hi, back in 2010 we qualified for and claimed housing benefit. In October of the same year we had to move from one borough to another because we needed to be close to a relative who required care. At the same time we received a renewal form for HB and due to us leaving I did not renew, thinking we wouldnt require it and it would be cancelled. Within a couple of months the council had sent a letter saying we now owed over £4500 in HB (because the renewal form had not been returned). i tried to explain the situation (ie thinking the claim would be cancelled - something i planned to do but they would not listen.) how do i go about rectifying this? thanks in advance for any help offered!

Please do not judge me but I have cheated the benefit system. On Monday of this week (28/04/2014) I received a letter which has requested that I attend an interview at my local Job Center concerning "an investigation into alleged criminal offences in relation to a claim to benefits" The letter does not give any further information other that I might want to have some legal representative there with me and that I should notify them that I will be attending. This I have done and have arranged for a legal representative as well to be there. A little background concerning what led to this situation. I have been on JSA for about 9-10 years and during that time I have done everything that the job centre as asked of me gone on courses both voluntary and mandatory, Been on the Work programme and finished it. Applied for numerous positions and showed them I was trying hard to get employment. But, at the end of it all I still was unemployed. All through this time (except for a three year break) I have kept an hobby of mine going and even tried to turn it into a business using a employment run test trading scheme that allowed you to start up a business whilst still receiving benefits. Business initiative (BI) were the people who oversaw the scheme. However during the test period BI did something which completely upset me to the point that I quit the scheme and did not touch my hobby again for three years. Moving on :- My wife is disabled with a variety of conditions (osteoporosis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome + others) and we have never had any Benefit for her except for DLA High rate Mobility) they never let us have the Care component. Anyway she developed another problem about 12 months ago and in receiving a prescribe drug for that to keep it under control as there's currently no cure for it. Something to do with the three main nerves in the face becoming inflamed and this causes severe pain in the head and neck. Even forgetting her tablets for one day means it takes about 10 days to get it back under control again. Anyway to keep it short Because I did not want her to be on her own in the house if I was lucky enough to finally get a job I did something silly and started my hobby again. However, due to the bedroom tax money had become rather tight and so I sold some of my things I had created to pay for my hobby and not have to use any money coming in from benefits as these were needed to pay for our normal day to day living. The problem is that the hobby grew beyond just a few £'s per week and grew to about £50+ after all the costs involved were taken off. This money I reinvested in better equipment and materials for the hobby. None of it was ever used for day to day living. I did not tell the JSA about this but discussed the possibility with them of getting onto a scheme they were now running whereby you received a proportion of the benefits you used to get for about 26 weeks and during that time you traded. We even went as far as getting me with a Enterprise Support Agency who would look over a business plan I was creating and make sure it was viable. However, the name Business Initiative came up as the people who would oversee my business progress and it was alarm bells instantly. As previously mentioned I had had a bad time with them and I just did not want them anyway near me again. The hobby(business) kept growing and the calculations showed that I was now at a point that with Working Tax credits and the income I was generating I could finally get off JSA and made the decision to go self employed as I did not want to waste all the effort I had put into it. The irony is that on the very morning I was going to sign off, get registered for self employment with the tax office and contact my housing association the above mentioned letter came and it completely put everything into jeopardy. So, here I am asking for any advice concerning what I should do now. I know I should not have done it but I only really did it with the intention of being there for my wife and to finally follow a dream I had had since I was a boy of running a business in an occupation I love. Please advise and I will answer any questions you may have (except what the actual business would be). Oh and I forgot to say that I have no criminal record at all, This would be my first offence if it did go to court.

Apologies if this is the wrong forum/area. Admin - please move if appropriate. OK, will try and be brief: I live at home with my parents, we have a2 bed property and a joint tenancy (my signature and my parents signature are on the agreement) I get HB and ESA (previously JSA) and my Mother and Father between them get HB, Disability (higher for Father middle for Mother and carers allowance), pension and pension credit. Our HB is paid monthly for the cost of the rent (50% Father and 50% myself) and I transfer my money to Father who pays rent from his account. As we are joint tenants (1 room each) we get the 50% of actual rent each. If we were to move house would we still be entitled to (in the same area) the 50% each as long as we do a joint tenancy? Also, at the moment our rent is £700pcm so we get £350pcm each - of we found somewhere nicer at say £800pcm would we get the £400pcm as long as it remained within the allowance for the council? I think the single rate in my council is around £444pcm so in effect would it be feasible to look for somewhere at £888pcm (we are not but want to maybe go a bit higher at say £800pcm) or would the council see it as 'no need to move if not given notice' or 'why should we pay more when you should be decreasing value not increasing' or would itbe exercising our right to fall in the allowance guidelines whatever we choose to do? A bit confusing but a few issues with landlord and agreement is up mid December so if possible want to look at options. Many thanks

Hi all. I'm hoping to get some advice housing benefit. My HB has been suspended for awhile (they asked for further info - which I've submitted), due to a change in circumstances (changes in income & work). The landlord (a housing assoc.) are now sending letters demanding payment, which I cannot afford. It won't be long until they start proceedings for eviction. Is there anything I can ask the local council in order to get the HB reinstated? Is there an emergency fund for this sort of scenario? I just need to keep the landlord off my back. The council are dragging their heels in sorting this out, whilst the LL is breathing down my neck! Thanks.

I have woken up today feeling awful, no energy at all, sore throat, achy and just feeling terrible, can hardly walk around the house. The thing is i'm due to go to a Work Programme appointment on Tuesday and a job fair Thursday and i'm worried because if i'm not better for those things then I won't be able to attend and I'm worried because I know the Work Programme has a habit of sanctioning people, I have only ever been sanctioned once (unfairly) and I won that appeal so technically never had a sanction. Need some advice on this, thank you.

I think we may have committed benefit fraud! We get pension credit at the moment, both guaranteed and savings. At 12.30pm today we have a compliance meeting at the jobcentre plus office. When we were awarded the savings part of pension credit we had £2000 savings (the only reason we got it). This has now whittled away to just £200! So, without realising it, we have committed fraud because we didn't declare this. Having only just looked into it, not having realised before. Are we likely to just have saving pension credit withdrawn? Are we liable to pay it back? Even more worrying, will we lose pension credit all together? Thus losing support for mortgage interest in the process! This would effectively make us homeless! Please advise?

Has your Child Benefit or Child Tax Credit stopped because you have a child who has turned 16? These benefits usually stop on 31 August after a child turns 16, but if your child is in full-time approved education or training, you can still claim for them until they are 19, or in some cases 20. Changes introduced this year mean that Child Tax Credit will also stop automatically when you child turns 18 or 19, unless you tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that they are in approved education or training. Approved education or training can include GCSEs, A/AS levels, Scottish Highers, national diplomas and NVQs up to level 3, as well as apprenticeships or traineeships. You can find information about what counts as approved education or training on the GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk. The education must be non-advanced, so studying for a degree at university doesn’t count. A young person must be accepted onto an approved course or training before their 19th birthday to be eligible. You can tell HMRC if your child is eligible in the following ways: by phoning 0300 200 3100 by post to Child Tax Credits, Tax Credits Office, Preston, PR1 4AT, and to Child Benefit Office, PO Box 1, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE88 1AA. You’ll need to write to each office separately if you’re claiming both online at https://online.hmrc.gov.uk for Child Benefit only. It’s also important to let HMRC know if a young person leaves approved education or training, for instance to start work or because their course has ended. If you don’t report a change, you could build up an overpayment, which you will have to pay back. You could also be given a penalty for failing to report a change, or even prosecuted for benefit fraud if you are found to have deliberately claimed money you were not entitled to. http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/news/whats_new_sept14_child_benefit_and_child_tax_credit_for_16-19_year_olds.htm

I dont quite understand what the problem here is, claimant on DLA, partner is a carer, claim income support/child tax credits etc. Do not claim Mortgage relief (barred for whatever reason it was at the time of the claim some years ago) October, the Atos form arrives re assessment, form filled in and sent back (recorded), nothing heard from since. No medical sought (as yet) Roll forward 2 months and a letter drops through the door from the Benefit Integrity Centre in Ilford (about 100miles from the claimants address) withan Income Support from A2/04/12 . Form states that claimant has been getting income support for some time now and they need make sure they're getting the right amount of money. The enclosed letter from the Integrity Centre was dated 7th December and they want it back by the 20th December, just under two weeks. It is 33 pages long, has questions that were not asked the same or were not on the original form filled out about 6 years ago when the claim was first made, some of the questions seem almost intrusive. Some of the questions require quite accurate information, the claimant is currently not really well enough to answer the questions, some of the paperwork required needs a bank statement obtaining/ share amounts calculating etc. All this within 13 days or the threat of money being stopped? Seems a little unfair. They also want 'where to pay the money into' which they already have the details re accounts/sort codes, so why the need for these details? In part5 it asks ' Do you or your partner have any of the following' and ' You must answer for every item in the list. Tell us about accounts even if they are not in credit. but then go on to give just one line and £ amount for the bank accounts? Does this mean the claimant has to say 'Yes' to the bank accounts and then add how much is in each one credit wise and put the total in the box? If this is the case, the accounts are all but one overdrawn. Also, it asks for saving, there is a running float of around £1k in the account that the DWP payments are put in to, this would not be 'savings' but more of there before it gets used (which it does every month. They also want details of the mortgage but this was before the initial claim was made by some 4 years and no mortgage relief is being claimed (they are disallowed by the rules) so why is this relevant? why do they need to know? any help/advice would be much appreicated, the time limit given for the form (sent on 7th, received on 9th and want it back by 20th) seems a little strict.

Ok My elderly mother and I live together in our joint owned house. Mum is on state pension and pension credit. I have just been awarded HRC from previously being on LRC, also on HRM. My son lives with us and is my mums carer, he claims carers allowance and IS I have just received a letter to say that I may be to apply for severe disability allowance. Is this the case or will I not be entitled to it as my son also lives here. Thanks for reading.

Hello I am wondering about the capital disregard rules for savings between £6000 and £16000. I understand assumed income is £1 for every £250 (i think anyway) but what I was wondering is if that is worked out and applied separately to each benefit claimed or is it worked out on the total of all the benefits? I claimed housing for a while and had I been honest about my savings I would have only lost £20 a week. I got ESA for a short while when in hospital too. I was trying to work out if that means I would have still only lost £20 per week or does the housing + ESA make it £40 per week. I don't even know if I make sense sorry....

I have been interviewed aggressively by two members of a investigation team for benefit fraud, they claim that from last June 2013 till April 2014 I did not inform them of a change of circumstances, i.e. a new bank account and the fact that over that period some £6000 was put in that account and a friend lent me £15,000 to buy a car, what Is going to happen.

Hi all, my partner was on SSP as she's been off sick from work for over a year but it has recently stopped and she is now on ESA. She lives in a room and looking at the housing allowance rates she should get £350 a month, her rent is £350 a month, however they have only awarded her £250 a month and using the excuse that her postcode falls under a different county, how can this be? Sounds like she's big fobbed off, can anyone help? Thank you.

Good evening all, some advice would be appreciated. I received a letter today stating my council tax benefit has been reassessed. They have gone back to tax year 2012/2013. The letter states:- "Your claim for Council Tax Benefit has been reassessed because child benefit ended for ******** from September 2012." They state that I owe 2012/2013 - £279.37 2013/2014 - £845.76 They have also changed my benefit for this year and my monthly payments have risen from £5.22 per month to £124.00 per month. There is no way I can pay this and pay arrears on top. I rang them and apparently when my daughters child benefit finished she no longer became my dependent. They also said I could appeal but there would be no point because it wasn't council rules, it was Government rules. Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am writing this post on behalf of a friend she has been unemployed now for about 9 months after doing temporary work for agencies. She completed the booklet and sent it back and the form was resent with sections not properly filled in one was her pension which she will not et until next year but they are asking statements, the other is she is living in her x partners property for now until he sells, the house belongs to him, but he is kind enough for her to stay there until such he stills pay the mortgage and the council tax but lives with a friend locally. She is not sure of his details but they are asking for his details, how should she answer to this does not know his address, she does not get involved with his private life, although they are good friends. Any advice please Mashmallow

I am a 53 year old woman.live alone, working 20 hours a week on minimum wage. get a small amount of tax credits ..Pay full council tax and only get £19 of my rent........after i then pay all my other bills and monthly bus fares I know i was definatly better off on benefits... However i need to work for my sanity Back to the original question I suffer with Restless leg syndrome and take Topamax and Zopiclone... Do i qualify for a perscription excemption certificate and if so how do i apply.. At the end of the month i have barely enough to eat let alone get my percription,but without them i would be in trouble!! And i wear glasses and have a nhs dentist that i am happy with both of which i would be unable to affored were i not helped in some way... Thankyou for advise.

Hi there, My husband and I have been left in a bit of a pickle with debts and low wages. After doing much research we have decided the best option for us is to go bankrupt. Also we are going to need to claim housing benefit as his wages have just been cut. We rent our house, and I've looked through the tenancy agreement for any clauses about bankruptcy or housing benefit, but neither are mentioned anywhere. Can I therefore assume that we can go ahead on both counts and legally nothing can be done to evict us on these grounds? We're good quiet tenants and apart from 6 months of late rent payments, we've never been any trouble. The rent has been paid on time for the last 5 months and there were zero issues on our most recent house inspection. I'd appreciate any advice anyone can offer. It's a scary time for us. Thanks in advance.

Had a one off payment from csa from backdated csa, and there wont be any other payments other than this, its a large amount and we get child tax credit, working tax credit and a little help with rent and council tax, does anyone know if this payment affects any of the above benefits?

Good afternoon, We are hoping someone may be able to give us some advice on an extremely stressful situation. Up to the end of January 2014 my partner and I have been receiving assistance from housing benefit as our employment/business situation has been far from standard over the past few years. We have endeavoured to notify the council of anything which would affect our claim and have been working extremely hard to get ourselves out of the position where we need this assistance. We were invited to an interview under caution in February 2014 as there had been a discrepancy in our capital. This came as a surprise initially but after attending the interview it was clear why it had occurred. In January 2013 we lost a close relative and I was executor to the Will. This meant that over the following few months, some large sums of money passed through my account as they were being dispersed from the banks to the beneficiaries as well as paying the estate expenses. In hindsight it would have made sense for us to have notified the council that the funds were passing through our accounts but because only a small amount would end up being legally ours, we knew it wouldn't take us over the threshold and therefore didn't want to complicate matters any further (there had already been several complications relating to my employment which led to suspension and re-instatement several times plus countless hours of letter writing to explain everything over and over again). Anyway, during the interview under caution I had prepared a full breakdown of the amounts passing through our accounts (down to the penny) and could show that after everything was paid and transferred to the beneficiaries, we were left with less than £16,000 and the amount which was left was used to pay off a debt relating to my employment. Following the interview, several more pieces of information were requested by the council and everything was provided in a timely manner. Last month we received a series of decision notices dated 4th April (standard computer generated notices) saying that we had been overpaid by just over £3,500 in housing benefit and £500 in council tax benefit. Their calculation made no sense as the figures didn't relate to any that had been provided throughout the investigation but they seemed to have taken the first lump sum paid in and then suspended our entitlement from that day forward. We spent a considerable amount of time looking over the overpayment periods and then wrote back to them (within the 1 month window on the 24th April) to say that we intended to appeal the decision as none of the information had been taken into account and their figures did not make sense. We also requested a breakdown of their calculations and a statement of reasons. We didn't receive a reply until 8th May which is just outside the 1 month appeal window stating that they would like us to attend an interview to agree to pay an administrative penalty of 50% of the overpayments which totals over £2000 on top of the overpayment. They appear to have ignored the letter requesting a breakdown of their calculations and our appeal intentions. I have written to them again requesting the breakdown and advising that if it isn't provided then we will have no choice but to make a formal complaint and involve the local government ombudsman. We are concerned that they have only given us around 2 weeks before we need to sign and agree to the administrative penalty or court proceedings will begin. Has anyone experienced a situation where the money in their account isn't legally theirs and therefore cannot be of benefit to them? The council had a copy of the Will during the interview and it was referred to several times so they were aware that the money wasn't ours. Any advice would be appreciated as the situation has caused us a huge amount of stress over the past few months. Kind regards R & G

Hi, really quick one. I having a dispute over housing and council tax benefit. basically I work 29.5 hours. I have 5.5 hors of unpaid breaks. surely this means My working hours are 24? no? thanks in advance for the advice...

Hi all, Just wondering if I could grab some advice. I am a student nurse on maternity leave and also a single Mum. I receive a maternity bursary, maternity allowance, child tax credits and child benefit. I was advised to apply for Housing Benefit, so I went to the housing office and made an appointment. I brought all my financial information with me, and made the housing advisor fully aware that I was a student. She made the decision to not take my student maternity bursary into account as she wasn't sure if she was supposed to. They made a calculation that I should receive some housing benefit (most of my rent). Two weeks down the line I get a letter telling me I owe them £143 overpayment. I have submitted a letter of appeal, but just wanted some advise if possible please. I mean, if I wasn't entitled, that's fine but how is it fair that they make the wrong decision and I must pay for it down the line? I was 100% honest and open with them about my status and income! Thanks in advance x

Hi there, I received a letter yesterday to go for an interview because they have reason to believe I live with my partner. I have a complicated story and really need some advice as feeling so upset and low. When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter I also found out that my partner had over £24000 worth of debt that he has not disclosed to me. This broke our relationship apart and I decided that he was too much of a liability to live with as his debts were more than our income. He moved in with his parents and at that time we were not longer together which was a hard position to be in as a single parent and being pregnant. When our daughter was born she was premature therefor he stated in the house with my son while I was at hospital. We grew closer together and although he did not move in we started a relationship which has grown from strength to strength. He would come down every morning to help with the kids and also come over after work to see them both and help me with the house etc. this went on from march 2012 - start of May this year when he finally moved back in after I began full time work as a child minder and he had payed a lot of debt due to a second weekend job. My partners car was always at my home as I used it for my work and for the kids and he did not use it for work as always got the train. I received the letter yesterday and thought it was because I hadn't got round to phoning up the various benefits to inform the That my partner had Moved in just shy of 2 weeks ago. After phoning to ask about the letter they then said they have evidence to believe he has always stayed here. What kind of evidence is this? It was genuine but I have a horrible horrible feeling I'm in huge trouble? Thanks very much any advice would be much appreciated

I am 40 this month and am currently on £220 Housing Benefit per month and £202.70 Income Support (Incapacity Benefit) per fortnight, and I have been concerned about the "horror stories" concerning the ATOS reassessments based on their medical examinations. I personally take medication, like Sulpiride for anxiety and paranoia, and Omeprazole for a hiatal hernia caused by my abdominal obesity, ie. I look like a pregnant man, my belly is so big. My knees are also quite stiff, and I don't like resting on them to look in cupboards and so forth. So when I get a letter from ATOS/DWP saying I have to come in for a medical, I just go ahead and answer truthfully, right? If I'm deemed fit for work, I will have to attend interviews and so on, but for a while will only end up with something like £71 per week during the "assessment phase", but eventually end up on the "work-related activity group" at £99.15, right? That sounds not much less at all than the benefit I'm on now, which is a good thing. And I've been thinking about reentering employment for a long time now, as voluntary work just isn't cutting it and I want more money, frankly. The job market is dismal, but I'm strangely confident, for some reason. I would class myself as only slightly disabled, but is it the fear of reduced benefits or having to travel to interviews that are petrifying the genuinely needy disabled people out there, leading to the poverty and suicides we've heard about when they're deemed fit for work? Or am I missing something? Also, does the Universal Credit mean that Housing Benefit and ESA will be all combined into one lump sum per month?

My brother was originally on Incap for years, then they transferred him to JSA in March 2013. He started work last monday & is loving it. He is 31 yrs old. Single. No dependants. He has cancelled his JSA & housing benefit & isn't entitled to any housing benefit, but seems he will get about £50 a week working tax credits. I understood him to be able to get a 4 week run on with housing benefit though. But the council have told him he won't. He did get sanctioned with JSA for getting the day wrong with an appointment a couple of months ago. Although the council said it wasn't to do with that. It was because he hadn't been on JSA long enough. Even though he was on it just over a year. He didn't realise the time to be on JSA is 26 weeks for the 4 week run on. Could it be because of the sanction do you think? I think he is going to try ringing them tomorrow, but it's difficult for him because he is now working full time in a different town.

Hi I have today received a letter from the council advising I am under investigation for Benefit Fraud and I need to call to arrange an interview....I wasnt even aware i was on benefits? After 20 years working, this Jan I found myself out of work for the first time and despite my pride I signed on and received Contribution based Job Seekers. On the form it mentioned that I would be entitled to Housing Benefit, I held out on this for a further 3 weeks but had no choice but to apply for Housing Benefit and was awarded 380 every 4 weeks. I thankfully found a job after recieving my first payment and signed off JSA accordingly...heres where my problem seems to have started.....On the form for JSA it stated that the Job Centre would inform the benefits agency that my circumstances had changed ... my inexperience in this area meant I have incorrectly assumed that this meant Housing benefit too and as such not informed them directly.......it seems that this was a major error in judgement!! Upon investigation I have in fact had 2 further payments paid into my account for 380 which I honestly had not seen (partly due to having to wait for 6 weeks for my first paycheck from work and partly due to being an idiot).......I know ignorance is no excuse but I'm at a loss as to how to explain this without being bluntly honest? Can anybody advise on what happens next and what are the likely outcomes?

Hi, Advice would be much appreciated. In January we received notice to quit from our private landlord, as the 4 flats in our block were going to be demolished and new apartments built. Our landlord had put a second planning application in and had been accepted by our council. I didn't want to wait to go on the council list, so we looked privately, asap. anyway we found a lovely house that would also accept our dog, and moved in on the 15th March this year. My question is can we get help with housing benefit, i've done the online calculator on the council website and can get possibly £50 per week to help, the rent is £75 per month more. The only reason to claim is that we have had to move not on our own doing and need some help, would we be able to backdate the claim to the date we moved in? Thanks to all in advance