Housing Benefit - Please Help

Teacakes

Hi there. I'm here because I'm at my wits end because I feel like my local council is screwing me over and I am not getting anywhere fast after months of correspondence with them. I just rang them up to follow up on an email I sent on the 9th of December and got to speak to a very condescending woman who went on about how benefits are for people who need them... she was so helpful she made me cry and put the phone down.

Let me give you a timeline to help paint a picture. I'm sorry this is long winded.. I'm just desperately trying to wrap my head around all of this.

My partner and I split up November 2017. Prior to this I was a stay at home mom... I have 3 children. I spoke with an advisor at the job centre she had me apply for tax credits, housing benefit, etc. A friend of mine suggested that I should try teaching online since I already had some experience as a teaching assistant... fast forward to March and I have sorted everything out to teach kids English to kids in China.

I thought I did everything correctly.. I set myself up with HRMC as self-employed.. started getting working tax credits.. it was all good. My housing benefits dropped and the council asked me to start paying council tax. Fine.

So, I think it was the start of September when I must have gotten a notice in the post saying that I need to send in details to keep my claim going. It got buried in a stack of post after my grandfather passed away. I think this was triggered by my ex-partner putting our address on things when he started a new job as he was moving into a new place. He didn't think of the implications obviously... and it's no harm done since there's plenty of proof that he wasn't actually living here.

With all of that being said... they stopped my housing benefit at the start of October. After going back and forth with the council regarding my self-employment earnings which started out quite low and have now evened out to around £500-600 a month... I got a letter in the post on the 3rd of December. This letter says that they have overpaid me about £1600 and that I am no longer entitled to housing benefit. That can't be right. Can it?

I've done every benefits calculator under the sun and every single one tells me that as a single parent with 3 children earning around £600 a month (being generous) I should still be getting at least £85 per week. It tells me if I was earning for than £1000 I'd still be entitled.

Soon the 9th of December, I did a lot of math... felt like I was doing their job for them tbh... and I wrote out a very nicely worded and detailed email regarding my circumstances and why I think I should be entitled to housing benefit. I followed up the email with a phone call a few days later... the lady said that it would be passed on to a senior team to look at. Which led to another follow up call today (the condescending lady)...

So... what exactly am I meant to do until they've pulled their heads out of their back ends and sorted this out? I've scraped by and emptied my savings to pay for Christmas, but now it's come down to not being able to pay my rent this month and I'm desperate to get it sorted before I spiral into debt. I'm so lost. If my calculations are correct then they owe me over £1400... I don't owe them £1600... there's no way that's possible.

I just tried ringing up CAB but I was on hold for 40 minutes then gave up...
What am I meant to do here?

Helpmeoutofthismess

Have they sent you an award notice so you can check they are using the correct details?

Were all of your children born before April 2017? Housing Benefit only pay for 2 children until you send in proof that you are receiving child benefit/ child tax credits for all 3.

Hope you get it sorted soon

H x

jetplane

Have they applied the minimum income floor as you are self employed? Have they backdated the claim to September when they asked for your financial information?

It could be that they have only calculated your entitlement from when they actually received your income details and you would need to ask for backdating to the date benefit stopped. And show good cause why you did not provide evidence earlier. Otherwise there will be a gap where no benefit was paid which could account for an over payment or shortfall.

As previous poster said you need to read the award notice, check the dates of the claim and payments and the amount of income that is being used.

Teacakes

Were all of your children born before April 2017?

My youngest was born in 2014, so I don't think it has to do with that.

Have they applied the minimum income floor as you are self employed?

From what I was told from the advisor at the job centre and from what I've read, I don't believe the minimum income floor applies until you are self-employed for a year. I reached it within about 6 months of starting up, but prior to that I was earning less. It isn't stated anywhere in the letter.

Have they backdated the claim to September when they asked for your financial information?

It isn't stated anywhere that they have backdated anything. I did get a notice that they have suspended my claim in October, but this was after I'd been in touch and sent in my information. They are telling me that I am no longer entitled to anything at all and haven't been since August (before they contacted me), which is when I actually reached my earning potential.

With the overpayment and adjusted council tax bill combined they are asking for more than half of what I've earned this year. It just doesn't compute.

skcollobcat10

Is your husband able to make up the difference? Do you receive the correct maintenance money for your 3 children from him?

You as well as husband have a duty of care to manage the household finances together, you shouldn't have to struggle through this on your own.

Could you get help from your or his parents to tide you over until you get this all resolved? Hope it is sorted soon for you.

Afraid_of_Kittens

Have they put your monthly income down as weekly?

What income do they hold on your benefit notification?

Did your Tax Credits increase at all?

Are you paying childcare?

Teacakes

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

Is your husband able to make up the difference? Do you receive the correct maintenance money for your 3 children from him?

You as well as husband have a duty of care to manage the household finances together, you shouldn't have to struggle through this on your own.

My ex-partner isn't responsible for anything besides paying maintenance really and yes, he does do that.

Afraid_of_Kittens wrote: »

Have they put your monthly income down as weekly?

What income do they hold on your benefit notification?

Did your Tax Credits increase at all?

Are you paying childcare?

The income calculation on the decision notice they've sent me is wrong by about £42 a week. I don't really understand as even if I earned quite a bit more.. I would still be entitled to something... Unless all of these online calculators are rubbish and I'm imagining things.

I've made it very clear to them that I've earned about £4300 since I started up my self-employment in March. The amount varies from month to month as I don't get paid if I don't work, but since I've settled in it is usually within a small range.

My child tax credits didn't go up, but I did start receiving working tax credits. My housing benefit also went from 129.47pw to 103.18pw in time with starting my self-employment, which is in line with all of the calculations that I've done.

I don't need to pay for childcare since I work from home while the kids are at school.

I know that they are in the wrong here... when I'm not questioning my sanity! My question is how to sort it out quickly as it's becoming more and more of a problem as time goes on. I wish that I could just walk in and have a chat with someone, but that's not an option here unfortunately. At this point I would be better off not working... which seems insane to me.

jetplane

I'm not sure that you will have it sorted quickly, the LA that I work with takes weeks and months to process decisions and only prioritise when the tenant is threatened with eviction. It may be that you need to negotiate with your Landlord whilst this is ongoing.

However I think it looks as though you have made a reconsideration on 9th December and are waiting for an official decision on that so I would try to get back in touch with CAB or Welfare Rights to help you get the right decision and speed things up, they may have contacts who they can speak to.

All anyone else on here is doing is guessing which could be more frustrating than talking to the LA.

Did the LA ask you to complete an earnings statement where you detailed your income for each week or month? Unlike Tax Credits they do not calculate on annual or lump sums they use weekly or monthly income. It could be they have estimated using your best 2 months income.

I know they are not supposed to apply minimum income but that doesn't mean that they haven't so I would ask how have they calculated your weekly income, ask them to break it down so you can see how they arrived at £42 more than you.

Welfare Rights / CAB will be able to look at the detail of the rest of the calculation. They will also ensure that the Housing Benefit claim is kept live because if you need to make a new benefit claim the roll out of Universal Credit for all families is next month, regardless of how many children you have.

Teacakes

jetplane wrote: »

I'm not sure that you will have it sorted quickly, the LA that I work with takes weeks and months to process decisions and only prioritise when the tenant is threatened with eviction. It may be that you need to negotiate with your Landlord whilst this is ongoing.

However I think it looks as though you have made a reconsideration on 9th December and are waiting for an official decision on that so I would try to get back in touch with CAB or Welfare Rights to help you get the right decision and speed things up, they may have contacts who they can speak to.

All anyone else on here is doing is guessing which could be more frustrating than talking to the LA.

Did the LA ask you to complete an earnings statement where you detailed your income for each week or month? Unlike Tax Credits they do not calculate on annual or lump sums they use weekly or monthly income. It could be they have estimated using your best 2 months income.

I know they are not supposed to apply minimum income but that doesn't mean that they haven't so I would ask how have they calculated your weekly income, ask them to break it down so you can see how they arrived at £42 more than you.

Welfare Rights / CAB will be able to look at the detail of the rest of the calculation. They will also ensure that the Housing Benefit claim is kept live because if you need to make a new benefit claim the roll out of Universal Credit for all families is next month, regardless of how many children you have.

Thank you very much for the information... that's incredibly helpful. There just doesn't seem to be any way to open a line of communication with someone who actually knows what they're talking about... it's really quite stressful.

The horrible woman on the phone this afternoon did say that they are working on disputes from November, so maybe (hopefully) they will get to mine soon. I just really don't appreciate the way she made me out to be a scrounger when I'm just over here trying to get on my feet and look after my little ones.

They asked me to do the earnings statement and even if they did use my best two months... the best I've had is £718 after I got a bonus after signing a new contract in August. Like I've said before... all of the calculators under the sun that I've used tell me that I would still be entitled to housing benefit on that income. So, it's really difficult for me to understand why I'm suddenly not entitled.

I will try to give CAB a ring in the morning and see what they have to say... if I can't get through I'll just have to pop in next week after the kids go back to school. I was not aware of everyone moving over to Universal Credit next month. I wonder if it's possible for me to open a new claim while this one is being reviewed or if it's still considered "open/suspended". It would probably be sorted sooner!

jetplane

Not everyone is being moved over next month. Only families who need to make a new claim will be affected.

If they are working on November’s disputes that gives you breathing space to get help, get the breakdown calculation and get all of the information to them before they make a decision.