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Housing benefit - arrears
- Becky Sutton
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4 years 6 months ago #238965 by Becky Sutton
Housing benefit - arrears was created by Becky Sutton
Hi all, I am hoping for advice. I support someone with a learning disability, they receives housing benefit, which is paid direct to landlord as it is supported living accommodation.
This person had been working 16 hours a week, which was not declared therefor they had to repay the over payment to DWP, fair enough, as he should not of had this in the first place, and he could afford to pay it back.
Due to this, housing benefit said that they had overpaid him, and want to claim back arrears, now I do not think this is fair enough, as he had paid the money owed to DWP, so technically he never had the money in the first place.
Money is being cut out of the housing benefit each week, which means the landlord has to ask him to pay the difference, which is fair enough too, as it is a charity.
This person is working extra hours in order to be able to survive and reside in the supported living accommodation, but now he is earning 'too much' (he works an extra 3 hours a week).
We tried to resolve this, but we did not get the information back to them in time, so missed out on any revisions or help.
Can anyone offer any advice on what we can do, as I am concerned this could effect his tenancy as he owes over £2000 to the landlord and the benefits team are taking too long to get back to me.
It is causing this person a lot of stress and anxiety.
Thanks for any help
This person had been working 16 hours a week, which was not declared therefor they had to repay the over payment to DWP, fair enough, as he should not of had this in the first place, and he could afford to pay it back.
Due to this, housing benefit said that they had overpaid him, and want to claim back arrears, now I do not think this is fair enough, as he had paid the money owed to DWP, so technically he never had the money in the first place.
Money is being cut out of the housing benefit each week, which means the landlord has to ask him to pay the difference, which is fair enough too, as it is a charity.
This person is working extra hours in order to be able to survive and reside in the supported living accommodation, but now he is earning 'too much' (he works an extra 3 hours a week).
We tried to resolve this, but we did not get the information back to them in time, so missed out on any revisions or help.
Can anyone offer any advice on what we can do, as I am concerned this could effect his tenancy as he owes over £2000 to the landlord and the benefits team are taking too long to get back to me.
It is causing this person a lot of stress and anxiety.
Thanks for any help
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- Gordon
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4 years 6 months ago #238975 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic Housing benefit - arrears
B
Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is
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My best advice would be for them to get face to face advice, do an internet search for "welfare advice" with their postcode, town or county.
The DWP is not responsible for Housing Benefit so the payment to them must have been because the person was receiving a Social Security benefit such as ESA or Universal Credit.
Housing Benefit is administered by the Local Authority and can be affected by income.
Whilst the normal period for challenging a Decision is one month a Late request can be made up to 13 months after the date of the Decision so it should still be possible to challenge the overpayment Decisions if there is reason to do so.
Gordon
Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is
Welcome to Benefits and Work
In case you are not aware, your real name appears to be showing in the forum, if you want to change this then follow the instructions in the following FAQ
My full name is showing, how can I stop it?
My best advice would be for them to get face to face advice, do an internet search for "welfare advice" with their postcode, town or county.
The DWP is not responsible for Housing Benefit so the payment to them must have been because the person was receiving a Social Security benefit such as ESA or Universal Credit.
Housing Benefit is administered by the Local Authority and can be affected by income.
Whilst the normal period for challenging a Decision is one month a Late request can be made up to 13 months after the date of the Decision so it should still be possible to challenge the overpayment Decisions if there is reason to do so.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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