Housing Benefit and Income

Strebor123

Hi, you guys have been very helpful with my issues in the past so I thought I'd see if you can help here too.

I cancelled my housing benefit on 08/09/14 as I started full time work, this finished on 20/08/2014. During this time, my partner was not working (she started university again in September) however she did receive payments for £250 on the 16th and 18th of September for work she did during the summer.

I have been told it may be possible to claim housing benefit for the 2 weeks I was working, so I am doing a claim for it now.

Because she did the work in the summer, does this income get ignored (as technically she earned it a month beforehand) or is it taken into account?

Thanks in advance,

Jake

[Deleted User]

I would assume it counts

dippy3103

Declare it and then you can't have any problems... did she physically do the work before you claimed? If so it possibly may be disregarded.

Strebor123

Yeah she did the work in August but she only just got paid for it.
So if it does count, does that mean the money I was paid on the 29th September (For work done from the 15th to the 20th) would NOT count?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Earned income covers the period it was earned not the date it was received otherwise when people start work they could claim they had nil wages for a month.

Money earned before you claimed benefit would be disregarded.

Strebor123

Thanks for the clarification!

fluffymovie

Clarification is coming out soon but I have cut and pasted from a recent circular on the matter (G8/2014)

This could mean that there is a case for arguing the way in which they are calculated to ensure that you get maximum HB

Attribution of earnings in Housing Benefit (HB)

1. On the 9 May 2014 the Upper Tribunal issued decision number CH/48/2014.

In summary, the decision states that, contrary to current practice, local

authorities (LA) should attribute earnings over the period following their

receipt, rather than over the period for which they are earned when calculating

entitlement to HB.

2. For example, were a month’s wages to be received on 28 February, under

current practice, the LA would attribute the month’s earnings over February,

and take them into account against HB entitlement in February. The Upper

Tribunal judge however, is of the opinion that in such a scenario, the wages

should be taken into account in March i.e. following their receipt.

3. Ministers have decided that the best approach would be to clarify the situation

by an amendment to regulations to state that earnings should be attributed

over the period they are earned. We aim to do this as soon as possible in the

autumn.

4. We appreciate that this leaves a gap between the date of the Upper Tribunal

decision and the regulations coming into force.

Action to Take

5. The Upper Tribunal decision is binding on all attribution decisions made on or

after 9 May 2014. As with all Upper Tribunal decisions LAs need to decide

how to deal with these cases in liaison with their legal advisers