Advice needed for an 80 year old paying back a huge housing benefit debt please?

Chris_P_Bacon_2

He isnt trying to avoid paying this back and he realises (or we do) that he will no longer be entitled to benefits. Believe me, for an ex REME Engineer he knows the difference between "entitled" and "not entitled" and that he should have told them earlier. He fully appreciates he has to pay the benefits back and I should have explained that in my original post.

I genuinely believe that he thought like Emma above, i.e. that when he explained on the phone nearly 2 years ago that because the house was uninhabitable he was ok and would still be entitled to benefits.

Ofcourse he realises now that he should have spoken to them when they didnt get in touch after that call. Hindsight is 20/20 vision even for an 80 year old.

I think deep down he would love to live in the house - but it's not habitable yet and he has this huge hurdle of the debt to navigate over before he can even think about that.

Sleepless saver - I suggested CAB the other night and he is considering it but we are going to speak to the Housing Officer to see what our options are (if there are any ) before we do that.

Thanks guys - it helps just battering the keyboard on here - provides a little hope with the additional knowledge you gain I suppose.


EDIT: just noticed that ALERT, beside my stupid moniker - this forum is really excellent.

sleepless_saver

Well, when you see the housing officer you might try suggesting that some of the period in question should be disregarded if he is planning to move into it. See link to one local authority's guidance.

Summary: Where someone is planning to move into a house they have inherited, its value can be disregarded for benefit purposes for up to 6 months. And any property which must be repaired or altered before you can live in it can be disregarded from the date you started getting the work done.

EmmaHerts

Thanks for the information, guys.

Good luck, OP.

Chris_P_Bacon_2

sleepless_saver wrote: »

Well, when you see the housing officer you might try suggesting that some of the period in question should be disregarded if he is planning to move into it.

Summary: Where someone is planning to move into a house they have inherited, its value can be disregarded for benefit purposes for up to 6 months. And any property which must be repaired or altered before you can live in it can be disregarded from the date you started getting the work done.

That is excellent news - every penny will help him at this stage.

Do you think the authorities would consider some kind of payback arrangement where we could all club together and pay it back over a period of 6 months to a year?

sleepless_saver

Chris_P_Bacon wrote: »

That is excellent news - every penny will help him at this stage.

Do you think the authorities would consider some kind of payback arrangement where we could all club together and pay it back over a period of 6 months to a year?

I think they'd consider any kind of payback arrangement. But if you're prepared to bail your father out again, in your shoes I would make a condition that in future he claims all the benefits he's entitled to and that this is the end of you rescuing him. Otherwise you will have to keep helping him out as his income is not enough to support him. And I'd make him sign an agreement to that effect so he doesn't "forget"!

I suggest this because from his point of view you have always come to the rescue when he has not managed his finances well, so he has absolutely no incentive to change his ways. Read about enabling.

What is he going to do about his other debt?

Beetlemama

Ok, so not being an expert in this, but being pretty ok with local gov policy, at 80 they're not going to make him bankrupt. I expect they'll get as far as a summons, magistrates liability order and then an attachment of benefits or a minimal income repayment plan (ours is £5 per week for poor people not on an attachable benefit).

He needs to give up his place and move to the "new" house so he isn't running up more debt, it won't hurt him to put in a claim for ctb even if he doesn't get it (I'm not a benefits assessor) and he wont need HB because he isn't paying rent.

What happened with the ctax on the new prop for all this time? is that going unpaid too? you'll need to claim a Class F from the date of death and ask about F2 if probate was granted quickly. Apply for a Class A for the period the prop was uninhabitable. depending on your council, you might get a discount after the class A expires.

The three week deadline is because we have to draw the line somewhere, no one is expecting this old man to pay back six grand in three weeks really, it's time to start discussing with them what you should do next though, get him to sign an authority letter allowing you to also deal with it on his behalf if you're not sure he'll do it, then at least they can talk to you about it. They'll probably summons the debt (ctax and hb) and make a repayment arrangement.

How "forgetful" is he? you could try an application for SMI if he has an age related condition like Alzheimer and the doctor will confirm it, then he may not have to pay ctax at all under a Class U exemption - I mean don't make it up if he's perfectly sane and sensible, but just in case he isn't, and you don't know, he can get exempt from paying ctax.

When it's a good time, try to have a discussion with him about what's going to happen with the house next too, eventually he's going to leave it to someone aswell, I've seen people lose their own homes over an inherited property they didn't want but ended up liable for.

Chris_P_Bacon_2

Thank you so much for that advice Beetlemama - he has sent off a letter to the Council allowing me to discuss his tenancy issues and the overpayment problem with the Housing officers and we have an appointment in 3 weeks to discuss it.

I have paid his rent (current) yesterday so that is him up to date - he is forgetful but not quite at alzheimers stage yet - but I will bear that advice in mind. Re teh CT on the house he was left - it was in such disrepair that the council allowed him 6 months zero then 6 months at 50% - its not huge so I paid the remainder that was due a while ago.

So as it stands - I have cleared all his current outstanding issues but this overpayment is the worry.

An arrangement to pay that back would be absolutely wonderful so we can sort out his ongoing income.

He did for the first time talk about a will this morning - which lead to the usual uncomfortable moment when I said - one step at a time - lets get this sorted and you can worry about that in good time.

Of course I realise that he will probably want to do one sooner rather than later after all this hassle and worry he has had over the past few weeks. He's not comfortable watching me hand over my hard earned to bail him out and I can sense that. Can't be easy.

Thansk for taking the time to outline the CT issue - I (we) will feel better prepared now.

Beetlemama

Chris_P_Bacon wrote: »

Re the CT on the house he was left - it was in such disrepair that the council allowed him 6 months zero then 6 months at 50% - its not huge

...so you can perhaps also point out to the council in his defense, that they were aware he was the new owner of the house since they put the ctax in his name. Just a thought perhaps.

Good luck with it all. I've seen so many of these "gifts" hurt people, they are holding their own just fine then their old mum or someone pops off and leaves them with a nice bungalow that her 50 year old kids and their 30 year old kids don't want, don't need and can't sell due to the market, and soon the council tax starts coming due and they get in terrible trouble trying to pay. They almost all end up renting it out in desperation to someone who does a bunk without paying them. At least your dad can move in and it'll be nice for him.

Chris_P_Bacon_2

That sounds very familiar Beetlemama, very intuitive post in fact. Renting it out for a year did cross my mind when it is complete - I hadnt got far exploring it to be honest and I have a cousin who is in the know - perhaps I should contact her - with my Dad's consent of course.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.