H.B / E.S.A. - Potential Problems re: Change Of Address!

seanjackdan

Hi,
I hope this is in the right section, so apologies if not!

I am currently renting a room from a private landlady in a 4 bedroom house, and currently receiving the standard £62.50 a week housing benefit, and £98 E.S.A WRAG benefit, as recently won a tribunal appeal.

My landlady is selling the house, and has asked me to move out, as she thinks she has more chance of selling the house without a "lodger".

The situation there is really bad now, but I have hopefully found a new place to rent, with a different landlord in a different house, so this would simply be a "change of address" with no other changes to my situation.

My question being:
I presume my housing benefit will stop, as i am moving address, but will this then be classed as a "new" claim, or just an amendment - hope this makes sense!

Also...will my ESA benefit temporarily stop as well (can't see why it should - but probably will), and would this then be classed as a "new" claim as well, or would i just wait a couple of weeks, and then go straight back onto my WRAG of £98 a week, or would they force me back on the basic ESA rate of £67.50, or whatever it is!!

I have M.E. / C.F.S, and really getting in a state about all this...it should simply be a case of me moving from one address to another, but the DWP never make it that simple do they!!

Any help would be most appreciated...

Kind Regards.....Sean !! (Ashford, Kent).

xantaur

hello sean

first of all dont worry. you will have to get in contact with esa and notify them of your change of address. this should only take 10 - 15 mins over the phone. if you dont notify them of your change of add then they may suspend your pymts if they get mail returned or another agency ie DLA notifys them your address change. they will only suspend pymt untill they get confirmation of your new address from you.

you will not have to start a new esa claim and your pymts should continue as normal.

for housing beinfit you will have to call your local council authority and make a new claim for housing and council tax benifit you should be able to date the new claim from the date you moved into the address. if they req proof that you are claiming benefit you can ask for a proof of benefit letter from the esa.

hope this helps

BRIANCARSON

seanjackdan wrote: »

Hi,
I hope this is in the right section, so apologies if not!

My question being:
I presume my housing benefit will stop, as i am moving address, but will this then be classed as a "new" claim, or just an amendment - hope this makes sense!

you don't make it clear if you are moving to a new address covered by the same council - if that is true then it should be straight forward but be aware that they may treat this as a new claim for Local Housing Allowance so may ask for bank statements etc etc.

I am also on ESA{WRAG} but at one point when I was being migrated over I went into limbo due to my claim being turned down and all of a sudden my housing benefit was suspended
and then the DWP put me onto ESA{WRAG} but the Council could not get confirmation of this so I had to produce all my bank statements { for the past six months } even although I was still staying at the same address.It all got sorted out but you have to be prepared that there will be a break in your HB/LHA as it does take time.

My local council has a drop in office so I did it though them - by the way at one stage you have to show ID - I showed my passport

As you are on ESA{WRAG} you must have a local ESA advisor { or whatever its called } - the ones you have to see monthly - as soon as you move get straight onto your ESA advisor and they should be able to produce a letter on the spot ' with your new address on it ' and you take that letter to your local council.

as stated above it should not affect your ESA Claim.

If I was you I would move locally so that I had the same GP - at this current time I am still sending in sick notes { for three months duration } so a change of GP may affect this hence why i would want to stay with the same GP.

So how are you getting on with your ESA advisor and have you been given a review date ? - I think my next review will be January/February but now that I have been though it once it should be less of a hassle.

seanjackdan

#xantaur# / #briancarson# - thank you both for your quick replies, it is most appreciated.

That sounds like good news then that my ESA Benefit will not stop, as long as i notify them immediately after i have moved into my new address, yeah?

It will be in the same town (Ashford) where I move to, so I will still come under the same council (but as you confirm, they will probably stop my existing H.B., and I will have to do a new claim ''on-line'' I expect, won't I?

Even though i am staying in the same town, it will now unfortunately be outside of my current GP's duristriction, so will probably have to register at a new doctors, but seeing as though i am on WRAG ESA, i don't need to send in certificates anyway, so hopefully this won't be too much of a problem!

With regards to an ESA advisor, i have only seen a lady once (2 weeks ago), and that was just an initial interview, telling me the various ways of getting people back to work if they are able to (i'm not!).

The place I have found to stay, is actually at my ex-girlfriends flat (we are NOT a couple though - we split up 2 years ago, but still remain best friends) - she is helping me out, and is going to let me stay, as i have nowhere else to go - and i am helping her out, as she is struggling financially living there on her own - I just hope this issue doesn't cause problems either with the DWP, shouldn't do, as i am currently single, and she stays round her new partners house some days of the week !

...Life is never easy , is it !!

Thanks for your comments, and taking ther time to read this...(again)!!

Kind regards.... Sean!

BRIANCARSON

Sean you don't have to send in medical notes provided they have contacted you and your GP but I have not reached that stage yet.

You will have to see your ESA advisor at least six times per year - I was passed onto the work programme just after the initial meeting - its to a private company although I am the only one on ESA as everyone else is on JSA so I don't have to see them all that often.

As regards where you move to I would strongly advise that you don't mention any connection to your ex-girlfriends as that will complicate the situation - just keep it simple.

You could fill out the form at http://www.ashford.gov.uk/community_and_living/claiming_benefits.aspx

but it may be quicker to see them face to face as that way you don't have to send in any documents.

http://www.ashford.gov.uk/ashford_borough_council/contact_us.aspx

They will want to see a rent book or bank statement proving your paying rent.its always a pain having to move so I hope it goes without a hitch.