Its a long story but I will keep it brief. I have a friend who has had problems with Alcohol to such an extent that his marriage crumbled and he now lives in a rented flat on his own. To his credit he has stopped drinking and is putting his life back together. However he has a problem with Benefits. He is on long term sick with depression and gets ESA. When he left his wife he arranged for his company pension to be paid direct to her to cover part of the mortgage on their house. He did not want to see her in dire straits through his own fault. However when he applied for Incapacity Benefit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit he did not tell them about the pension. Now he has had a letter saying the Inland Revenue have told the Council that he was getting company pension since at least June 2013 if not before. So they have reworked his benefit and his HB is now halved and he has to pay back the overpayment at £10.00 per week. However he will no longer get CTB so now as a bill for 18 months Council Tax to pay although the letter does not say how long he has to pay this. He now realises he has to tell them about the pension from when he 1st claimed ( 2008 I think ) and they will obviously rework the benefit and he will have arrears to pay back whilst still receiving a smaller amount of HB. But I think the Council Tax arrears will be chased more vigourously by them. Also not sure what other action they might take against him He was a long term alcoholic and besides depression has high blood pressure and has attempted suicide on more than one occasion and the pressure of this may push him that way again. When he told me about this I did a Benefit Check and it seems that he may have been entitled to the pension and ESA at same time due to rules about minimum monies to live on but when I did the check it seems that he would probable be better off claiming pension credit as that would mean less income but he would get full HB and CTB and it would mean ATOS ( or whoever they are now) would not need to see him and he could just get PC until retirement in 2016. So the question is firstly what does he tell the council about the pension ( I realises he has to tell them ) as he does not want to be prosecuted for fraud whilst realising he will have to pay overpayment back. Secondly is it easy to go from ESA to PC and how would he do this Many thanks.

My brother has gone to stop with mum for 3 months, without going into full detail, officials have closed his flat, with no access. He is signed off work at the moment by the doctor, which he has to produce certificates for. Guess who now is expected to collect the certificate(s) as mums isn't local to his address. (in the UK though) Will housing benefit still be paid on his flat?

Unhappy Housing benefit under caution interview Hi I would like some advise Last week I got a letter from housing benefit about an interview under caution I started my claim in 2010 and was renting a house that my brother owned I was honest with the council and told them about this. At the end of 2010 I had a big falling out with my sis in law and she threatened to kick me out and make life difficult for me. To avoid this my brother put my name on the house title deeds so that if anything happened to him I would still have a place to live. Through out the whole time I was still paying u brother rent. Twice after this someone from the council came out to make sure my claim was right and no one mentioned anything. A name on a title deed is not something that can be hidden it is on government record and information that can be obtained at anytime. I am now worried that they think j have bought the house from my brother but no more net was exchanged I did not take out a mortgage or had any other interest in the house my name was purely on the title deed for the security of my children. I am really worried and am sick with worry doea anyone have any advice

Hi all i need a bit of advice and help please, Basically i am self employed and due to low income in receipt of Housing Benefit which is paid to me by my District Council and then paid by me to my Housing Association. Every few months the DC ask me for certain income information to prove i am still eligible for HB, i always provide and eventually it is fine, although they usually manage to balls something up, and that is where we are at again, In October they asked me to fill out some paperwork and provide proofs, which i did, i then drove the 10+ miles to their offices and handed in over counter, getting a receipt, 3 weeks later (benefit still been paid during this time) i get a letter saying they have suspended my benefit due to not receiving most of the requested paperwork, which they did, i have a receipt for it :/ So of i go again the 10+ miles to council offices and get to speak to a generic benefits adviser, i am not allowed to speak to the actual adviser dealing with my claim (the person sending me the letters) as they 'do not deal with the public' the generic adviser basically makes excuses as to why the DC are incompetent with no apology, basically passing the buck blaming everyone and anyone, so we re-check everything and then she flops out a form she says i have to fill in, it was about 30 pages long, it is clear she wanted me to go away and bring it back another day, but i wanted it sorted and done, So i had to do sitting in a public area on my knee on a chair, you would think they would have said 'its ok use this table to lean on' but nope, anyway, form done, all checked, and confirmed and re-issued another receipt stating they have again received all documents. Well..... that was weeks ago and ive not heard a peep since and not received any housing benefit, now my Landlord (housing association) are asking why the rent has not been paid for x weeks as the balance is now rather high. I have tried calling DC to ask for a update to which all i get is, its being processed, wait to hear. I have waited, weeks and weeks, I feel like they are on the 'go slow' on purpose just because i moaned they are incompetent, which they are, my next step is another visit to the offices (tomorrow) to try and force a answer and if nothing prevails their a official complaint against the DC, which is a multi tier process which could take months. Where do i stand with regards to rent owing to HA, can they issue repossession proceedings. Am i doing everything right in how i am dealing with DC. Not the kind of stress i need on the run up to xmas thanks all

hi i was last year prosecuted for benefit fraud i hold my hands up and took what i had coming no one else to blame but me, i was wondering the person who reported me did so by letter, is there any way i could get this letter or a copy of it so i could see who it was who reported me even if it wasn't sign just it could be someone i know, i don't know but does the freedom of information act or data protection act anyway of getting these or this letter, from the dwp.

Hey lovely Caggers Just after some advice on how to help my daughter, if you don't mind. She was in a private rented flat but cut the tenancy short, we agreed with her landlord (I was the lead tenant although I didn't live there because she's under 18) Housing benefit was paid up until the date her tenancy officially ended, a month after she'd physically moved out. She stayed with her ex's family until ending up in a hostel with her young baby when her ex headbutted her. Nice eh? there was some overlap between the housing benefit on her flat and the housing benefit she got while in the hostel. She accepts she should have told the original council that she'd moved but at the time assumed her landlord would do it. there's been an overpayment & we're happy to pay it for her. My issue is the council have already passed it to debt collectors (the overpayment was only in July) She's now in a house of her own with her little one and is doing a fab job a as a mummy, but... Question is, seeing that she's only 17, living on her own with a baby and being treated for anxiety and depression, do you think the council would take the debt back from Jacobs and allow us to pay it in full for her direct to the council? I don't trust jacobs not to have whacked charges on top but the last thing she needs is the threat of 'bailiffs' knocking on her door, as they've called themselves. There's no court order that we know of. She lives 4 hours away so it's not like I can just go with her to the council to sort it. I wish she lived nearer but it's her choice and she wants to stay where she is TIA!

Hi Guys, Wondering if someone can clear this up for me please. A friend of mine has been off work for 10 weeks (been in work over a year) Her contractual sick pay will reduce to half of full pay mid Dec, but there is not much poss of her returning to work before mid Jan. She will not be claiming any benefits (UC, ESA etc) because of her CSP, but will she still be entitled to HB under the 13 week rule? I have seen that this rule is being abolished under certain benefits - especially Universal Credit, but wasn't sure under CSP? Many thanks

Hello, Yesterday a Performance Measurement Review Officer came to my dad's home unannounced saying they needed to complete a form with my dad who is currently in receipt of ESA. I said no letter had been sent and we were completely unaware of the visit - the Officer said they do not always send letters out before visits. The Officer seemed okay but I had to reschedule the visit as I was just about to take my dad to a hospital appointment so we have rescheduled it for another time. I did a bit of research on the internet and the Officer gave me a leaflet and it seems the visit is to pretty much to check my dad is getting the right benefit payments. However, sadly, as with everything the DWP does I am suspicious of this "random" visit and wondered if anyone has had one of these visits before? What actually happens during the visit? Is it really just a matter of them asking about your payments and checking your accounts? The leaflet says the meeting can take up to an hour or longer - which makes me think that is a long time just to check your documents etc. Has anyone had their benefits affected after they had this review? Any information or help and advice would be much appreciated! Sorry to sound paranoid but with everything the DWP has put my dad and myself through in recent years I feel I have to be! Thanks in anticipation.

Hi there, I have a question about what to do about Housing Benefit being overdue. I've rented a room in a flat but found a flat with a cheaper room in the same city and decided to move in there. Because of this, the council said I need to fill in a new form and submit a new lease as well - all because 'change in circumstances'. I did that mid-October. In between moving to a new flat there was a week before I could move in to the new flat so, due to courtesy of my friend, slept at his couch (apparently this caused a partial overpayment). I don't think that this should bear any burden on the validity on my present claim, except of my having to pay back the partial overpayment. By now, I've been waiting over 6 weeks for the new claim to be re-assessed and all of my meager savings have been spent. I've called a council around 2 weeks ago and was told that the claim was 'being processed' and should be done in next 40 hours and that the council did not need any more documents from me. A full week passed and haven't heard from the council so called again, this time talked to another person and I was told exactly the same thing. Again, almost a week is over and heard nothing for the council. Each time I was asked If I've been receiving JSA (I have). This time I don't have enough mone to pay for my rent... Also, got a CT bill request I need to pay the full amount urgently, otherwise I'll face consequences, such as being in arreras, sheriff, etc. K.

Hi I just started as self employed and I am in private sector leasing. I am claiming work tax credits now while I get my business off the ground, and I have to fill out a form for the council so I can claim housing benefit. They want to know details about my expected accounts for the business for the first three months. Basically I borrowed money from my parents and will need to declare that on the form so I can explain my business expense. I expect to pay out into the business about the same as what i borrowed, so the question is should I just keep it simple and say I borrow X amount of money and expect to invest X amount of that in the business in the first three months? Do I have to include working tax credits? Is it best if I state I wont be paying myself a wage out of any profits in the first three months? It's so complicated all this, I can hardly find the time to work on actual business stuff for forms.

hello all, I hope somebody may be able to offer me some advice. In march 2014 I purchased the goodwill of existing hairdressing salon. I was declined for business start up loan despite putting in what I thought was a very good business plan. My sister took out a loan on my behalf to purchase the good will of the business but this meant I had no money left to buy any stock, tools, equipment and furniture for the salon. Since then I have been buying these things as Ive gone along. I also put in a claim for housing benefit and the said they weren't able to accept the loan repayment as an allowable expense. I have made lots of purchases on my credit card for these things too. They did award me some housing benefit until August 2014 when I submitted my new form. Today I received a letter to find out they have revisited my claim despite making an award and have now told me they have not allowed expenses for electrical tools, equipment and furniture as regulations state start up costs for a business are not allowable when calculating income for housing benefit. I am distraught as I have put thousands on my credit card too for business expenses. To top things off the lady I bought the business from has been canvassing and doing their hair from home and making up lies about me to sabotage the business. I just don't know which way to turn as there is no way I can afford to pay rent as I have credit card debts to pay off for tools and equipment that they wont take into account. I would appreciate any advice someone could offer please.

Hi, My brother recently split with his partner ( over three months ago ).He now lives apart from her with my young nephew.He was the sole carer for the first 6 weeks ( approx ). They then went to Court over custody and an intrim order gave residency to my brother with my nephew stopping with his mother for two nights a week. The court has now decided upon indefinite 50/50 residency. Throughout my brother has not received any financial support other than a couple of small crisis payments and the odd food parcel. He has been told that he cannot get IS because he needs to be in receipt of the Child Benefit, which we assume his ex is getting. He has been to his MP but has still not received any financial support. Can this be right ? Also, as custody is now split with each having my nephew for 5 days at a time, how are future benefits going to be paid ie for 5 days my brother cannot work but then for 5 days he could / can the Child Benifit be split at source etc BTW my nephew is 27 months old. thoughts please .

Hi Son is 16, on approved training course. Returned completed form to Child Benefit before the cut off date in August, child benefit stopped. Wrote to Child Tax credits to inform them of approved training course. Tax credits also stopped. Would you advise what to do next? Thanks

Hi Looking for advice regarding a housing benefit overpayment. I started fulltime work back in June, and moved cities. I informed the council of my work and cancelled my claim. However, I then received an additional payment. I queried this and it was told it was a 4 week run off. Now whilst I informed them I had stated full time work and would like to completely cancel my claim I didn't inform them i had moved, simply because I thought cancelling my claim based on my job should be simple enough, and I didn't know I would be receiving any other payments. However, I have just received a letter stating this was amount was an overpayment which I need to pay back. Do I have any leg to stand on in way of an appeal because I did query this payment and was basically told I was entitled. Or am I completely in the wrong with no chance of winning an appeal because I didn't inform them I had moved? If I don't have a chance of an appeal is there any way to pay this amount over a longer period of time? Both me and my partner are out of work and have decided not to claim anything as he starts a new job next month. Thankyou, looking forward to any advice.

I know a woman that has been fraudulently claiming tax credits using her mothers house for 3 years now. I have reported her about 10 different occasions during these past years as has another friend of mine.. Absolutely NOTHING gets done. She lives 200 miles south in a cottage with her working boyfriend and three children. With the Tax Credits and the Child benefit money She's pulling in close to £900 a month. Before the predictable "you're mistaken" replies come in i'd just like to emphasize the fact that i KNOW without a shadow of a doubt. I have a mutual friend who has also reported her, and she's also tried to get her to help her with more benefit fraud - Asked to falsely "rent" her house and split the housing benefit money. I can only imagine how many other people out there are doing this and getting away with it. Apparently they only investigate 5% of fraud reports - I can believe it!! If the DWP/HMRC employed more people to combat this, i'm certain they'd make massive savings from lost money and fines etc.. Anything else i can do? Write to MP maybe? I'm so annoyed seeing her holiday pictures from Jamaica on facebook

Anglia councils plan own bailiff service Seven councils are planning to launch a revenues enforcement service, allowing them to bypass commercial bailiff firms. Breckland, East Cambs, Fenland, Forest Heath, St Edmundsbury, Suffolk Coastal and Waveney Councils. The Cabinet report (Anglia Revenues Partnership (ARP) - Internal Enforcement Agency Proposals) at paragraph 4.6 shows there's a financial benefit of doing away with their contractors.

I hope someone can help with this query? Thanks. Lost home 3 years ago and have been renting since. I'm a limited Company Director. Company has never made a profit in over 10 years. Closed retail unit in 2011. We tried every which way to avoid getting any benefits, but had no choice in the end. applied & granted Housing Benefit in April this year (provided wife's PAYE details/payslips & 3 years worth of the Company Accounts for myself, which they took copies of at the time of the application). Company is still 'alive' and 'active' as far as the HMRC and Companies House are concerned. The reason the company has been kept 'alive' is that my accountant suggested it would be the best approach for getting some of my initial investment in the company back through the Director's Loan being in Credit, i.e. the company owes me money, which can be obtained from the Company using HMRC guidelines on Director's Loans. any 'income' is payable to me without being an 'income', as it's the Company entity owing me money. This is the exact opposite of most enquiries and descriptions about Director's Loans, which tend to be in Debit, i.e. the Director owes the Company money and has Tax & Benefit in Kind implications with the HMRC. I have today received a letter from the council wanting me to confirm my 'income' and if I have been 'earning' anything from my role as a Director of the Company. My wife & I are concerned and would like to know if anyone can shed light on any of this? My accountant states that: 1. Any funds coming in is effectively the Company earning the money, as it is a separate entity to me. 2. I'm working as the Director of the Company, but not earning anything as the Company is earning the money. 3. Any money used for personal costs from the Company account is being set against the huge Director’s Loan that the Company owes me. will the council view my directorship of a limited company as a 'job' and the money I get back as 'income'? What should I send them as evidence, since they already have the Company Accounts for the past 3 years? Rgds. radmm0

The council are charging us £4000 overpayment for housing benefit. We contacted them the other month after checking our on line Housing benefit on line for first time and we saw that they had our son was still on there as living with us when he moved out in August 2013 as we live in a very small two bedroom house and have a 2 and 4 year old so need the room and mine and my partners bedroom is very small so we asked our son if he move out.which he did. We contacted housing to ask why they still had him on there and not our two year old daughter when they had seen her birth certificate and letter from child benefit and child tax credit. They then sent us a bill for this amount saying this is the highest amount rent for our son because he stopped signing in in September and started work. We explain that he moved out and we sent a letter informing them off this plus my partner had been into see someone about our housing benefit and went over who was living in our home which was me my partner and our young children. Our son was never mentioned so we assumed they had received our letter. We had also filled in forms and never put him down as living with us. Now they are charging this high amount as we explained we are no longer on speaking terms with my son because family issues so no nothing where he working living or how much he is earring. We are very worried about this and sent letter off on 15th September to appeal against it, we still not heard nothing from them apart from letter saying they taking £15 a week off the £25 housing benefit they are giving us

19 yr old daughter had a baby and was on income support we didnt have to pay anything now she found a job ft and did a load of training etc started beginning of October she then finishrd income support and claimed wtc this week we are going into council to say shes started work etc shes now only doing 20 hours a week will they charge us for the previous month at the same rate or more as she was doing training and was on a trial

Not sure if someone else has come across this But I am facing 2 HMRC Issues which shows their non professionalism and inadequacy: Issue One (1): Last year my Spouse was on Maternity for 1 year which included paid, Statuary and Unpaid 3 months of Maternity pay. Since it affected our overall income I rang up HMRC and requested them if we are eligible for any Benefits due but they did calculation based on previous year and said we do not qualify for any benefits as we earned over £32000 for previous year and requested us to call them back later. However few months after my son was born and my wife's maternity finished I called them up again and asked for Child Benefit as our actual annual income for whole year fell below the estimated annual income but this time around guy working out said we do qualify and should've received tax credits HAD we called and Claimed benefits earlier. I disputed that I did call earlier but was given wrong information but he stuck to argument since I never claimed within given months I've now lost out on it. Issue Two (2): I received a letter from HMRC that I currently owe them approximately £500 in tax from year 2013-2014. Problem is that last year when I changed my employment I was charged at Basic Rate so I called up HMRC and told them about my change of job and salary etc and they said they would automatically send new Tax Code into new Employer's System which they did. Now If they are the one who put tax code into system and were aware of all my change in employment details they are responsible for not charging me correctly. Saying that do they have a right to charge me back dated tax for a mistake they made? I've recently read in local newspapers that they have done that with many others this year as they had issue with their computer systems. Can this case be argued and is there a way that outstanding tax be waived off if I put a challenge up with HMRC? Any help will be highly appreciated

A few years ago I was self employed but not earning much so I was receiving housing benefits top-up. I decided to improve my prospects & enrolled in university for a degree. I applied for the full whack of student loans. As I was finishing my final year at uni I was interviewed for benefit fraud. My view at the time was, I was self employed if I want to go to uni and get a degree in my spare time that is my business, as I was paying the student loan back it is no different to me getting any other type of loan - apparently the law doesnt agree and a payment arrangement was set-up for me to repay the overpayment. I have been happily repaying the overpayment for well over a year now. So I was surprised when I received a court summons today about this very matter. I think I need legal advice now,can anyone help?

Hello everyone, I hope you can help me. I have just finished with a 5 year case of clinical negligence, that I won. I am being paid compensation for injurys (which are pretty severe) to me thanks to this negligence. I claim Housing Benefit as the condition precludes me from work, I claim no other benefits - my wife works and she is lucky enough to run her own business. She does however claim some Tax credits as a lower income worker. We get by, just. This compensation will be great for us, but I have a real problem with actually telling the housing benefit about this. I'm not trying to be selfish here, or circumvent the system but this compensation is to help me with not being able to work. While I appreciate the help I'm getting from the DWP, the money we are getting will cover our debts, buy some things around the house for me, and ya know what to hell with it, we are going to spend some!! I just want to know where I stand with this. It's not a fortune, it wont last longer than 6 months (although my injuries are for life - gotta love this countries red tape) and I really feel that I should say nothing. I need some advice, I really dont know what to do. Thank you for your help, it is appreciated. Kutter

hey all, any advice greatly appreciated . Long story so i'll give the abridged version. 2009 - i lost my business, house, everything. my dad who was a director at the co. with me died of a massive heart attack due to the stress when we were losing the business. i had a nervous breakdown, was very ill,severe depression, mental health issues. got shingles, went off the deep end basically. after never claiming anything in my life i made a housing benefits claim .. meanwhile my life was still in tailspin. no clue how i came through it. 18 months later my wife had a heart attack , and developed massive ( still ongoing ) health issues. housing stopped my money. they said they needed to see all my bank statements etc... we moved house then, and i started to finally get back in track ( 2012 ) , apparently benefits had been writing to me at my old address. late 2012 - benefits wrote to me at my new address, inviting me for an interview under caution, i declined to attend. still have ongoing mental health issues, suffer anxiety , and cant cope with public places and people in general. i wrote back to them telling them this . they said they wanted a massive list of info from me. i didnt provide it. they wrote to me, said 'cos i didnt attend or provide, they had decided the whole claim was an overpayment .. its £26,000 !! i kept writing to them, asked them to re-consider .. they woiuldnt, so i asked to appeal few weeks later benefits sent me the file they had compiled on me. it had all sorts, bank statements for myself and my wife .. my step daughters bank statements. google info on me and my previous company / career. i had worked in the entertainment industry before my mental breakdown, and so as with most in that field, its easy to find some rubbish on google that paints you in a bad light. they said i had undertaken commercial activitiy which i had not declared, and had made money i had not declared basically. to be fair the bank statements do show money transactions. i was told there would be a tribunal hearing, but that was 9 months ago. this whole thing caused me many sleepless nights, but as with everything in life, you learn to adapt and carry on with your life. i was hoping they had changed their minds, or .. well i dont know , but today i got a latter with a tribunal date of 15 dec. i had previously indicated i would want a written hearing due to my mental health issues and anxiety .. but apparently benefits have asked for an oral hearing. so this letter is for an oral hearing. i know i dont have to go, and honestly i couldnt go. i would fall to pieces before i even got into the building. what im trying to determine, is if the tribunal appeal fails .. will i be prosecuted ? or will i just be offered the chance then to work out a plan to pay off the overpayment ? attending an oral hearing is just not an option for me - i have a feeling, or a thought, that if benefits had enough concrete evidence against me, they would have prosecuted me a long time ago, but this has been dragging on for over 2 years now surely if they had enough on me to prosecute, they could have done it one or two years ago .. i am not in the greatest financial position stil and our run of horrific happening sin our lives has continued, with various horrific deaths and such in the recent years on top of everything else. i feel lucky to be alive and able to type this message, and had finally put all this to one side to focus on rebuilding my mental health, but that letter today has freaked me out so yeah im rambling .. what does anyone think ?

I have just had a Council Tax Bill of over £1000. I am a single parent on minimum wage working between 16 and 20 hours per week. Some weeks I work 12 hours others I can work 20 or more depending on the needs of the business. Phoned the council only to be told that their systems are linked to HMRC and they calculate my council tax liability on my earnings. They say my Council Tax Support has been overpaid and now I have to pay it back. So from being ahead with no debt I am now in huge debt with the Council Tax and I cannot see a way of being able to afford to pay it back. As well as this I have been overpaid on Housing Benefit too. Council now want me to pay £83 per week in rent for my 2 bedroom council house. They told me this is backdated from 1st April 2013 until 19th October 2014. I have no idea how I am going to afford all this as I earn less than £500 per month in wages. I get £139 a week in Tax Credits, £20 a week Child Benefit and £30 a week from CSA. This only just covers the bills. I would be better off not working!! According to the council I have to phone them every week if my hours change. I did phone them earlier in the year telling them I am working more than 16 hours but they told me just to wait for them to get in touch.

Hi Everyone, I am on Income Support and receiving Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit for my 19 years old son, he will be 20 years old in January, I was told by both CB and CT that my son can receive those as he is under 20 years old and is a full time student, he has just enrol for his new course and I am wondering what hours does the Housing Benefit class as full time studying! I have the papers for proof for his studying from his College, they have put on the start date and end date for the course! which is Sept 2013 until 26/6/2014 start from 9-00am to 5-00pm! I have already rang my local authority and will take the hard copy to them as they suggested because the would not accept a photo copy that is no problem, but I am now very worried after seeing a thread on here very recently about someone studying for their course and could not take exam all day as they were classed as not available for work, I do not want my son being hassle by either the DWP or Ingeus he is studying hard at the moment and wants to go straight to work once he finishes his study, I am also helping him to look for Apprenticeship job whilst he is studying! Can someone please tell me how many hours does the Housing Benefit class as full time studying??? Thanks in advance! helen