Support for mortgage interest

skibble05

HI,
I have a joint mortgage with my brother and up until April he was on JSA but is now on ESA.
We received a form to complete regarding applying for support for mortgage interest which we completed. He has previously received this when he first started on JSA for the allowed time.
He received a letter today to say he had been turned down as the mortgage was taken out in January this year whilst he was in receipt of benefits.
It was not a new or additional mortgage.
This was a replacement mortgage due to our fixed rate ending. We changed lender for a better rate
We did not take any additional money and copy of completion statement we sent shows this.
Surely they cannot penalise us for looking for a better interest rate.
Is it worth him appealing?

I work so I know we would only get a proportion of the interest support for my brothers share.

Any advice would be appreciated.

jacques_chirac

Did you detail the previous loan on the form, and send proof of the transfer? If not, before appealing I would speak with the SMI team and then send them the relevant information. If you did, then you will need to appeal.

skibble05

Yes we did put all the information on the original form.
They then wrote asking for a copy of the completion statement.
We sent this and we honestly thought it was just to check if there was any additional borrowing.

jacques_chirac

In that case you'll need to appeal. It *should* be pretty straightforward, hopefully they will change the decision without you having to go to tribunal.

pmlindyloo

How long did your brother claim for when he was on income based JSA?

There is a 2 year limit when on JSA.

I am wondering whether this has anything to do with it? Not sure if you can use the 2 years and then claim again when on ESA.

Is this a possibility?

If not then I would agree that you need to ring and explain the situation, ask specifically why it has been refused and then appeal.