Bedroom tax exemption?

lisawheely

Hi hope i can get some help.
Im disabled and have a 2 bed house and pay the "bedroom tax".
I have heard of the loophole that if you were a tenant in the same house and receiving housing benefits since 1996 then you do not have to pay it. I have been in this house all my life but received the benefit since 1995, i have rang the council(Hounslow) and they said they have not heard anything yet but the loophole will be closed in march this year and i think they are stalling, I am applying for the DHP as iam struggling to pay the bedroom tax as my energy bills have rocketed and im finding it hard to keep up with payments although i have paid the tax up till now, how do i go about getting the tax scrapped?
Thank you Lisa

MidnightHour

They are closing the so called loophole (it's actually a law not a loophole) in march but you still should not have paid any Under occupancy benefit since april 1st 2013, DWP have informed the councils of this and been told to repay tenants.

Get in touch with them and tell them you wish to appeal or be reimbursed for the amount you have paid out, get it logged and ask for an acknowledgement of this.

If you get no further go see the local citizens advice for help.

Morglin

lisawheely wrote: »

Hi hope i can get some help.
Im disabled and have a 2 bed house and pay the "bedroom tax".
I have heard of the loophole that if you were a tenant in the same house and receiving housing benefits since 1996 then you do not have to pay it. I have been in this house all my life but received the benefit since 1995, i have rang the council(Hounslow) and they said they have not heard anything yet but the loophole will be closed in march this year and i think they are stalling, I am applying for the DHP as iam struggling to pay the bedroom tax as my energy bills have rocketed and im finding it hard to keep up with payments although i have paid the tax up till now, how do i go about getting the tax scrapped?
Thank you Lisa

They are trying to close the loophole, but haven't yet, so it still stands, and cannot be closed retrospectively.

You shouldn't be paying it, at the moment, and according to various welfare rights groups, and legal eagles who are getting involved, are due a refund for any you have paid (regardless of any DHP you may have received).

However, this has taken Housing Benefit offices by surprise, as it did many agencies, so you need to contact them so they can process your HB claim again, until and if bedroom tax for these tenancies start again.

Lin

Housing_Benefit_Officer

If you can prove you have continuously been in receipt of Housing Benefit with no break since 1st January 1996 then they will give you a refund.

lisawheely

I Rang Hounslow council and they said the computers do not go back that far but i need proof of when i claimed housing benefit first, i know it was in 1995 but not sure of the month, how can i get proof then?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

lisawheely wrote: »

I Rang Hounslow council and they said the computers do not go back that far but i need proof of when i claimed housing benefit first, i know it was in 1995 but not sure of the month, how can i get proof then?

If you have kept your benefit notifications since 1995 then you can use that as proof. Ask the Council Tax section if there records go back to 1995 and ask if every financial years since 1995 shows you getting council tax benefit - if you got help with council tax that would on the balance of probabilities proof you would have got housing benefit as well. If rent payments were made to your landlord ask for a copy of your rent statement going back to 1995 and showing continuous housing benefit payments. If you are in receipt of any social security benefits ask the DWP for proof of whaen it was first awarded and if there have been any breaks since 1995.

sniggings

your banks records might go back that far, if it was paid into the bank.

rogerblack

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

If you have kept your benefit notifications since 1995 then you can use that as proof. Ask the Council Tax section if there records go back to 1995 and ask if every financial years since 1995 shows you getting council tax benefit -

Unfortunately, as implied above - most organisations - including government ones will not keep records forever. 6 years is a common limit.

As others have mentioned - bank statements too.
It's possible your landlord may be able to help - if for example they were contacted by the council during the claim.

Basically - you need to prove - at least to the level that it's more likely than not - that you were claiming HB over this period.
Income details from your employer showing an income level that would lead to HB, or similar documentation from JSA or HMRC may also be of use.

One thing that would make it easy is if you are paid every two weeks, as I understand it, as this is a legacy payment interval that no current payments will be on.

nannytone_2

sniggings wrote: »

your banks records might go back that far, if it was paid into the bank.

housing benefit for social housing has, intil recently, always been paid directly to the LA/HA

NYM

Would the DWP have a copy of any Incapacity Benefit claims made between 1995 to the present date ? It might show a continual claim from the relevant date and because of the type of benefit, HB would have been paid.

I think....:D

sniggings

nannytone wrote: »

housing benefit for social housing has, intil recently, always been paid directly to the LA/HA

I always thought it was a choice until recently.

You can still have it paid to the LL but I think you first have to be in arrears tho.