Housing Benefit Court Case

SGee

Hi, I have a housing benefit question that I'd appreciate some advice on.

My partner put in a claim after losing his job, and had to wait for months for a decision. During this time his rent arrears built up; the council's courts team were, for data protection reasons, given no explanation for the delay in payments coming through and they began court proceedings. A decision was eventually made, but now my partner is being charged £135 in court fees.

Things only got to this stage because of a delay at the benefits team's end, so it seems unfair that my partner is now being penalised. The courts team have told me that he wants to challenge this then he'll have to make his case in court, which is not feasible for several reasons.

Can anyone advise on any other ways that he can seek justice and avoid having to pay this unfair cost?

Any advice would be gratefully received

twstmoka

Unfortunately the poor have little justice and recourse available to them. It would not surprise me if the government actively delayed payments to induce court payments, arrears etc to councils. In affect giving a claimant money and they taking it back in a different department etc.

It's a rather simplistic form of extortion which the government practices.

twstmoka

and in reply to the capitalist only an idiot or a person of extreme and utter ignorance would view benefits as a service where the claimant has a choice whether they like them or not.

Complete and utter ignorance. One of the many that has been fooled by the government into believing that benefits should not exist and that claimants are not entitled to them. What do you think your NI and the claimant when he enters work NI contributions are supposed to be used for?!

real1314

Blimey it's ying and yang nutters!

OP - why didn't your partner tell the housing (rent) department that he had a claim for housing benefit being dealt with?

Why didn't he chase up the housing benenfit claim?

What exactly caused the hold up in the claim?
:cool:

twstmoka

That is also one of the most potent arguments against those that question the integrity or purpose of anything powerful; they are labeled as mad or stupid.

twstmoka

Why is it the original claimants responsibility to chase the payment when in all likelihood they were told that there was a backlog of many months and to sit tight.

This is quite clearly the fault of the government and yet two users seem more than happy to question or lie the blame with the claimant. If we are to use another form of propaganda in today's world: the VICTIM.

Why could it never possibly be the original intention of the government department?!

SGee

Thanks for the replies (well, most of them...)

With hindsight, he should have had better contact with the housing (rent) dept and pushed the benefits team for more answers, but he naively assumed that council depts spoke to each other.

The delay turned out to be due to an old debt from years ago that was still in the system, caused by an overpayment of benefit that doesn't appear to have been very clearly communicated and remained unresolved.

Who'd claim benefits, eh? It seems to be a complicated, frustrating and off-putting system. If only we lived in capitalism's ideal world where people had a choice.

twstmoka

I made the mistake of believing they communicated with each other once as well. It ended in them deciding I had committed fraud. Not fraud in the sense where there were any legalities what so ever. Just fraud in their view. Furthermore they never did notify me of their decision I only found out when I called them myself. So ultimately had I not I would never have known they had added that word to my file.

It's a corrupt system that criminalizes claimants. In it's present day form it is not designed to help. It is actually designed to make things difficult and so forth for the claimant. For the purposes of

penalizing the claimants
punishing the claimants
criminalizing claimants to exercise greater control over citizens
act as a detterant so those who do work are increasingly forced to accept more work for less pay whilst everything increases in price at a higher rate of inflation i.e. that is the 'better' option than being forced into state servitude and poverty
create a work force of near free labor to be abused and controlled by conglomerates that pay politicians to continue to implement and allow corrupt, damaging and if what should be criminal policies against the very people who it is supposed to be working for but increasingly see's fit to manage and control.

To paraphrase Bill Hicks it is supposed to be a free world, try going anywhere without money.

SGee

Yeah, I'd be interested to hear the views of anyone working in that field - when you see the number of hurdles that claimants face, it does make you wonder whether they're actually avoidable and are just there to test or deter people.

One of the big problems with the system seems to be a lack of communication - a little information and good customer service goes a long way, but it would seem hard to come by.

BigAunty

I can't think of anyway of challenging it if the court has suggested attending it in person to challenge and you are unable to seek redress that way.

Perhaps a way of escalating it is to bring it to the attention of your local MP - they are there to serve you.

Voyager2002

Challenging it in court would be pointless: there can be no doubt that he owed the rent (which is what the court would be asked to rule on) and there is no good reason for making the part of the council that collects rent to pay its own court costs.

I agree that a politician (MP or councilor) would be his next stop.