Frump to Fab 2019 - Here We Go Again

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I have finally resolved everything with Lambeth Benefits and Lambeth Council Tax.

Apparently regardless of the fact that they were aware that my son had left home to go to university, they had neglected to apply the under occupied deduction (bedroom tax) to my Housing Benefit from 10th September 2018 until now. As a consequence of this error in administration, I now owe £963.39 of Housing Benefit. :eek: :mad:
Thank goodness that I have £807 credit on my rent account with my Housing Association, so that will take care of the majority of the over payment of Housing Benefit.

The deduction they were making from my Housing Benefit for my working daughter was also miscalculated, so now they are deducting the correct amount each week. :cool: This further error also contributed to the over payment of Housing Benefit to me.

My son has been removed from my Lambeth Benefits account and my Council Tax account at my request in writing from 10th September 2018, so at least there can be no more errors with regards to my son.

I am so glad that when I received the original amended Council Tax bill for April 2019 to April 2020 for £181.18 that I wrote to Lambeth Benefits to ask for the decision to be looked at again.

If I had not queried the fact that I was having a weekly amount of £6.01 deducted from my Council Tax Support for my son, then the catalogue of errors in the Lambeth Benefits department and the Lambeth Council Tax department may not have come to light until I was reporting that my son had returned home to live in June 2021 when he will have completed his Degree. :eek:

I have been so stressed trying to get all of the issues regarding my son and daughter resolved. I know from bitter experience that when these types of errors are finally discovered a claimant like myself can have years of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support recalculated and receive huge retrospective demands for over payments of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support to be repaid. :eek::mad: I had supplied all of the relevant information when my son left to go to university which Lambeth Benefits verified with Inland Revenue as I could no longer receive Child Benefit for my son from 2nd September 2018. :cool:

I had been obliged to provide wage slips from my daughter's various employers for the tax years for April 2018/2019, so I am not sure how they miscalculated the deduction for her from my Housing Benefit, which has now more than doubled.

I hope that in future years that Lambeth Benefits and Council Tax employees will stop making these errors. I always report all changes, but if employees still make errors in calculating my entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support, there is no way for me to recognise that an error has been made in my favour.

The DWP insists all over payment of Benefits are to be recovered even when the claimant was not at fault. :mad:

chanie

Sugar good news that it’s been sorted. It’s ridiculous that someone who is on the ball with such matters still has errors through no fault of their own.

maman

Glad to hear that you've managed to get the council situation sorted out sugarbaby. Thanks to your sensible budgeting it's not going to prove too difficult for you putting back the overpayment but so many people get into financial trouble with mistakes benefit overpayments that they're totally unaware of until the demands come. It seems so unfair when it's someone else's inefficiency that has caused the problem. :mad: That being said, I do have some sympathy with local councils because their budgets have been slashed and they're finding it very difficult to maintain essential statutory services.

Have you thought of any days out yet chanie?

I've been doing a small running repair on the umbrella I used last week. After drying, I left it out deliberately as I knew the cover had come away from the end of one of the spokes. So, it's good to go and I have another if it doesn't last.

I sat and hemmed some of the muslin facecloths last night. These are the grey/white baby muslins that I've cut up to match my new bathroom. I find hand sewing so relaxing.

I am tempted to buy a new umbrella but it would definitely be a want rather than a need. My friend had needed to replace hers and she showed me hers. It's by Fulton and about £20. Incredibly light you can barely feel it in your hand and it can also act as a sunshade.

Dancing tonight. It's still not really cold enough to wear a thick winter skirt and I prefer long, swirly ones for dancing which tend to be lighter anyway. I need to do a bit of a stock take and keep my eyes open when I'm in the CSs.

It's dry here (at the moment) but not the glorious autumn sunshine we've had in the last couple of days.

chanie

Maman I have a couple of ideas for days out - Greenwich Maritime Museum and then have a wander around Greenwich, the Tower of London or watch a Theatre show.

Coincidentally, I have been thinking about getting a new umbrella too. My current one is really bulky and heavy. I didn’t realise this until I walked past an umbrella display in a shop and saw some compact lightweight ones recently and it made me want to get one. I’m torn, as I barely use umbrellas and don’t want to pay for one, but equally, my bags for work are really heavy.

Just had a cunning plan... it’s xmas coming up, so I can ask Santa for one.

Wednesday2000

I grew up near Greenwich and I used to go out there all the time. I'm going out with my brother next month and we might go to Greenwich actually thinking about it.:)

Not really anything to do with fabbing but I don't think I said on here that I have been suffering with panic attacks on and off since my dog almost died last year.:( I booked an appointment to see my GP but then thought about and cancelled it. I was diagnosed with various MH conditions back in 2009 and I have to get the GP to refer me to a psychiatrist as a GP isn't qualified to prescribe me any meds. I was thinking about how long the waiting time would be.:(

I then thought of the medication I was prescribed for Fibromyalgia called Pregabalin. I still have an ongoing prescription for it even though I only took it for a few months back in 2017, I think it was. I read up on it at the time and it can be used to treat anxiety so I got a prescription for it from the pharmacy. I started taking it today and it does make me feel more calm already as it stops your brain from releasing the chemicals that make you feel anxious. So, I will see how I get on with it.

On the fabbing front, I did my nails today and I have put a hand cream on my bedside table to remind me to put it on before bed.

I bought an ASOS black mini dress, another black dress and a nice cobalt blue shopper bag from the £1 chazzer yesterday too.:A

maman

Good buys at the CS Wednesday

I've kept manicure stuff in the sitting room for ages so that I can file my nails etc while watching TV. Yesterday I put it all in a small basket and added foot cream. I'm determined to look after my feet now that the podiatrist has tidied them up.

My DGD had a student house in Greenwich until this summer. I like the Painted Hall which, I believe, has been recently refurbished and the Georgian Chapel too.

chanie

Maman I love your idea of keeping your manicure stuff in your sitting room. I like the body shop almond nail oil sticks and keep one in my make up bag and use it on my commute to/from work.

My Sainsburys order arrived in store today. I ordered some leather tan boots and was disappointed when they arrived, as despite being leather, they looked quite plasticky. I was tempted to keep them as they were pretty cheap, but then I questioned why I would contemplate keeping something that didn’t ‘spark joy’ just for the sake of it. I have become quite good at identifying what suits me and also shopping online, so this has been the first time in quite a while where I have had to return a purchase.

candygirl

WEDNESDAY, I'm so sorry You are suffering from panic attacks hun :(Mine have got worse since Zeus died suddenly.The only thing that takes the edge off is Sertraline, but it does make me very tired

Wednesday2000

candygirl wrote: »

WEDNESDAY, I'm so sorry You are suffering from panic attacks hun :(Mine have got worse since Zeus died suddenly.The only thing that takes the edge off is Sertraline, but it does make me very tired

:grouphug: Panic attacks are horrible. xxx I've been on that one before.

maman

I think if you really didn't love those boots then you were right to return them chanie. That's one thing fabbing has done for me and that's only buying things I really love, and that has to be more than what I have in my wardrobe already.

I tend to use online shopping when I've seen what I want in store but, for example, my size isn't available.

I think some anti depressants can act as muscle relaxants so have a dual purpose. I was prescribed amitriptyline for my back problems (fortunately not had any for a long while) and my GP suggested that they might help with IBS. I've tried twice but they just make me feel so dopey I can't function properly. I've made an appointment to go back and discuss it again.

Two things on the fashion pages today: one is sheer, spotty tights. The other is glittery jumpers for informal Christmas events like in a bar or restaurant where it's not warm enough for strappy outfits. I have had glittery jumpers in the past but you have to be careful that they don't feel stiff and prickly. I'll take a look when I'm next browsing the shops.