housing benefit denied as income is zero. is that right?

jacques_chirac

gayleanne wrote: »

It could be because whilst you are claiming JSA you get a stamp every week (Nat Ins) when you sign off you were working for yourself, so in reality you should have paid a stamp contribution. Have you registered for tax payments? also if your income from the gambling sites is more than what you were getting on JSA, then you are not in need of HB

'Income' from gambling is not considered to be income for benefit purposes, it is capital.

gormonster

yeah, so is it valid for them to say i am ineligible due to deprivation of income if they deem my income and capital to be below the threshold amounts?

My understanding of deprivation of income is that it is a means to assess what a claimants total income should be to prevent them from manipulating their income create an more advantageous situation.

They are not telling me that with respect to the law on deprivation of income my income is too high to be eligible they are saying that through my income being 0 they can't award me any benefit.

jacques_chirac

gormonster wrote: »

yeah, so is it valid for them to say i am ineligible due to deprivation of income if they deem my income and capital to be below the threshold amounts?

My understanding of deprivation of income is that it is a means to assess what a claimants total income should be to prevent them from manipulating their income create an more advantageous situation.

They are not telling me that with respect to the law on deprivation of income my income is too high to be eligible they are saying that through my income being 0 they can't award me any benefit.

Have they stipulated what they deem your notional income to be?

Cornish_piskie

Are you a single parent caring for a 3 year old?

gormonster

They haven't really told me anything, I haven't been sent a detailed report of how they have assessed my finances or a definitive explanation of the why exactly I don't qualify.

I have received a letter from them detailing the amount of overpayment from when I signed off to the last payment they made. That letter states, due to your jobseekers allowance ending this has resulted in a revision of the decision awarding you housing benefit from 11th feb 2013, from this date you are no longer entitled to benefit. It then says if you believe you still qualify you must contact this office immediately. That when I went in and provided my bank statements.

The most recent letter from them just says that as you are not in receipt of or have claimed any benefits we are unable to process your claim for housing and council tax support. When i called them to clarify that reason they told me it was because I had no income that they couldn't approve my claim.

gormonster

no, my daughter lives with her mother but she works fulltime so I watch her while she is at work.

jacques_chirac

gormonster wrote: »

They haven't really told me anything, I haven't been sent a detailed report of how they have assessed my finances or a definitive explanation of the why exactly I don't qualify.

I have received a letter from them detailing the amount of overpayment from when I signed off to the last payment they made. That letter states, due to your jobseekers allowance ending this has resulted in a revision of the decision awarding you housing benefit from 11th feb 2013, from this date you are no longer entitled to benefit. It then says if you believe you still qualify you must contact this office immediately. That when I went in and provided my bank statements.

The most recent letter from them just says that as you are not in receipt of or have claimed any benefits we are unable to process your claim for housing and council tax support. When i called them to clarify that reason they told me it was because I had no income that they couldn't approve my claim.

You need to appeal the decision. However before you do this you need to ask them to detail in writing the reason for declining your claim.

Be careful with your time limits - if they take a while providing their reasons, get an appeal in anyway, stating you will provide full reasons once you have received the requested information.

gormonster

ok, ill put an appeal in tomorrow to cover myself. Do you think the decision is wrong?

MissMoneypenny

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

Make a new claim for Housing Benefit.

Make a statement listing your total income from gambling.

Ask them to use the offsetting rules for the period of the overpayment.

I have a claimant with nil income. He lives off the produce of his small holding, he sells eggs and chickens and honey - his pigs and sheep provide meat for the year. His heat and hot water is provided by wood he cuts down and old pallets he gathers up. His siblings help him out whenever things get desperate. I am happy he has nil income.

I assume this is another thing that Universal Credit will stop: people getting their full housing benefit paid, while making no effort to find paid work to pay some towards/all, their own housing costs?

It seems that under UC, he will either
1) declare himself as SE and therefore his claim will be judged on him earning 35 x national minimum wage per week
2)declare himself as unemployed and be subject to all the UC conditions that jobseekers have to do, under the present system
3) work for someone and earn a minimum of 35 x minimum wage per week, to avoid UC conditions.

1 and 3 will mean that he won't get full Housing Benefit anymore and 2 will mean he will have less time to spend on his small holding with his animals, birds and insects.

rhcp

There's some info here:
http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/776/#2772