Housing Benefit - waiting since 7th September

franlow01

Apologies in advance as I can't find my previous thread.

I sent a letter to my local council regarding a rise in my rent (lodger) at the beginning of September. I chased it up beginning of October to be told it is with a benefits assessor and they will contact me of needed.
I have followed it up twice since then (beginning of November & then last week), but this last reply was quite abrupt, as if I shouldn't chase it up. My rent is due next week and although I have been paying the uplift (previously rent was quite a bit under LHA, now I'll be just over it, so I'll have to top up a little bit anyway), its been a bit of a struggle, especially at this time of year.

Do you know of there is a statutory time limit for them to respond? I didn't feel I was being pushy by leaving it 4 weeks between each contact but maybe I need to leave them to it? Feeling a bit awkward.

Thanks in advance.

calcotti

Previous thread is here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6205020/housing-benefit-wait-time#latest

poppy12345

franlow01 said:

Do you know of there is a statutory time limit for them to respond?

There's no timescales. All you can do is contact them again.

franlow01

calcotti said:

Previous thread is here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6205020/housing-benefit-wait-time#latest

 Thank you Calcotti. Any advice how to find precious thread?

poppy12345 said:

franlow01 said:

Do you know of there is a statutory time limit for them to respond?

There's no timescales. All you can do is contact them again.

Thanks. It just put me off because of how they were this week. I completely understand it would take longer than usual due to Covid, but unexpected that it would be 3 months. Will give them a couple of weeks and contact again. Thanks.

Caz3121

franlow01 said:

Any advice how to find precious thread?

Click on the post authors name (in this case your name) and you can choose from 'threads' or 'replies'

pmlindyloo

I am presuming that you are still in the same accommodation as a lodger and you haven't changed local authorities.
You say you had a rent rise in September and this now takes you over the LHA rate whereas you were previously under the LHA?
May be totally wrong here but am wondering if 1) you sent them confirmation of the new rent? (a letter/contract/email) and 2) whether they are questioning the rise in rent e.g. was this written into your lodger's agreement?
Despite the COVID situation I am surprised at how long you have been waiting.
When you ring you could ask if they require any further information/evidence and whether this has gone to a Decision maker.
And one more thing!  Was the rise because of increased utility costs or purely a rise in the rent?
Just a few thoughts.

[Deleted User]

When you chased it up, did you use the Complaints form on the council's website?  That's the best way to get a quick response!

KatrinaWaves

Poster_586329 said:

When you chased it up, did you use the Complaints form on the council's website?  That's the best way to get a quick response!

Use a complaints form when you have a complaint, not to 'speed things up' You may think this will bump you up the queue but all it does is get you a generic 'we'll look into this' response written by the same people and signed by a higher up, which takes up more time and gives them less time to do actual work and sort peoples issues.

OP - what did the last abrupt response say? 3 months is indeed unusually long but it may be they have things to look into, have they ever indicated that? It may be that they need to check things as it is fairly unusual for something to jump from 'quite a bit under' to 'over' the LHA in one raise. Without knowing what you have told them and what they have asked for/need to work on, its impossible to know whether this taking unusually long or not.

Alice_Holt

May be worth contacting your local ward councillor. 

[Deleted User]

KatrinaWaves said:

Poster_586329 said:

When you chased it up, did you use the Complaints form on the council's website?  That's the best way to get a quick response!

Use a complaints form when you have a complaint, not to 'speed things up' You may think this will bump you up the queue but all it does is get you a generic 'we'll look into this' response written by the same people and signed by a higher up, which takes up more time and gives them less time to do actual work and sort peoples issues.

When there was a delay in my HB reassessment, this is what someone on the council's phoneline actually told me to do.  And it worked, my problem was sorted within days.   This was in pre-Covid times, however.

franlow01

pmlindyloo said:

I am presuming that you are still in the same accommodation as a lodger and you haven't changed local authorities.
You say you had a rent rise in September and this now takes you over the LHA rate whereas you were previously under the LHA?
May be totally wrong here but am wondering if 1) you sent them confirmation of the new rent? (a letter/contract/email) and 2) whether they are questioning the rise in rent e.g. was this written into your lodger's agreement?
Despite the COVID situation I am surprised at how long you have been waiting.
When you ring you could ask if they require any further information/evidence and whether this has gone to a Decision maker.
And one more thing!  Was the rise because of increased utility costs or purely a rise in the rent?
Just a few thoughts.

Thanks for reply. Yes, still in same accommodation, and not changed LA.
Yes, I was previously under LHA, but landlord has upped the rent as she has adapted my bathroom and financial constraints due to the impact of Covid means she can't offer it at the low end of what similar lodgings go for like she had done. The new rent is still well within local rental/lodging rates.

I sent everything in with my letter in September- proof of rent payments, letter from landlord, along with their official form and asked if they needed information  to contact me.

When I contact them the response is always along the lines of 'it is with a benefits assessor and we have informed you that if we need any further information we will contact you'

Thanks again.

KatrinaWaves said:

Poster_586329 said:

When you chased it up, did you use the Complaints form on the council's website?  That's the best way to get a quick response!

Use a complaints form when you have a complaint, not to 'speed things up' You may think this will bump you up the queue but all it does is get you a generic 'we'll look into this' response written by the same people and signed by a higher up, which takes up more time and gives them less time to do actual work and sort peoples issues.

OP - what did the last abrupt response say? 3 months is indeed unusually long but it may be they have things to look into, have they ever indicated that? It may be that they need to check things as it is fairly unusual for something to jump from 'quite a bit under' to 'over' the LHA in one raise. Without knowing what you have told them and what they have asked for/need to work on, its impossible to know whether this taking unusually long or not.

Thanks for your reply. My rent hasn't risen for 5years, and landlord has recently adapted my en-suite bathroom and due to Covid can't offer rent at the low end of the scale like she could previously (lost a well paid job), so my lodging was always quite low compared to market rates, and is now within it.
The council have never given any indication that they're looking into anything or asked for further information- I've offered that several times. They just keep telling me they will contact me if needed.

Thanks everyone.