Housing benefit review

tracykk

Hi. My tenant is/was on housing and council tax benefit but this was stopped 3 months ago as they sent him a review form which he didn't receive. He has been battling ever since to get this repaid and the benefits reinstated. Initially he was told that he would get the 3 months back but has since been told that he won't and that he has to claim for universal credit. He is 70+ but has a working age wife and 2 children. I called and they said he could appeal. Presumably he is entitled to the back payment as he is now in debt to pay for the last 3 months (but now can't pay the rent in July as he has nothing to fall back on)? And can he get housing and council tax benefits reinstated going forward or will he have no choice but to go on to Universal Credit which I understand will take weeks to come through. In the meantime the rent is my only income so  I now won't be able to pay my bills. Any help and advice would be appreciated! I have emailed the company it has been outsourced to (LGSS) and also complained to the district council. Is there anything else I or the tenant can do to get this resolved?

KatrinaWaves

There is nothing you can do. It’s his claim. So unless he puts you on there as someone that can speak about the account then no.

there are a lot of assumptions here. We don’t know why it was stopped or whether or not this is correct or not. How can we know if he will get the back pay.

its very worrying you are relying on not only a rental property for your sole income, but on a tenants benefits for your only income. That’s incredibly precarious ground as you now realise. 

poppy12345

Housing benefit should have just been suspended rather than stop completely. Is it usually paid directly to you or to the tenants and then they pay you? What other benefits, if any do they claim or is the partner working some hours?

tracykk

Thank you both for replying...It was stopped (along with council tax benefit) because he didn't receive a review form. He eventually completed one and at first they said his benefits would be reinstated and arrears paid and then subsequently told him he would have to claim UC instead and wouldn't get the stopped payments either! He was working when he first became my tenant and subsequently got made redundant, but has been a tenant for 13 years and has always paid with no issues whatsoever until now. They pay it to him but it's never been an issue, though will get this changed once this is all resolved and have asked him to give his authority for me to discuss it with the company that is dealing with this on the council's behalf. He keeps looking to me for advice on what to do. They get tax credits as well and he gets the state pension and has 2 small private ones. There is also a guarantor - his sister, but he has borrowed from her already thinking he would get the back payments and says he can't borrow more. I agree I am on precarious ground, but after 13 years of no issues, why would I think that would change. Someone getting benefits may well be safer than someone who might lose their job at the moment! Though I can't get rent default insurance because of it. His wife was working part time as an invigilator at a school but that has obviously stopped for the time being. He called about universal credit after being told he would have to go on it (though hasn't had a copy of the letter confirming that dated 9th June) so I am also worried that by doing so he has scuppered any chance of going back on his previous benefits, though no idea which is better for him and given his situation, he obviously felt he had no choice. He has been staggeringly non pro active though and naively assumed it would all get sorted by now. In the meantime I have pushed him to contact citizens advice and to ask for communications including copy letters by email and he has sent an emailed appeal in, as I was told he could do so. Why noone told him this before or suggested they email information to him is beyond me. Any advice gratefully received.

tracykk

Is an annual review form sent every year - ie should he have realised one hadn't arrived?

calcotti

tracykk said:

Is an annual review form sent every year - ie should he have realised one hadn't arrived?

I have no idea whether review forms are normally sent every year but lots of things have not been normal this year anyway.

Encouraging him to get advice from Citizens Advice or other advice agency is probably the best you can do. Without more information about his household circumstances it is impossible to know what is best.

poppy12345

tracykk said:

Is an annual review form sent every year - ie should he have realised one hadn't arrived?

I've claimed housing benefit for many years and i've never received an annual review form.

Your long comment above is very difficult to read because it's lacking in paragraphs but i did read that she works, so this may have been the reason they were sent an annual review form. My health prevents me from working so there's really no need for them to send me a review form.

[Deleted User]

I echo the same, the times I have claimed I was never sent review forms. 

tracykk

Thanks everyone - appreciate you taking the time. He isn't being at all pro-active which is really frustrating and hard to understand, so I ended up writing an appeal email for him as his first attempt didn't include any of the points that he needed to put in it. Let's hope the appeal is successful and gets resolved quickly!