Time limit for HB Claims to be processed?

nemma

Hi,
Hoping Im in the right place.
I have recently seperated from my husband and myself and my children have moved into a rented property. I work part time and unfortunately have had to apply for Housing benefit to top up part of my rent (I really dont like applying for it but circumstances must and all that!)
My local authority are now telling me that its taking 8 weeks + to process claims! They've had all the information for a month now but Im still no closer to finding out if I am even entitled.
Surely there must be some target time that they have to process claims? 2 months seems like a ridiculous amount of time to process one form? They have evidence of bank accounts, income, tax credits etc etc so its literally taking them 2 months from submission for someone to pick up the forms and look at them.
Its totally wiped me out moving, what with ridiculously high agency fees, deposits and rent Im really struggling this month.
Is there anyone who can help please?

FRESTER

My local council are taking 6 weeks just to do a tax credit change so don't hold your breath for anything faster than 8 weeks.

BigAunty

Apply for an interim housing benefit payment - claimants can request this 2 weeks after submitting a full HB application and all info, and the local council haven't processed their claim yet.

Notify your local MP of the delay - they are there to serve you and should be notified that the slow processing of claims will add to the homelessness statistics as many landlords will serve notice to those in rent arrears.

coffeelover65

Hi Nemma

I work as a HB assessor and unfortunately it sounds like your council is backlogged with work.

Anything you are owed will be paid from the correct date, but if you don't have the money to meet the rent before the 8 weeks is up you could always contact the council to see if your claim could be prioritised. Most councils have some sort of priority service although its usually reserved for people who are facing court action due to arrears.

Re BigAuntys post, the payment on account is a red herring that exists from many years ago when claims were processed manually. Due to audit and fraud requirements, there is no way a payment would be made outside of the computer system in any of the councils I've worked at. There are 3 main systems in use in the UK for HB processing, and all require a claim to be setup to make any payments, as you have already provided all the info needed, a full decision will be made as soon as the claim is looked at.

Please only write to your MP as a last resort. Due to the number of people claiming due to reduced incomes and council job losses, all councils benefits services are facing backlogs. Having to deal with MP letters instead of processing claims just adds to this.

nemma

Thanks for the replays. It's no wonder there are so many people out there at risk of losing homes.

rogerblack

coffeelover65 wrote: »

Re BigAuntys post, the payment on account is a red herring that exists from many years ago when claims were processed manually. Due to audit and fraud requirements, there is no way a payment would be made outside of the computer system in any of the councils I've worked at.

While this may be practice, it may not actually be lawfull for them not to pay.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/213/regulation/93/made

"Where it is impracticable for the relevant authority to make a decision on a claim for a rent allowance within 14 days of the claim for it having been made and that impracticability does not 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 by the Secretary of State, the authority shall make a payment on account of any entitlement to a rent allowance of such amount as it considers reasonable having regard to"

There is no discretion here for them not to make a payment on account.
The fact that the computer system says no is unfortunate, but quite irrelevant.

What this means in practice is questionable.
In principle, you can apply for an interim payment, and be refused, and then appeal this decision.
If you win at first tier tribunal (and you should), you would then be awarded payment.

But, as the tribunal is even slower than the council, the main award would have been long granted, and this payment would be recovered.
FTT results are not binding, and it would need the council to appeal the above decision, or for it to go the wrong way at the first tier tribunal, for it to end up at the upper tribunal, where the judge could emphasise the law.

The alternative would be judicial review of the decision not to pay interim payments, but that gets messy too.

In short - while it's the law that they must make the payment, and they have no choice whatsoever, if they break that law, it's unlikely anything will happen.

real1314

iirc payments on account are not an appealable decision. however they can be challenged through the court system.

in practice a letter requesting an immediate interim payment, followed by a complaint within x days (I'd say 2 days given the wait) followed by a complain copied to the local government ombudsman might do the trick.

coffeelover - you need to check your copy of zebedee & ward more regularly; and you need to understand the difference between "the way we do it" and what the law tells you to do.
:cool:

BigAunty

coffeelover65 wrote: »

...

Re BigAuntys post, the payment on account is a red herring that exists from many years ago when claims were processed manually. Due to audit and fraud requirements, there is no way a payment would be made outside of the computer system in any of the councils I've worked at. There are 3 main systems in use in the UK for HB processing, and all require a claim to be setup to make any payments, as you have already provided all the info needed, a full decision will be made as soon as the claim is looked at.

...

According to the Shelter website, this payment facility should exist and those refused have the option of escalating it within the council or to the Local Ombudsman. Shelter are experts in housing advice so I don't understand why their info is wrong.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/housing_benefit_problems_delays_and_appeals/housing_benefit_delays

Also, MPs are there to serve their constituents and should be advised when the incompetence and under-resourced local council are risking hundreds or thousands of tenants being served notice by their landlords for rent arrears.

It's really not the MPs or HB claimants fault that councils take months to process claims and whose delay means that they end up with higher caseloads of homeless applicants, evicted by their landlords due to arrears or delayed rental payments.

The MP should also be in the position to verify if the payment on account service is a mandatory one that currently exists or has been superceded or wrongly considered optional by councils.

The following thread is dated, I grant you, but when were the specific HB regulations that compel a local council to give interim HB payments scrapped? If you could provide specific proof that they are now obsolete, this would be appreciated.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?192850-interim-payment-from-housing-benefit

This Scottish pressure group say the rules are still in place as of Dec 2010. What new housing law has scrapped this?

http://edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk/node/4

coffeelover65

I think rogerblack's final sentence sums it up perfectly.

@real1314, you do know Zebedee's in prison don't you (murder), its Ward and Lister now (I always felt Lister never got any recognition).

@bigaunty, the relevant regulation does exist, but in practice, I've never seen any council implement it despite the regulation existing. By the time people have finished asking for reconsiderations and appeals, the claim will have been processed. I'm not saying its right, but that's they way I've seen it handled in a number of councils.

Shelter, in all honesty are useless, definitely 1 charity I refuse to give money to. From experience the best housing advice outside of councils is the CAB, probably as they exist at a local level and can assist people with multiple issues but they too are facing huge funding cuts.

real1314

coffeelover65 wrote: »

I think rogerblack's final sentence sums it up perfectly.

@real1314, you do know Zebedee's in prison don't you (murder), its Ward and Lister now (I always felt Lister never got any recognition).

@bigaunty, the relevant regulation does exist, but in practice, I've never seen any council implement it despite the regulation existing. By the time people have finished asking for reconsiderations and appeals, the claim will have been processed. I'm not saying its right, but that's they way I've seen it handled in a number of councils.

Shelter, in all honesty are useless, definitely 1 charity I refuse to give money to. From experience the best housing advice outside of councils is the CAB, probably as they exist at a local level and can assist people with multiple issues but they too are facing huge funding cuts.

I wasn't aware of what zebedee had done - wow!

but, on topic, just because some councils do not stick to the rules, doesn't mean people should just roll over.
the local government ombudsman is the right place for this sort of thing to be addressed, and I don't see why the OP shouldn't pursue this.

:cool:

coffeelover65

She could do, the original suggestion was to see if a priority service exists as a way round the backlog.

I honestly have no idea what would happen if someone wanted to pursue a delay in HB processing all the way to the ombudsman. Would they get off on the basis that they have an increasing workload but frozen/reduced staffing levels, the need to meet fraud/audit requirements so not doing manual paper based payments, I have no idea.

The reality of the situation is people are losing their jobs and having their hours cut so there are more people claiming but due to council job cuts, there's less people to deal with the rising workload. So depsite a law existing that says a rent allowance claim has to have a payment made within 14 days, its not enforced. The UK has all sorts of strange laws which are not enforced, just came across this on google:

If you're pregnant (and a woman) in the UK then you are allowed by law to relieve yourself anywhere you want – even in a policeman's helmet