Housing Benefit and Bugetting

crystalcadence

LondonGal wrote: »

Not paying CTax is always a very bad idea as it will only lead to you having bailiffs at your door which is the very last thing you need to be dealing with at present. I know, I've been there! :beer:

Well I have made sure that is completely up-to-date.

EDIT: decided my little rant was better off being deleted. It doesn't help anyone.

crystalcadence

Just as an update - this situation is still ongoing.

It turns out some person at the council was doing a "random" check on my claim and figured I was living in a two bed house but for some reason the bedroom tax had not been applied. Said person then applied the bedroom tax and worked out I had been overpaid and by stopping my payments for two months, it would all even out.

Long story short, when I tried to fix the mistake, I was told that it would have to come in writing from my landlord even though they have my tenancy agreement on record which states its a one bed.

This is really messed things up but it will be sorted ... at some point.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

crystalcadence wrote: »

Just as an update - this situation is still ongoing.

It turns out some person at the council was doing a "random" check on my claim and figured I was living in a two bed house but for some reason the bedroom tax had not been applied. Said person then applied the bedroom tax and worked out I had been overpaid and by stopping my payments for two months, it would all even out.

Long story short, when I tried to fix the mistake, I was told that it would have to come in writing from my landlord even though they have my tenancy agreement on record which states its a one bed.

This is really messed things up but it will be sorted ... at some point.

Are you in a Housing Association property or Private Landlord?

NYM

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

Are you in a Housing Association property or Private Landlord?

I think she wrote in an earlier post that it was an HA property.

Cate1976

What is the layout of your flat, is your dining room desperate to your kitchen? If so your council could be classing it as being a second bedroom. If your kitchen is too small to fit a table & chairs and still allow safe movement during the prep of meals then the council should allow the dining room to be classed as such, Housing Benefit Officer will know the official rules on this). If your dining area is part of your lounge, it shouldn't be counted as a second bedroom. If your tenancy agreement says your flat is a 1 bed then take the copy you have to the council & if your kitchen is too small for a table & chairs, take photos to show them. When you hand in the evidence, ask for a housing officer to visit so they can see the flat.

crystalcadence

Cate1976 wrote: »

What is the layout of your flat, is your dining room desperate to your kitchen?

The confusion came because of two reasons.

1) I started my claim during the limbo period between my Grandmother's house (2 bed) and my flat.
2) The tenancy for the flat, which they have a copy of on file, states "1 bed, 2 person flat."

With the latter, they read that as being that it was a 2 bed flat rather than a 1 bed flat suitable for a couple. :undecided

The council has now got it act together but its just getting my payments reinstated that is taking time.