Income Support Mortgage Interest Question

stargirl73

Hi

I'm not really clued up on benefits at all and seem to miss out on things that I might be eligible for.

Last year, I applied for income support - although I was probably eligible for it 3 years before the date I applied.

My husband is in receipt of carer's allowance for me - as I am on high rate care component of DLA but I myself made the application for income support as I'm better at such things than him!

Last week, I got a phonecall from a nice man in the mortgage department of the JCP saying my mortgage statement had just landed on his desk and did I know I was eligible for ISMI?

I said no, no one had told me. He tsk-tsked but said he'd send out the form to me pronto and it should be back dated from June 07.

Well the pack arrived today and I was reading the notes that came with it, and it states that those in receipt of carer's allowance are eligible for a shorter qualifying period for ISMI payments to commence.

I rang the nice man back and he said it had to be the person who made the claim for income support who was in receipt of carer's allowance in order for the shorter qualifying period to apply.

My claim for income support was a joint one, and as I say, I only filled out the form in my name because I'm good at forms! But I could have just as easily filled it out in my husband's name.

I trust what the nice man said - but I was wondering if there was anything I could do to try to get them to see that it was purely out of simplicity that I filled in the forms and get them to back date the ISMI payments a bit further.

At the time when I applied for income support no-one told me about other benefits that I may have been eligible for, and no-one told me that if my husband filled out the form, we'd have been entitled to ISMI since November last year - which would have made a significant difference to us.

Do I have a "case"? And if so - who would I write to?

Sorry for long winded post!

Thanks in advance

suelees1

Off the top of my head I can't remember if it has to be the actual carer who has to be the IS claimant to cut short the waiting period (help starts after 8 weeks rather than the normal 39 if you took out your morgage after October 1995). However if this is the case then there is no reason why you can't swap the claimant roles for IS. You withdraw your claim and your husband claims instead. He should do it tomorrow so you don't lose any more money. Ring a central number 0800 055 66 88.

Additionally there is what is known an interchange of claims. This is when a claim for one particular benefit can be considered as a claim for another. The actual benefits under this rule are very specific. Again I don't know without referring to my books whether Carers Allowance can be considered as a claim for IS although I'm sure it works the other way round.

I'd suggest you seek out an expert for some face to face advice to see if this is possible or if IS or ISMI can be backdated or indeed whether it's worth applying for an ex gratia (compensation type) payment if you feel the DWP misinformed you or failed to clarify your entitement if you asked about it or told them you were having problems with your mortgage for instance.

mummytofour

Oh WOW thats great news and I WILL STORE this info in my head somewhere as I get Carers and you never know when something may happen do you? Not being doom and gloom but you never know!