Housing Benefit & Self Employment - URGENT x

dippy3103

The council I used to work for did.

I can't imagine they can justify under the regs insisting on accounts that have been prepared by an accountant. They can ask for proof (they have a duty to look after tax payers money) but they have to be reasonable about it.

I'm sure Housing Benefit officer will be along shortly - he knows HB regs backwards & should be able to advise

Darksparkle

See my post above about what it says on their own website.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Don't delay sending in your claim form. Phone and speak to your local Housing Benefit Department. Explain you don't have accounts prepared by an accountant - ask them exactly what sort of proof of self employed earnings they would like - provide what they want. Remember to make a note of who you speak with time date etc. The only time when we ask for receipts etc is when we are investigating for fraud. Housing Benefit Officers do not have the time to trawl through thousands of scraps of paper receipts invoices etc - we would rather the claimant did all the work for us by either providing prepared and/or audited accounts or completing one of our self employed forms. We don't accept tax returns as some expenses accepted by the taxman we don't accept under HB legislation.

richsafe

Thank you so much this is really helpful. I really do appreciate it. They have sent me an income details for self employed form but so much of the form is irrelevant to me. The categories that my expenses fit in (in Excewl) are so different to this - I wonder if they'd accept my Excel print out of income and expenses? As you say, I should just phone .... feeling so pathetically wobbly at the moment don't want to make an idiot of myself!

tomtontom

richsafe wrote: »

'proper job' hilarious! I see my work helping disadvantaged children, young people and communities as a proper job. But thanks for the advice x

Is it not possible to increase your hours, or get a second job? Even on minimum wage 35 hours a week will bring in £12K a year, or £13K after the rise in April. You would still be able to claim benefits to top up your income.

Many single parents get a big shock when their child leaves education and suddenly their income reduces considerably. If you've been in this situation for 15 years you can't be far off that happening. Plus with such a low income you're in danger of HMRC investigating your claim and deciding you are entitled to nothing as your work is not commercially viable - far better to make proactive changes than panic when your money stops.

Cirias

It's criminal that people doing your kind of job don't get paid more.

Housing benefit is for people in need, so don't worry about accountant, just print everything off and make sure it makes sense.

Guest101

Just because you work with children doesn't mean that it's a 'proper' job.


The argument would be, it's not fit for purpose (which would be to fund your lifestyle), just because some people would be morally agreeable to your role, doesn't mean it's everyone's cup of tea.


You don't 'have' to do so, but I'd take issue with claims of 'I don't claim benefits', when you clearly do

Darksparkle

How many hours doing declare that you actually work per week?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

richsafe wrote: »

Thank you so much this is really helpful. I really do appreciate it. They have sent me an income details for self employed form but so much of the form is irrelevant to me. The categories that my expenses fit in (in Excewl) are so different to this - I wonder if they'd accept my Excel print out of income and expenses? As you say, I should just phone .... feeling so pathetically wobbly at the moment don't want to make an idiot of myself!

What expenses won't fit in the form from the council?

densol_2

What's the problem with earning 8-10k per year ? As a single mum she only needs to work 16 hours a week ! No law requires everyone to work full time !