Working, Low Income , Housing Benefit suspended

davefrombristol

Hi, I work part time for about 9 hours receiving gross pay of just short of £80 a week. The actual amount I receive is the net pay which works out at approx £63 a week.

I live with my daughter and she has just passed 18 yrs old. She has a disability and was receiving DLA middle rate from the age of 9 - 18 ( 9 years as a lone parent carer ). I started the part time job when my daughter was 17 and at college and my Income support was adjusted to reflect the fact that as a lone parent I was able to keep £20 of the money from the part time job. Housing Benefit was awarded in full ( social housing with a rent of approx £88 a week )

The problem that I now have is that Income support has stopped recently as my daughter became a non-dependant and Housing Benefit have suspended my claim and now my only source of income is £63 a week to pay for everything ( Rent, Council Tax, Food , All Bills etc ) .

Housing Benefit were made aware of my part time job and the correct earnings per week which have not changed from day one ( June 2012 ) I even provided them with payslips last summer which they have on file. I now have to provide proof of earnings and await a decision re: housing benefit and I have been told that this could take many weeks. In the mean time, pressure is being applied by my housing association with regards the rent arrears - e.g. I was told to get rid of my two cats to save money / it has been suggested that because I cannot produce instant payslips I might be working cash in hand - I must have failed to return a form asking for information or report a change of circumstances / and to not bury my head in the sand - all these comments are from a lady working in the financial dept of the housing association.

My circumstances with regards to earnings / income has in fact not changed in any way at all. I am strongly considering packing in the job and claiming job seekers allowance which I have not claimed for about 12 years.

The incentive to work is clearly not in place with different departments dealing with benefits unable to help and give proper guidance. Is there any avenue I can take to get my housing benefit reinstated expediently to avoid running up a huge debt to the housing association ? Is this the type of experience that others go through when working part time and claiming housing benefit ? With gross earnings of £79.25 I assume that I am unable to claim job seekers allowance even though I am taxed 20% and actually only receive £63.40 which is less than the rate that a jobless over 25 gets - in other words I am working for less money than I would receive on benefits and that's assuming my housing benefit eventually gets reinstated!

Horseunderwater

For a start you should not be paying any tax at all on those earnings - so your employer is wrong to do so. You are owed a tax rebate. When you started your job did you fill out a form P46? If not you can print one off on line and fill it in right now and get your employer to put you onto emergency tax code 944L week one. That will sort out some of your problems. Obtain your P60 from this employer as soon as you can and take a copy then send it in to the tax office along with a letter to obtain your overpaid tax. May take a little while.
Next the housing association are not the ones who deal with housing benefit - that is down to the local authority and it is them that you need to provide your income details to. Not the HA. All they need to know is that you are getting HB and that it will be paid to them. And no you should not have to get rid of beloved pets - just because some old nosey tart in the HA says so. None of her beeswax. Is your daughter still in college if so you should still get Child tax credits for her and also child benefit. So if so and you're not - Apply soon as you can. Apply for local council tax support( Council tax benefit that was). You may be better off actually going to see your council benefit dept if that is possible as they will be able to take copies etc and get the process moving forward. Take bank statements with you as well as payslips. Weekly paid you need to supply the latest 5 and bank statements the latest 2 months. ID such as driving licence or passport and if necessary some utility bills with home address on. Ring and book appointment if you need to - but take it to them and get it sorted. You can do this.

Witch_Hazel

You should have/be been claiming carers allowance as your daughter get's mrc. You can then earn £100 a week without it affecting your carers.

davefrombristol

When I first started work last June I suggested that I shouldn't be paying any tax.. They were reluctant to pay me gross to the point where it was clear to me that to rock the boat would lead to no job ( the other workers there all received net pay in cash with payslips ) apparently employer pays inland revenue every three months.

My daughter is no longer receiving DLA and child benefit stopped on or around her 18th birthday.

Her only source of income would be to claim JSA. My only source of income is for working 9/10 hours to receive £60 approx. Somehow I don't think I will be in line for a benefit cap as its been chopped to pieces !

Horseunderwater

Then it looks like the employer is doing something dodgy re the tax.
Ring HMRC enquiry line and ask them to send you the correct notice of coding for your circumstances which is 944L this year - not BR or 20% off everything, which is what they are doing at the moment. All you need to do is state your national Insurance number to them and tell them where you work and they should be able to trace your employer and issue the coding notice. Then if the employer fails to operate the right code you can complain to HMRC. Let's hope they issue end of year returns etc so that you can get your P60 by end of May. That is a legal requirement by the revenue BTW. Meanwhile I'd look for another job.
If your daughters problems still exist she can claim DLA still in her own right for the same circumstances and they may even be able to link it back to her childhood one. Ring up DWP and ask about that bit, but download the form for the over 16's and complete it. DLA does not just end because somebody turns 18 - it is to do with Care and mobility and if those needs are still there then she is entitled to it.
If she was on Mid rate care - did you claim Carers allowance for being her carer - you should have done and would also have been entitled to a top up of Income Support as well. You should have been getting help with the rent too so claim that along with local council tax support as it is now called. The form is often able to be completed on line nowadays - they will need 5 weeks payslips as recent as you have along with bank statements and some ID like utility bills. You are missing out on so much stuff.

Dunroamin

Your daughter should either still be in education so you claim CB/CTC for her or she should be claiming JSA/ESA and using this to pay the non dependent deduction and towards her share of the food and utilities.

I agree that it sounds as if your employer is doing something dodgy regarding everybody's tax and you should contact HMRC about it.

fluffymovie

This is a common occurence unfortunately because whilst you were on IS, HB treated you as a passported case and your income details were irrelevant.

They would need to amend your award to reflect your IS ending, change in status for your daughter if she is not in eduction and recalculate it.

We would normally suspend a claim, send out a change in circs form with a request for your most recent 2 months / 5 weeks payslips and then re-assess but depending on workload, this can take time.

HA's are normally (in my experience) ok if you explain that there is a delay with HB. I often receive e-mails from HA's just checking to see if the customer has submitted a form, information etc, and likely timescale for resolution so i am surprised at their attitude. Could I ask, do you already have arrears / arrangement to repay which is prompting their concern?

As regards chasing up HB, unfortunately, there are a lot of claims and fewer assessors to deal with them and so things are taking longer. If you consider that the time taken is unreasonable, I would suggest contacting your local councillor (we usually prioritise such enquiries)

davefrombristol

Yes Fluffymovie .... Your absolutely right, my Housing Benefit claim was passported by the Income Support I was receiving for being a lone parent carer bringing up my daughter. The moment Income Support stopped the housing benefit also stops.

A couple of months back I saw housing benefit staff in person and told them of a change of circumstances - no longer receiving carers allowance, and informed them that my daughter would be making a claim for JSA.

Why was it necessary to suspend my claim - I've been entirely straight with them throughout , my earnings from part time work are the same now as they were when I first started the job. The only change of circumstances is them screwing me for all I'm worth.

I don't owe any rent arrears, however the HA officer was around when I lived in their temporary accommodation for homeless people about 5 years ago, and she seemed to enjoy looking down on people that are down on their luck.

Does anyone here know the cut off point for earnings where you are unable to claim JSA at the over 25 rate - £71.70 ..... my gross pay at £79.25 is above the amount I take it ?