivation of capital by the DWP who consider that those on means tested benefits should pay their debt obligations off at the original agreed pace, freeing up money to spend on rent, council tax and so on, rather than accelerating a loan payment in order to better qualify for benefits. Deprivation of Capital is about intentionality, deliberately doing it to maximise benefit entitlement.

Did you pay off the loan before you claimed JSA or after? How much was the student loan? If you paid off the loan before you claimed JSA were you aware of the future redundancy?

HappyMJ

boobies wrote: »

Do you mean the local authority? They administer Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. Claimants cannot visit the DWP.

That's what I was thinking. The council pays the housing benefit and the DWP pays JSA and the HMRC pays tax credits. Every benefit and department is different and they don't tend to share information very well. Bring on universal credits and one application and one benefit. Much less confusion.

Justicia

McKneff wrote: »

The job centre and the DWP are two seperate things.

The DWP pay your housing benefit, not the job centre.

You are paid by the DWP, the two dont necessarily work together.

Are you sure about those statements?

McKneff

HappyMJ wrote: »

That's what I was thinking. The council pays the housing benefit and the DWP pays JSA and the HMRC pays tax credits. Every benefit and department is different and they don't tend to share information very well. Bring on universal credits and one application and one benefit. Much less confusion.

So according to this, the council pays the housing benefit to itself, surely not. Maybe I'm just misreading it.

I'm quite happy to be educated.:D

I totally agree with the rest of the post though.

boobies

McKneff wrote: »

So according to this, the council pays the housing benefit to itself, surely not. Maybe I'm just misreading it.

I'm quite happy to be educated.:D

I totally agree with the rest of the post though.

If the OP is in council housing, the LA will in effect pay themselves, but the funds will be moved from one pot to another - housing and benefits will have separate budget allocations and accounting systems.

McKneff

Justicia wrote: »

Are you sure about those statements?

No, not now
:rotfl::rotfl:

I am getting totally confused with myself now, I'll take a back seat and just listen I think...........

But you still surely shouldnt go to the job centreto sort housing benefit out. I think Ive got that bit right, yes.

McKneff

boobies wrote: »

If the OP is in council housing, the LA will in effect pay themselves, but the funds will be moved from one pot to another - housing and benefits will have separate budget allocations and accounting systems.

I see, thanks for that.. Phew, what a palarver.

Im glad I'm retired and just get a straight forward pension:)

real1314

McKneff, why do you give advice on things that you are unsure of? It could potentially cause very serious problems for people to whom you give this (mis)advice.

If the OP went to "DWP" - which Jobcentre Plus is actually part of and is the "front of house" for, they may well have been told "doesn't affect Contributory JSA,; no problem" and gone away thinking everything is fine.

If you feel you have something worthwhile to say, please at least qualify your advice.

For info (all of this is factual, known from direct experience):

DWP - Government Department with a Secretary of State / Cabinet Minister(s)

Jobcentre Plus (JCP) ; Pension Service / Disability and Carers Service (now merged as PDCS) ; a number of smaller bodies - all parts of DWP. They administer benefits and jobless schemes.

HB - administered by Local Authorities. Pays towards rent for Private, Housing Association and Local Authority housing (yes the council "pays" itself in those cases); however, although councils(aka LAs) administer the scheme, the funds are actually met by DWP rather than council budgets.


For the OP - your HB should have been reduced. To avoid risking things getting any worse it might be best to go to your local council and tell them about it. You will need to supply bank statements for the period of your claim.
If you don't do it, you might be prosecuted for fraud, and/or may face penalties. The sanctions against fraud are increasing, not reducing, so it's your choice. :cool:

Anubis_2

From a savings aspect, it's £16000 for HB. However savings over 6,000 can reduce the amount of HB you get. Technically, if the same savings apply for council tax, the most they will work out what you owe from is £4k. Not sure what it is for council tax though.

ETA it is 16000 for council tax also but anything over 6k means you get a reduced rate oh HB and CT. so, whatever you had left in savings over 6k at the start of your claim is what they will work out from, so if you had 8 k in savings at the start of the claim they will deduct an amount per £ based on 2k.

I found this, however it is from 2010, so I don't know if numbers are still the same:

For savings between £6,000 and £16,000, you are treated as having £1 a week income for each £250 or part of £250 savings over £6,000. So if you have £6,001-£6,250, you are treated a having £1 a week income. If you have £6,251-£6,500, you are treated as having £2 a week income etc.

So for £8 k you are looking at a reduction of £8 per week off both benefits (HB AND CT) = £16 per week overpayment IF figures are still the same.