Help with housing benefit

terryw

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Nothing to do with your Housing Benefit, but if you have not received an electricity bill for more than 12 months, the electricity company cannot claim any of the bill from you. See if this applies to you.

See:
http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/43/412.html

Doubt if this applies to the OP as (from the link)

"Customers have an obligation to assist suppliers and can
expect to pay for all energy consumed if they:
– Have been using the supply but have made no attempt to contact the supplier
to make or arrange payment, including moving into a property and making no
attempt to let a supplier know they are the new tenant"

nannytone_2

although you dont receive a 'bill' with a prepayment meter, you do receive a statement from the energy provider

fluffymovie

I am still a bit lost tbh.

The claimant, your sister, is disabled and the council state they have a recording of a call where she states that she does not live there. As a result, they have cancelled the Housing Benefit back to the start of the claim.

Within 1 month of the notification your sister received, telling her of this, she submitted an appeal? If so, there should not be any deductions being made from her ESA as I have previously stated.

You state that the appeal is with an appeals officer but they don't do appointments. I have dealt with many appeals myself and whilst I understand that different councils deal with things differently, I am sure that you should be able to speak to someone.

If you have asked to speak with a Supervisor or Manager, and there is not one available, have you tried again or left your details for a call back? In my LA, I get e-mails asking me to call customers on a fairly frequent basis.

It could be that the evidence supplied has been passed to an overworked, unresourced department who are taking longer than they should to prepare the appeal - have you asked what the current timescale for appeals is? They should be able to tell you how many weeks they are likely to take.

To get things moving faster, I would recommend contacting your sister's local councillor and MP. As the Manager of a busy HB department, I receive at least 1 of these type of queries every 2 weeks and I have a corporate target which states I need to reply within 10 working days. In practice, my Head of Service will chase me after 2!

Toxicity

How about showing them the pay point receipts you get given when you top up your gas/elec?

bloolagoon

puppy999 wrote: »

What court summons ???

You stated the landlord was taking her to court I assume for none payment, that is pretty strong evidence that she is responsible for the rent.

puppy999

Every time I go to the council I have to wait at least an hour only to explain again and again can I see a supervisor no can I make an appointment no can I speak to an appeals officer no they say because we submitted the appeal on the on the 22/8/2013 we have to wait again
however I did discover that my sister did telephone them on the 15/11/2013
The council stated she had said that she did not live there, in fact she said in order to get a gas meter fitted she needed the landlords name and address as she could not live here without heating and hot water.
This would not explain why her HB was stopped in Sept they also went on to say she is under investigation when I enquired as to why they seemed very vague and would not tell me anything even though I have a letter of authorization from my sister.
she has no knowledge of any investigation.
I have now requested a complete copy of her file and I am going to contact the cab again and also contact our MP before the tribunal

fluffymovie

Just to say that in my area, tribunals are taking 6-8 months to be heard so don't delay in contacting her MP

danandjens_worldtravels

So perhaps what has happened is..

In Nov 2012 (I assume not 2013) your sister called the about getting a gas meter fitted, maybe for help with the cost and told them she needed it because without gas the house was uninhabitable as not heating or hot water.

Is this possible, or is it still only likely to be a call that the council have mistakenly attributed to your sister.

So for whichever reason the council thought the property was uninhabitable and stopped benefit, it was not livable in Nov they assume not livable since Sept and an overpayment occurred.

The council need proof of habitation, even without a meter there should be a water bill in your sisters name.
How is the electric paid, if by prepayment meter on a key whose name is the key in, to whose account is the credit being made? Does your sister have the little payment slips that are issued on payment? What evidence do you have of paying or sorting out this issue since Feb 12 when your sister moved in?
Does the phone bill have listed calls made from that landline at that address since Sept or can you get this
TV licence registered to sister at that address
Any benefit letters, I know there are council tax demands but what about other benefits?

The CAB can help because they can often get through to the right person more quickly than you, and they can ask the right questions to find out exactly what is going on. Your sister will need to provide them with authority to talk to both you and the council, if possible take her to CAB with you. They will help you achieve what fluffymovie details above.

puppy999

danandjens_worldtravels wrote: »

As above you need help with this, but it appears the council do not believe you live in the property, you have no evidence of using utilities there to show you are actually living there. I understand you have a problem with electric, but do you have meter readings/money set aside to pay when you do know who the supplier is.

Gas - do you have gas? Can you show consumption.

Water - are you on a meter? Do you have bills to show your water useage.

The evidence you have should persuade them, but if they believe you are not actually living there get some evidence of you actually living there. I'm surprised the police statements aren't enough, but they maybe don't go back to the start date of the claim. Is there any evidence of you moving in (man with van) or evidence of any regular deliveries?

I would assume the overpayment is for rent paid from when you moved in until Nov when the benefit stopped as they believe you have never lived there.

Best advice, get advice from CAB and do it as soon as possible.

I have explained all the above comments on numinous occasions to the council they still insist insufficient info supplied I have now contacted shelter but they say they cannot help with HB
issues I have also contacted our local MP but we have to wait
and time is running out

FBaby

I have explained all the above comments on numinous occasions to the council they still insist insufficient info supplied

What they are after is not explanations but evidence. All the info below only proves that someone is using that address, not living there. Friends could say anything. The only evidence would be the phone bill assuming it is under her name and NOT for a mobile phone.

Statement from my post man
statement from the police (who have visted at least 2 to 3 times a week reguarding a neighbour dispute)
Bank statements
Hospital appiontments
Doctors letters
telephone bill
friends who have visted and stayed over
a email from housing benefit stating I live here and I am receiving council tax demands.