Basically, I am self-employed and have been for the last 2 years, When I first started I had to take my books in every three month and a new calculation was done. that was fine I had no problems with that at all. Towards the last three months of 2014 and the first 2-3 months of 2015 my income went up considerably and so my housing benefit entitlement dropped to the point I was only getting maybe £10.00 per week and virtually nothing on Council Tax. No problems with that as the money I was earning covered the increase and I was happy with it. The problem started at the end of March 2015 when the income from SE started dropping (knew it would during the Spring/Summer Months). I took my books in as normal but they said they where not going to do a re calculation again until August and then every 12 Months after that. This of course left me paying high rent at a time I could barely afford it (I managed but it was tough going). Anyway August came and I took all the books in again but because they were now basing it on twelve months books which included the very good months the HB only came down by £23.00 per week likewise CT had only a £5.00 pw reduction. This caused severe financial hardship and I basically had to scrape the barrel in order to get to now. To give you an indication of the income reduction, February 2015 was £2200.00 but February 2016 was only just over £1200.00. Most other months since September 2015 have been down between 200 to 700 pounds. I still have 2 months to go before they will do a re calculation but as I said to the Council I can see me quitting SE and going unemployed before August comes in. Right now my last three months are running at about 40% of the previous years income and I cannot see any improvement at all in income until November 2016 So basically is there anyway that I can get the council to return to the three month recalculation that we were originally doing or is it going to be a question of grin and bear it until August. If thats going to be the case I can see the income support people are going to have at least one more customer and I will then also claim care allowance as I would qualify for it based on my wife's PIP. On a side note, I know there are benefit calculators but for some unknown reason I end up with some stupid figures which do not make any sense when I use them. FYI, Current income based on wife's PIP (standard rate both care and moto) Child Ben for a 16 year old who is going to go college this year. WTC (around £92.00) due to working 40+ hours a week and lowish income, CTC for the same child mentioned above. + £65.00 drawings a week (makes up the difference between what I used to get on the dole and what I get from WTC) If I go unemployed income would come from Child Ben for the 16 year old CTC for the same 16 year old, Wife's PIP as per above Income Support (what that would be I don't know so if you could enlighten me then thanks) Carer's Allowance (about £62.00 I believe) and a larger reduction in HB and CT I think. So whats better for me ???? Any help with any the questions is appreciated. neword.

Hello, I had JSA for about four months total of £840 (approx). I knew at the start that I had around £28,000 in savings in a separate account. The savings are for university. full cost of course and living for three years. This was my plan. I was off work for 7 months with depression, still receiving an income. I went and signed on and received one week (£71) and never went back. I was off work at this time. I had an argument with HR at work who were complaining about me not being there. I told them that I quit and didnt want to go back. I assumed that I resigned there and then. I went and signed on, then a week or so later I got a call from my union rep who told me that I hadnt resigned, he spoke to them about my problems and I could come back. He told me that they were giving redundancy soon. I returned, a few months later I got redundancy. Fell a little more into depression. I had over £10,000 in my account. I transferred £5900 to ISA and then signed on. I took a few weeks, then quit. Then I went back again and got a few weeks more. This was a few years ago. I got a letter the other day asking for more information as inland revenue flagged up that I had more money in my account when I made a claim. They are asking for my financial situation of that time. I ncluding statements covering two years. I looked at my statements online and saw that the money transfer was maybe a week or two before applying for JSA. I am worried that I will go to prison for this. I am going to send the statements with the letter and answer the questions honestly. I have read about how they will try to prepare a prosecution if they could prove that I knowingly didn't tell them of my finances. It will look that way on the statement. I don't know what is going to happen. Could this lead to prison? I haven't told my parents, I am 35 and still live at home. I haven't been able to get a diagnosis for aspergers but believe that I have it. I am still struggling with depression. A result of my aspergers is that I really struggle to get on with people, I have had some very bad experiences at work and I am terrified of returning to that sort of situation. I have had threats of physical assault and have had fights with people. My things have been damaged/vandalised. I dont know what I can do, any help or advice would be appreciated. I have made a self-referal to talking change. My uni course is going down hill, I dont think I will be able to go onto year two. That is if I am not in prison. So much failure. Does anybody have any advice, I could really use some right now! Thank you

Hi all, In desperate need of advice, please. After a nasty breakdown of marriage and ultimately divorce, I left the UK to return home (South Africa) in 2012. My ex put in the claim for child benefit when our daughter was born, but the payments are put into my bank account. I realised the payments were never stopped, I thought he would've done it but he hadn't and now I'm absolutely terrified - I don't know what to do or what to tell HRMC. It's been 4 years! That bank account has not been used since I left (although I didn't close the account), so the money they've deposited over the years is still there. Will I be fined? Prosecuted? Help!

Please could someone inform me if carers allowance is taken into consideration for housing benefit and council tax? I have been receiving carers allowance for around three years for my disabled wife, at the time I contacted my local authority to inform them that I had been awarded Carers Allowance to see if it would affect my housing benefit and council tax and I was informed no it does not affect these benefits. I received an ESA2 form this week, which is a renewal for ESA asking for information on savings and benefits etc. I checked the benefits that are being received on the entitledto website and it appears that carers allowance is taken into consideration when working out housing benefit and council tax, and it appears that I should have been paying around £12 a week towards HB & CT for the last three years.

Quick question that I think I know the answer to but it's always good to check right? I understand that you can have upto £6000 in savings and still claim HB. Anything over that will affect the amount of HB you are entitled to. So my question is - Does this relate to household savings or per individual in respect of a HB claim? For instance my wife gets a student loan which the benefits department consider to be savings (currently at about £4500 in the bank). So if I came into some money such as compensation, inheritence or something of that nature would anything over £1500 then directly affect the HB (£6000 - £4500) or would it be £6000 I could have saved up seperately from what my wife has in her bank?

Hi All, I have just signed up here after reading numerous threads i am hoping for some(any) advice on my situation. Which i think i should warn that it may be upsetting for some readers with possible triggers, i do apologize but i want to put as much information here as i can.. I am sorry if i ramble here there's a lot to get down, it really will be a short novel I am being investigated for Housing Benefit and Council tax benefit(along with single person discount) fraud from what i assume is June 2011 til present day. I have my IUC for the 7th of April at my local town hall. The investigation is for living with my partner. I was first made aware of this approx one month ago i received a letter from the counter fraud team stating they had information that i was living with a partner which effectively stops my entitlement to Single person discount and that i need to contact them with all the information on my partner and dates that he moved in. I contacted them by email to state that yes i live with my partner and had done since roughly August 2014. I gave his information that they requested and also apologized and acknowledged that i had been receiving Single person discount during this time(not purposely to de fraud) but still at my own fault. I asked what happens now, They replied thanking for the quick response, she then stated in the email 'We have information to state that he has been living with you since June 2011 and we will need all other addresses that he had been living at up until when you stated he moved in with you in 2014'. I replied saying this was not correct and we had been in a relationship since 2011 but he did not live with me, i then gave the address of his mums house(That's where his post always went he never changed it) and also his dad's house where he effectively lived during this time. Since then they have contacted his mum and dad to inquire, his dad has replied to them stating he stayed there a few times a week(Dad was receiving some sort of benefit i suppose), and in fairness my partner did stay with me every now and then and was here a lot of the time. His mum confirmed his dad's address. I have a few days ago received the letter for the IUC and that is where i am now at. The background information - The property where i live was originally my dad on the tenancy agreement, he moved out in 2011 and i took over the tenancy(as i have lived here since 13 years old). In October 2010 i met a guy(my partner) in a 6 month temporary job we were both in(working for the council) at the time. We didn't start a relationship until March 2011. Both of our contracts had ended there and we were out of work, i managed to get a job very quickly and a high paid one(over the moon). I had been there no more than a week when my whole world changed forever, i was raped on April 4th 2011. I did not tell a soul, not my partner, police, family nobody. However it became strikingly obvious something was very wrong and i broke down to my partner(Not long been together) but he was my life line. Due to the amount of distress i was in and inability to talk to anybody i lost my job. I then wrote a letter to my dad as i couldn't bare to tell him anything, my partner took it to him and had to sit and watch him read it, basically me saying what had happened and how i am falling apart, lost my job and couldn't afford the flat. My dad gave me some money to pay the immediate bills, and told me to claim housing benefit ect as soon as possible and get to the doctors. I must add that from early 2010 i was suffering with severe sciatica and lower back problems receiving physiotherapy ect. However i still managed to work. During this period in 2011 my back problems worsened and i was sent for physiotherapy again, and therefore claimed ESA on the assessment rate(I think). I went to my doctors, possibly a few months after it happened, and told them how i was feeling ect and they pointed me in the direction of a Rape crisis organisation. 2011 and most of 2012 were absolutely horrendous for me mentally, emotionally, physically and financially. When i was asked to go for an assessment for ESA, i never went, cancelled my claim and said i would be claiming job seekers. Mostly because i was told i would never 'pass it' for back problems and they would make me feel silly. Some what because i didn't want to do the journey, had become quite agoraphobic. It took me a few months to put in the claim for JSA, i was severely depressed and getting myself to talk to anybody took a great deal of effort and upset. I ended up getting far too many pay day loans(Faked employment) and was living purely by scraping money together from selling anything i could to pay back the loans and keep getting more. I don't remember many details from back then but i clearly remember having no money and mostly living off 16p super noodles. I never told my family about how bad my situation was, i have never been one to tell of my problems and i hate putting that stress on to them, so i always managed to avoid contact or put up a false pretense. I believe i stopped claiming HB and CB in early 2013 when i eventually started employment. However i was still receiving Council tax single person credit up until recently. So i have been paying full rent since 2013. Now my partner, during all of 2011 and most of 2012 he never had employment, i think he had two sales jobs that lasted no more than 5 weeks each. He was either claiming JSA or nothing at all. He was with me more often than not as he was my only confident, he was my life line and did everything for me. However he couldn't contribute financially as he had nothing to contribute. He would sell his DVD's and any bits to get me money for food sometimes. When i met him he was living at his dads house, i would stay there the odd time and he would stay here, sometimes we'd stay apart. His post has always gone to his mums address he never changed this. Until around July 2012 when he applied for a job at a company my dad worked for that was close to where i lived, he put down my address as thought this would benefit his chances. He stayed at this job until late 2013 so just over a year. During this time we still did not class him as living with me, i didn't think his job was secure although he would help me out with money every now and then he never had any bills ect in his name. Fast forward to March 2014 he got a permanent job as a home carer for a company close by, this is when we decided for him to move in and for us to inform the council. I did this by email in May 2014 and asked what the steps be, they told me they would need his I.D ect handing in to them and that he wouldn't go on the tenancy for 12 months. They also said as i had some arrears they needed clearing first(which was fine). We handed his information in. Since this time my life has been up and down, never really addressing my mental health problems, severe anxiety and on/off depression, my partner has literally been my everything and how strong he has been to stick by me through everything really makes me so upset that we are now in this situation. My life started to get better a steady job i enjoyed as well as my partner, managing to save some money and had our first holiday in June 2015 which was so overdue and absolutely amazing. I got back from the holiday and was given a weeks notice of redundancy, everything fell apart again, my anxiety came back with a vengeance, since then i have had one job lasting four weeks, and my current one which i have been in since September. I have been signed off sick for nearly 7 weeks now due to my anxiety, my employer has been so supportive and i can't thank them enough. My GP put me on a CBT course and i was feeling positive that i am taking the steps to overcome this and get my life back on track, then i received this fraud letter. I have not been functioning at all, my hopes of getting back into work have shot down due to the amount of stress, i've been physically ill for weeks, vertigo, headaches, severe depression, neck pain and stomach problems. I am absolutely terrified of being back in that place i was 5 years ago, feeling so hopeless and helpless. I don't know if i have the strength to go through this whole process. We are struggling financially as my partner had to leave his job in January(constructive dismissal) and has only just got new employment this week, during this time i have been receiving SSP, and paying the rent/bills has been impossible. I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel, my partner has 2 children he has to provide for and is not on a big income at all, i can't see me getting back into work anytime soon as all i can think about is this investigation. I would like any advice at all, even if it is bad i just want to know what to expect, i can't afford any legal help and doubt i would be entitled to free help as i am technically employed. So basically i have admitted i should not have been receiving Single person discount since 2014 up until now. I told them that i did inform the council he was moving in(but they are not linked) i didn't know but that is my fault. However they're investigating since June 2011 and i have worked out it could be nearing £15,000 maybe more. My worry is i cannot prove that i didn't believe i was living with him, we were in a serious relationship and he spent a great deal of time here so technically that will be enough for them to say i wasn't entitled? If they ask me specific questions i will struggle to answer as honestly the whole thing is very blurry to me, i don't know how i survived, i just know that i was not focused on anything and just getting through day by day. Is anything that i went through relevant at all to the case and if so should i provide this information or is that just for courts, and in terms of me not being able to remember specific details as i suffered and still suffered from mental health issues. I have found emails and saved them that i sent to the council in 2014 about my partner moving in, and in the email i even stated that i was not in receipt of any benefit so nothing needed to change(i genuinely forgot about this Single person discount). I have doctors records and emails to and from the rape crisis team in 2011 detailing dates ect of events. The fact that for the time they are investigating my partner was pretty much out of work that whole time would i have been entitled to the HB anyway? All these things i am not sure if they are considered or not. Any advice at all or if i have not been clear please ask questions, i am in an absolute state and although i know that it's impacting my health so much i can't seem to let it go, i am terrified. Thank you in advance for any help

I wanted to know what the new rules are with regards to withdrawing consent for the WP to share your info/contact people on your behalf/claim their fat payment for my hard work when I get a job .. as I am sure I read it had changed since last year, also coincidentally each time I attend a review meeting I get loads of spammy job/credit emails in the weeks after which seems a little timely!! Am getting increasingly fed up with the WP provider, by and large I have had a year of having to attend weekly job clubs with slow computers and the like but since I hit the year mark it seems to have ramped up big time, I have a good work history with good companies and a degree and the minute my latest advisor saw it his eyes lit up and I have been pestered left right and centre. I was upped to two job clubs a week and also appointments/training sessions/interview techniques etc on one or more additional days a week and it was getting silly and made me ill so I had two weeks off with stress symptoms. I then had more blinking appointments and changes to my job clubs and was told a few weeks back at 1pm on a Monday that I was to stay after job club that day for extra sessions looking into agencies and applying for more jobs for 2 hours each day that week (mysteriously my letter had 'got lost in the post' telling me this), I kicked up a bit of a stink as I am a single parent and said I had to pick my son up from school at 3 so those times were unsuitable, so with a bit of looking at bus timetables he relented to sessions from 1-2.30 each afternoon that week which was still pushing it as am reliant on public transport which is never the best, I attended the first and then had enough, got upset (I am on antidepressants and suffering severe anxiety at the moment relating to a thyroid condition I have just been diagnosed with) and I decided to get another doctors note for 2 weeks. During this two weeks I had a letter from them saying I had to come in during that time and I politely told him NO, the day my sick period ended there arrived a letter saying I had to attend a review appointment in 2 days time and I just knew he was going to mess me about, sure enough on the Friday afternoon at the appt he says I need to up my attendance to daily sessions of 4 hours, which means dropping my son at school, a 45 min bus journey there, then getting back in just enough time to pick him up, I protested that I had a PC at home and why did I need to do all this on their premises and he said I might 'get distracted' at home (as opposed to their noisy office of course!!), that I had appts to arrange and so on which were being neglected due to them calling me in all the time willy nilly saying they are mandatory and have to attend, and he said as I was a jobseeker I should jobseek during those hours, I have no prob doing this, my JSA agreement says 5 jobs a week and they say 10 which I do easily and have never not done, he is also pressurising me to do full time work/get a better off calculation for FT work, which my JSA flexibilities say I don't have to pursue due to being a lone parent, there is no mention of any beneficial training, and any suggestions for that or clothing for interviews have been shot down in flames, its just flaming jobsearching in their offices every day, presumably so I can't attend any interviews without them knowing and that I get fed up with the arrangement. Its not as if I am not trying to get a job, I have had about 6 interviews in the last few months but none successful, am really fed up with the situation with the WP and its making me feel worse, we are reviewing the situation tomorrow after my session and I know he is prob going to suggest the same again next week when I have 2 inset days at my sons school, I really just resent the fact that they think they can pressure me like this and assume I have no plans for the week or anything else to do, and then get a nice big payment for MY efforts at the end of it all so want to know what my rights are, unfortunately at the beginning I signed all their docs as I was being too blinking nice!! PS. Sorry this is a bit of a rant having looked at it, but felt good to vent!!

Criticism as £30-a-week disability benefit cuts go ahead Peers have backed down in their battle with MPs over cuts to disabled people's benefits after ministers invoked special powers to push them through. The government was twice defeated in the House of Lords over a £30 a week cut to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for certain claimants. But it is set to go ahead after peers deferred to the elected Commons. Ministers claimed "financial privilege" to assert the Commons' right to have the final say on budgetary measures. Ministers argue the changes will encourage people to get into work, but this is strongly disputed by opponents. The cuts in weekly support from £103 to £73, contained in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, will apply to new ESA claimants in the work-related activity group, bringing the rate into line with Job-seeker's Allowance. It will affect people who are deemed unable to work at the moment but capable of making some effort to find employment, including attending work-focused interviews and taking part in training. Ministers argue that too few people in the category are moving into work and that while the lower benefit rate would save £55m in the first year, £60m would be spent on supporting claimants to take steps towards finding work. 'Harmful impact' Work and Pensions minister Lord Freud acknowledged peers were only withdrawing their opposition with "great reluctance" after the Commons asserted financial privilege - its right to overrule any Lords proposal that has cost implications. He insisted that the Lords had "discharged their duty" by scrutinising the bill to remove "unintended consequences" and sending back concerns for the Commons to reconsider. But Paralympic gold medalist Baroness Grey-Thompson said she was disappointed such a "dreadful and punitive" part of the bill - which has been opposed by more than 30 charities - was going ahead. "It may be seen as a victory in terms of voting numbers in the Commons but we can't forget there are many disabled people who will lose out," the cross-bench peer said. Link

I have been looking into entitlements all day and I am just going round in circles. I could really do with some advice. The abolishment of the family element in housing benefit is my main worry. I don't know if it will affect me or not? I have a 2.5 year old and our second baby is due in May, and according to 'entitledto' we will be entitled to some housing benefit in 16/17. But I don't know if this will start after I have the baby, or when I go on maternity leave in April. Also, as mentioned above, I don't know whether the abolishment will affect the result I am getting. I know it only affects new claims after 1st May, so if I submit my claim in April when my maternity leave starts- will I be entitled to the family element? I am thinking I will still get it, because I already have a child and my circumstances are changing prior to 1st May. Now, it seems I will be entitled to more help (around an extra £70 a month) if I do not continue with my childcare vouchers through my employer. But I don't want to opt out of the scheme to find that the calculations were all wrong and I would have been better off with continuing with the childcare vouchers. Would it be possible to cancel the childcare vouchers once I've heard back regarding my claims? Anything else I need to consider? Thank you in advance!

Hello there, I currently claim Universal Credit (JSA). Yesterday I received a letter from the Fraud and Error Service, Customer Compliance dept of the DWP. The title of the letter is "We are reviewng your benefit claim" and the subtitle is "Come to your meeting to keep us up to date". It then tells me that they've "arranged a time to meet you to talk about any changes which could affect your benefits." It asks me to bring some proof of ID and bank statements etc. The meeting is at my local JCP. after receiving this letter I went through my recent bank statements from the past few months and it seems I received my Universal Credit payment twice in the month of November. what happened is I usually receive my payment on the 25th of every month, but in November I hadn't been paid by this date. I called up the DWP but the system was down for the whole day of the 25th. In the end someone called me back on the 26th and issued me my payment over the phone instead. So that was that. However, now after looking through my statement, I've realised that I received another identical payment the very next day (27th) I had no idea about. As soon as I saw this error yesterday, I contacted the DWP again and explained this to them. They told me that the payment might/probably will need paying back even though it's an error on their part, which is fine by me, but the operator I spoke to wasn't sure and told me that someone might be in touch about it. But now I'm obviously thinking this might be the reason for the letter. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to handle this? Thanks!

Hi back in 2012 I went to my docs about my hearing, he then sent me to my local ENT to get checked out, short story I have deafness because of the work I done so I put a claim in against my former employer I finished there in 2005, anyway x employer agreed and settled out of court last month, so last week I applied for IIDB on the grounds of industrial deafness, had a letter back today stating that I am writing to tell you that you cannot get iidb for the prescribed disease occupational deafness, this is because you did not claim within 5 years of the end of the job that was likely to cause occupational deafness, my point is shall I appeal as 5yrs ago I didn't know I was that deaf and its only been the last 4yrs its been proved that it was work that caused it, surely I have ground to appeal that it should be 5yrs from when I found out anyone have any help on this Regards DCA-King

Hi, I have googled this and am confused. I hope I am posting in the right place. My husband has been seriously ill for several years. He currently receives ESA and DLA. I get carers allowance for looking after him and IS as a top up payment. Recently I have started to get health problems. I cant find a way of finding out whether I can claim ESA or DLA as well as my husband. If I do claim benefit will we lose our carers allowance and IS? I don't want to poke a wasps nest and end up worse off than we are now. If anyone has any advice it would be appreciated. Thanks

Gotten some great help on here with other unrelated problems so hope you guys can help me out with this too or at least point me in the right direction. Long story short I am married with 2 kids aged 6 and 8 with a third due in April. I have been unemployed since November 2012 and do not recieve any form of unemployment benefit. We have as a family been in receipt of housing benefit of about £120 per week which has been extremely helpful in paying our rent (we rent privately in Birmingham at a rate of £625 per month). There was no issue until my wife decided to change her working hours so that she could sign on for a fulltime university course in order to get her degree so that she could if she so desired become a teacher (she is currently a teaching assistant). So she went from working full time and earning £15,000 per year to working 16 hours per week and earning £6500 per year. She was also eligible for a student grant which is to be paid back once she starts earning a certain amount (£26,000 i believe) and this is where our problems began. You see the loan is worth £11,000 per year and is considered by the benefits people as income so they now consider her as earning £17,500 per year. Now we checked with them before she signed on for the course as we had read that her loan may cause problems with the payment of housing benefit, and there may also be issues with her status as a student despite the fact that she was to remain in work, and we were told that there would be no problem and that we should still be entitled to housing benefit. At the end of November last year however they froze our claim and have spent the last two months asking us to provide a variety of documentation in order that they can ascertain as to whether or not we are still entitled to the benefit or not. Today we rang to check the status of our claim as money that we had put aside for emergencies is running increasingly low as it has been used to pay the shortfall that we are feeling from not getting the benefit. Anyway we were told that our claim has in fact been cancelled (Im guessing a letter will be forthcoming) because they consider that we have an excess of income so we are no longer entitled to receive housing benefit. I really do not see how they have reached this conclusion as it is not like we are suddenly rolling in cash, especially with a new baby on the way. Is there any point in contesting their decision, will they overturn it or is it a simple case of we are not going to get it so we need to suck it up and look at other options such as move to a cheaper property? I am of course looking for work and hope that getting a job will help though of course that may have a detrimental effect on child tax credits and the like (we dont get any working tax credits). Any advice greatly appreciated.

I am just wondering if anyone has had the annual benefit uprating letter yet? I know that the benefits aren't really going up but the letter is useful for as more up to date proof of my being on ESA for the dentist and such. I normally have mine by now going by other years but this year still nothing although I do think others (from what I read online) have been getting them.

Hi guys and gals I need some advice please. Basically I lived with my partner and 3 kids and started a new job after having my baby. HB requested my first 2 wage slips on receipt which I handed in and continued to get HB payments. So now this is where it gets complicated. My ex was abusive (we have moved away from him recently) and took all my money for himself so I thought I would buy replacement wage slips with different amounts on them so he wouldnt know how much i had earned. Problem is that I left them with my paperwork and thats what I had handed in to the council not my actual slips. This came to light on monday when I received a letter stating the details HMRC had provided were different to the ones I had. I looked properly into my paperwork and immediately saw what i had done. I went in to the council and gave all 3 of my slips in but now im worried that I should have given an explanation into what happened. At the very least there is a small over payment. My main concern is that they will think I tried to trick them. What should I do and what will happen now ???

Hello. I don't know if this the right area to post. I need help. I'm confused and I'm scared. I was reported by my step brother to dwp. He told me he was going to report me because we had had a row. DWP sent for my IUC. I got a solicitor. Twice the solicitor didt turn up and it had to be cancelled. When he did, he asked them if they had any evidence. They said no. They said they had a report that I had my children dad living with me and I didn't state it to them while claiming. I'm working now and was when I was reported. I told them that I was just friends at the dates they were suggesting. We were saving to get married and live together. I was pregnant with his child and he two timed me. I split with him out of disgust. He broke my heart and I wouldn't talk to him. When I had my child I put him down as the father on paper. He claimed that it was because I never had time for him as I was always with my family. I wont lie, I was - my mother was in and out of hospital and needed help. I never asked my mother for help with my circumstances so I went to my ex and asked him if he could help me get car insurance as it was to expensive for me too get. He told me he still loved me and wanted to get back with me but he made me feel sick as all I heard was the telephone conversation with him and that girl. After some time it was like a friendship with him throwing hints every now and then. I admit I still loved him but I couldn't bear to be around him. It hurt to think about it. With all the stuff I had to do I needed a car and job centre also said it would help especially with me looking for a job. I was happy in passing my test. It made me feel more independent and I could get places quicker and also help my mother more. I had been helping with chores and shopping etc. Plus having my own life to sort it was getting to much. I never had any money off him. I paid money to him for him to pay for the car he had me on finance. I paid it from my account into his. When my son was 6 months old, my mother died. The stress from what was happening in my relationship disappeared altogether on the death of my mother. Nothing mattered anymore. Not even him. I had never lost anyone before. Id never experienced anything like it and it was unbearable. Months after I started talking with my ex now and again and we started to rekindle the relationship. We started saving again to get married. He lives with his parents. Ive not let him sleep here at all and in past I stayed at his mums. My brother has threatened me before and Im not stupid to risk anything. I told the officers this at the interview as they asked why money was going from my account into his - I told them for bills etc which it was. My car insurance and stuff. I explained I couldn't afford a car so I asked my ex. etc. I explained that if Ive done anything wrong I'm willing to pay back. Interview ended and they told me they would be in touch. Solicitor told me they had nothing on me to not worry and he went off. Its been over year and I''ve received a letter - well a bunch of letters in two envelopes all with same date stamped on them. Ive had this hanging on my back for ages and I feel as if I need to remove it. Ive felt like hurting myself as I don't want my babies to go without because of some stupid mistake I've done and now they will have to suffer for it. I cant talk to anyone because I have no friends to talk to as I moved into another district with my parents and I never really got to know anyone. Im always in the house with my free time. Im scared. Confused and no one is telling me what to do. I feel as if im being blamed for sometikng just because my brother held a grudge against me. The letters say notice of overpayment. esa and two lots of jobseekers. I went on esa because I nearly crashed the car with the amount of stuff I was doing. I was diagnosed with b12 deficiency, vit d deficiancy and had to go on two lots of tablets (iron and flic acid) also had to have 6 injections in two weeks. I know have to have the injections for the rest of my life. Totals are £880.89 esa £1321.33 jsa £2207.30 jsa I've contacted the solicitor ive used before but he is always out the office and the time to contact the people on the letter is running out. Ive phoned another solicitor today and they have not rung back either. I don't know if they are going to still take me to court as well as making me pay this. I don't know if other benefit sections are now going to come after me as if I pay this id be admitting to it what they're accusing me off. The interviewing officers said theyd get back in touch but haven't. And it says on letters that it does not affect any other action, including proceedings in a criminal couret, which may be taken in your case. I don't know what to do

Hi there, I recently moved from Norfolk to Somerset to be closer to my wifes family so she could get some additional help and support(she has been on DLA and then PIP for the last 5 years). In Norfolk we received 100% reductions in Council Tax and our only income is PIP and Income Support(I am her full time carer). Mendip Council granted us an 80% reduction but said that as we were of "Working Age" we were not entitled to a 100% reduction and when questioned why this was we were only told that "The Government says so"(No matter how many times I pointed out that I was receiving a 100% reduction in Norfolk and no where can I find any information of this policy online). We were told that we should apply for the Hardship scheme and we would get it as we have no income apart from benefits. Today I have received a letter denying us the additional help. Not what I want on Christmas eve. Its not a lot of money but it makes a difference. How can I fight this? Does anyone have any experience of a similar matter? Thanks

Hi Can someone point me in the right direction. We live in County Durham with our 3 daughters aged 16, 13 and 11. Can someone tell me what happens if my eldest who is currently at college goes on to university. Although it's over a year away I was wondering what happens if she goes off to uni but comes home during the holiday holidays. Am I allowed to still keep her bedroom and still receive housing benefit for a 3 bed house. I have tried on the Durham council website but it mentions nothing of keeping a room for s student to come home to. Many thanks

Hello. I am currently getting income based JSA for about 1 year now. I stay with my mum, But all of a sudden my mum is saying i need to pay £27 towards to rent as the council will only pay £109. So why now do i need to pay. I have a brother who gets ESA, and my mum gets income support. What are causing the housing benefit deduction, My brother only started claiming ESA this year in march, And all of a sudden the housing benefit is cut. So could someone help me because i am getting the impression the cut is because of me but i have been getting jsa for around a year and my mum has been getting full housing benefit since untill now.

Hi everyone, I feel I am being put into a position by housing benefit regulations of having to consider giving up my job, I would be grateful for any help or advice. My story starts with leaving a job I was in after 12 years as an employee to do the job I am doing now. I started this job in June 2104. Basically I am a door to door collection agent, (like a provident agent), different company. I am NOT self employed but PAYE, I am on a commission only basis and I pay all my own expenses from my Net Pay, e.g fuel, car repairs, mobile phone, wifi etc. these expenses are not recoverable from my employers but from HMRC in the form of a new UTR (Unique Tax Reference). I also pay an accountant annually from my Net pay to calculate my expenses and submit them to HMRC and Tax Credits. I have had no issues with HMRC or tax credits, my award has been altered accordingly, but Housing Benefit will NOT accept these expenses because they do NOT show up on either my P60 or Pay Slips. HMRC are sending me out a calculation to give to the council showing my annual wage after expenses, but I know this will be fruitless, as another agent has been denied after providing his. I have took this to appeal and tribuneral and to my local MP, but I am still banging my head against a brick wall. Housing benefit are quoting me Housing Benefit Regulation 35 2(b) as the reason why I am not entitled. Basically in my previous job on approx £11,000 per year I was recieving £64 per week housing benefit and some council tax benefit. This job after expenses I get £10,700 per year and receive nothing and have to pay back an overpayment of £1900. I am a single parent with 2 teens under 18 and work in excess of 30 hours per week. I love my job and do not want to have to search again, I would be grateful for any advice offered. Thank You

I was one of the first people to go through the ESA nightmare. Failed then appealed, placed in WRAG, appealed again finally placed in support group. On DLA awaiting PIP assessment. My wife as two types of Arthritis which over the last two years as forced her to give up nearly all her work. We manage at present but I believe that shortly my wife will need more help than I can give her due to my own physical limitations. Both my wife and I found my experience of the ESA/DLA very stressful. I ended up in hospital with severe mental health problems and my wife is very reluctant to but herself through this herself. As anyone on CAG made a Joint Claims and if they have what are the pitfalls or benefits of doing so?

I’m currently being investigated for selling on eBay my unwanted goods while claiming housing and ESA. I went for an interview under caution were I was asked what all these PayPal transactions on my bank statements are going back 6 years into my account to the amount on 9k? I explained I sell coins on EBay which I have been collecting for over 20 years and all personal belonging since I moved into a small flat. Also told them a couple of friends sold on my account and they are willing to give a statement to this effect. The reason why I had sell all my personal belonging is that there is a shortfall every month of over £100. I have now received a letter wanting me to list:- 1 A list of all cash credits where have each of these come from? 2 Miscellaneous credits where have each of these come from? 3 credit transfers from PayPal and PayPal statement 4 PayPal purchases detail of items and sellers I would like to know if I have broken the law by selling my personal belongings and my friend’s items on eBay and where can I get the best legal advice on this matter . I am scared they will stop my housing and will have to go homeless

Hi everyone,Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I really appreciate any advice you can give me. today we have found out we have had a £5500 housing benefit overpayment over 9 months. We are totally in shock and absolutely devastated about the situation . The council were not aware that my partner had started part time work in Dec 2014 and that I returned to work part time after my maternity leave in April 2015. We did not know that we had to inform the council as we thought it was all automatically done through tax credits/hmrc. We didn't think anything of the amount of payment as we just assumed it was right and put it towards our rent. I know it sounds stupid but it's true. Our housing award kept being updated when our tax credits were, so we just assumed that they were aware of our income through tax credits/PAYE. We have three children and I am so concerned about what will happen to us. I have been told that the case will be referred to the fraud investigations department due to the amount involved. I have been frantically phoning around trying to get some answers in what will happen to us. Will we be prosecuted? If anything goes in the paper my partner will lose his job almost certainly. What are the next stages? We have agreed a payment plan, but I've been told that this doesn't make any difference to anything to do with the prosecution side. I manage the money side of things so my partner is blaming me for this, which I guess is understandable. I'm just freaking out totally at the moment and don't know how long this will go on for. Will I be invited to an interview under caution? All we will say is that we didn't know as this is the truth. We never meant to defraud anyone and our Sorry it wouldn't let me type at the end for some reason.I was just saying that this is a total mistake and the words benefit fraud scare the hell out of me. I'm so sorry for going on but I would really appreciate any advice on what happens next or any similar circumstances anyone knows about. Thank you so much

Morning I was hoping someone could shed some light for me. We have recently been awarded via mandatory reconsideration high rate care for our daughter, we were already in receipt of low rate mobility so getting the disabled child premium on housing benefit and council tax benefit. I sent the housing office proof of the new DLA award just to keep them up to date and someone said they may add a severe disablement element to the benefit but I didn't really understand that. I did not expect the award to change much as I didn't think DLA for a child was regarded as income as such. Anyway today I received a letter and although not clear I estimate a reduction in housing benefit by around £35 a month and a substantial reduction in council tax support. Does this sound accurate? No other changes to income, I will ring and check but the people who man the phones are often quite rude! Thanks all xx

Hello, 9 I have recently failed my ESA medical after scoring less than the required amount of points needed. I have appealed the decision made by the DWP. I am in receipt of housing benefit at the moment as well. I have claimed ESA a few years ago for a different health condition and once again I failed the medical. At this time I was also in receipt of Housing Benefit and Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit for my daughter, who no longer receives these benefit's but still lives with me. When I appealed the ESA decision a few years ago, I was able to keep my HB claim ongoing as I still had an income from my daughter's CB and CTC. This time however, I don't have this as an income. I am currently meeting my day to day living needs from a small amount of money given to me each week by my other daughter. My concern is will I still receive HB whilst I'm appealing the decision made by the DWP this time around as I have no income of my own? Will Housing Benefit allow me to receive my weekly award if I have no income of my own? I know I will get the basic assessment rate of ESA whilst my appeal is being looked at but whilst I am waiting for my appeal to go through (which I hear takes around a fortnight) I will have no income so I am unsure as to whether I will be still awarded any HB. I hope this makes some sense and I thank you for any help or advice.