ESA, Housing Benefit & Council Tax Benefit

Caz3121

SUGARSPICE wrote: »

If he could get out of the contract & move out & I took over, having the tenancy in my name then I would then be able to claim the LHA rate of £894 & earn the rest to make it up to the £1,000.Is this correct?

Where I am 37 years old, would this still mean that Im only able to claim the shared rate? So if my half is £500 what would I be able to claim of it?

If you lived in the property on your own you would be assessed on the one-bedroom rate of LHA (not the 2 bedroom)

If you shared the property it would be the shared accommodation rate

SUGARSPICE

Thankyou Caz.

So where my LHA rate for my area for shared acc is £78.50 a week this means that £340 of my half of the rent which is £500 will be paid? Is this correct?

Is my ex allowed to pay the other £160 to make up my £500 til Im sorted? Obviously he would have to agee to this.

Also does the Shared Acc Rate apply to if Im on ESA or Low Income aswell?

I thought your whole rent would be paid?

Thankyou for all your help

Caz3121

SUGARSPICE wrote: »

Also does the Shared Acc Rate apply to if Im on ESA or Low Income aswell?

I thought your whole rent would be paid?

The whole rent would only be covered if it was equal to or less than the LHA rate.
There may be discretionary payments if you have been paying the rent yourself for the previous 12 months but your situation is complex as you have not been and your ex was. I would expect it to be a long drawn out process to get housing benefit in your corcumstances.

If the relationship is over you may be better moving into your own place. Some people do manage to separate and live together but often that is necessity rather than choice (mortgage/kids involved etc). You will be expected to show that you operate independant households, don't shop, eat, holiday together, do your own washing etc. If your ex is going to top up your rent then you may struggle to show that you are independant flatmates.

You will also need to look at your tenancy agreement. Are you responsible for £500 per month and your ex responsible for £500 per month or are you, as a couple, responsible for £1,000 per month?

HB58

You talk about working and also claiming ESA. I don't know the rules for 'permitted work' while on ESA and you would have to get DWP permission - it is not given routinely.

If you have not paid NI for the past 2 full tax years you will probably only be eligible for income-related ESA. You would probably get this but it might be reduced to take into account the amount you are earning.

However, you should get some ESA during the assessment phase which would give you at least 13 weeks to get things sorted out - possibly more as ESA admin is often taking longer than that. Obviously, I don't know whether you would satisfy the descriptors to get main phase ESA, it is much more complicated than just handing in a GP certificate.

SUGARSPICE

Hi.

They have received my Permitted Work Form.

I made the claim around the end of April but I needed to send some more info before they could start to process it.

They should receive this by end of next week.

It will be income related ESA.

My certificate was from end of April til end of June so this would be 12 weeks wouldnt it then another week before having to fill out that Medical Assesment form & attend a Medical, wouldnt it? Is this right?

Also, if I did get a Yes but no more certificates sent in after end of June then I would still get the backdated 3 months wouldnt I ? Is this right?

Any advice would be great :beer: