Child in full time work, Rent and Council Tax bills?

Not_Me

Well i think they beat me to it. Got a letter from the housing today we are 4 weeks in arrears on the rent.

Phoned the council and got a useless person that only wanted my council tax reference and the line was so bad i dont know what i was supposed to do.
I phoned back and still a noisy line, sounded like a busy call centre.

Explained i had a letter say my benefits have been stopped 4 weeks ago but i dont know why it was stopped that long ago. She said yes a letter did go out to you, oh no that was 2015 she said.

She said just take a copy of everything into the neighbourhood office and get them to copy it all.

I asked if i could speak to someone there, she said no its just a document copy centre. How are you supposed to sort things out if you cannot speak to anyone?

Thanks.

Not_Me

Please ignore this post, but i need to have a whine.

Why is it they know i have a change in my circumstances and stop my claim and yet want me to prove what they give me? this is all well and good to prove it but they do not send me the information they want.
they want proof of my ESA, surely they have that already they give it to me.

You cannot speak to anyone that knows anything, the person i spoke to was very nice and polite but openly admitted that she didnt know and could not even guess.

frustration would be a massive understatement. i think i know why the local job centre has more security guards than staff on the desks.
nobody knows anything anymore.

the lady said stuff changes so fast that she doesnt know if your local office will be closed before the phone call finishes. and an office that gets closed this month maybe open again next month.

sorry for the moan but im at my wits end now. not like me at all.

glass half full or half empty? hey you have something make the most of it.

todays answer, its leaking and there is no fix.

sorry again.

pmlindyloo

From what you have now said it seems that you are in the WRAG group of ESA.

This means that for the couple rate you are entitled to £143.9 per week.

However, because you were on Incapacity benefit before transferring over to ESA they have 'protected' this amount so that you do not lose out on any money when you transferred. Does that make sense? Just an educated guess on my part so needs to be verified.

As regards the HB and CT then they are awarded by your local council. Your ESA is awarded by the DWP so totally different departments. There is supposed to be cross communication but this does not always go smoothly (as you have found out!)

Plus, as a cut costing exercise many councils do very few face to face appointments and just use a telephone service. Sign of the times, I am afraid.

Take your bank statements and any benefit award letters to the office as directed.

I still think you need to make an appointment with CAB so that they can speak to the council and Job Centre Plus on your behalf and get everything checked and sorted.

Not_Me

This is Birmingham City Council. When you phone it tells you that you have to do everything online. You can goto one office which is fairly local, to have your paperwork photocopied but you cannot speak to anyone there it seems.
So it seems the cost cutting has moved from closing the offices down to closing the phones down. It sounded like a call centre, so many voices in the background.

Over the last 2 or 3 years we have had these letters every few months. I think we had 6 letters saying they have stopped our benefits because of a change in circumstances, when queried they have no idea why and are basically clutching at straws to explain why it was stopped.
The year before my daughter was at college and at the end of April we got a stopped benefit letter, when i phoned them they knew nothing and went through everything, until it got to my daughter at college yes, they said she must have finished college then. In late April? no her course runs until july and we had to get letters to say she was still attending.

Then 4 weeks later they stopped it again and we had to repeat it. 8 times that year.

Thanks for listening and the advice.

Alice_Holt

When dealing with your council re HB & CTs I would tend to:
1) put everything in writing, keep a copy, file this away, keep their letters DO NOT throw anything out:
2) Keep a note of phone calls, date, time, the person you spoke to, the subject matter and what was said;
3) if you take documents in then get an acknowlegement stamp. FILE IT and DO NOT lose it. Itemise the documents you took in.

You will then have the evidence you need to challenge any errors made by the council.
Keep a close eye on your HB award, and WRITE to them (keeping a copy and proof of postage) if you think a mistake (even if is to your advantage) has been made.

Councils are trying to reduce costs, outsourcing to organisations like Capita, making experienced employees redundant. They will make more errors, so as a HB claimant make sure you don't get stuck with an overpayment demand / incorrect HB receipts.

As pmlinyloo suggests get the CAB involved if you have any difficulties.
The CAB will be very overstretched, so by having the relevant proof they will be more able to help you quickly and effectively.

Not_Me

Thanks, the slight issue is that i still do not know what triggered the change in circumstances to stop the benefit.

Possibly the PIP award letter got to them as quickly as it got to me? Daughters only just signed off so it wont be that. They are clutching at straws when i phone and want me to tell them why its been stopped.
Quite often i have no clue.

When i had 8 council tax bills the year before last you could hear the guy on the phone change his voice as to say dont exaggerate. But then he checked and we really had received 8 different bills with our stopped claim letter. How many college courses finish in April?

Its rather odd that the communication goes one way but not the other, everyone gets notified it i get an extra 50p on my ESA but they ask me for proof of my ESA when they stop my claim?

Its a nightmare and its really starting to do my head in.

Thank you all and sorry for the moaning, i am not normally like this.

Not_Me

I cannot face a wasted trip to the local office for them to copy paperwork that we just do not have. So i have filled out the online change of circumstances form and will see where that leads. Although it may take sometime for them to actually act upon it.

Even though the housing sent a letter saying the benefits service have stopped paying the rent, a statment shows it was paid in the 26th of last month.

I have no idea whats going on? Left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing? Daughter signing off triggered an instant suspension of benefits? And the 4 weeks bit is a mistake on the housing side?

No appointments at the CAB for a few weeks, short handed at present it seems. I used them a few years back when i had to give up work and needed advice on whether to resign or let them terminate my employment on grounds i would not be able to return anyway.

Thanks.

Not_Me

A light at the end of the tunnel?.

Can anyone say if the figure in the chart below are correct for the deductions. http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/applying_for_housing_benefit/housing_benefit_when_other_adults_live_in_your_home

Thats a large jump between earning £199-£253 and £254 and upwards.
Earn £253 and contribute £46.80, but earn £255 and contribute £75.60?
Just planning for the future if i do not get the PIP payments.

Seems like good news at the moment where a phone call to them today said that she does not need to contribute and everything appears to be in order except my council tax refund because of the backdated PIP.

Its going to take a little while to get back on our feet, but we did send off for the carers allowance also. i hope that doesnt affect the claim. ohno crossing fingers and touching wood.

Once back on our feet how can i make a token gesture of appreciation?

A huge huge huge and massive thank you for putting up with me and all your posts. even if i did appear obnoxious at times. THANK YOU ALL.