Ok, I have made a decision to return to work via self employment. If there is already a topic on this matter can someone just post the actual link to it please. Otherwise can someone advise on what I could actually get in the initial 4 weeks and at signing off time as I have read numerous posts and papers and there seems to be some conflicting information. I want answers fairly quickly as I intend doing this on Thursday (08/05/14) Any input is appreciated. FYI Married, wife(disabled), 1 child Housing association tenant. Will supply other information if needed Thanks Decided to list whatever is mentioned by other posters here so people don't have to post if it's already mentioned. Working Tax Credit.................Writerchris #2 (why is there a space in name when it's not in the actual post)

Hey, I've been addicted to this forum for a long while now and what I've realised is most people talking about ESA problems are always talking exclusively about 'Anxiety/Depression' issues - not physical illnesses. It's all relative of course, but I suffered from massive anxiety and depression back in 09, I never took the easy option of looking for ESA WRAG group because I felt there was a stigma attached. (I'm now in a big financial hole because I didn't and have been stuck on JSA jumping through crazy hoops). But the point I'd like to make is that now five years later - even though my life is terrible and I have no money, I'm not looking for easy get-out-clauses. The worst thing you could have told me back in 09 was to give in and get 'on the sick' signed off. Sometimes with things like depression and anxiety we need it for a few months, but it's usually a temporary condition due to circumstances and chemical imbalances in the brain. The worst thing you can say to someone with anxiety is that - 'it's alright, you're now useless to society, so we'll indulge you and here's a letter that says you never have to make an effort again'. Sometimes we can't engage with society because we feel awful. Fair enough, we've paid in to a system that allows us to take some time out and get free money. But eventually we need to get back stuck in. The worst thing is to get a diagnosis that explains why we can't help ourselves and then look for people who'll pander to our new found victimhood status? Hope no one takes me wrong with this opinion. But thank god no one wrote me off when I was anxious and depressed as a permanent no hope of change - unlike someone with a physical condition that no amount of money or therapy would ever fix.

Did anyone else catch this show last night? Talk about being totally blatant about coming here just to get benefits & houses etc. Actual quotes were "I'm gonna take benefits from England, yeah" "England is one country with much money" "I need maybe four zero thousand pounds (£40.000) for my family, & I think I can make in one year maybe two" This man who stated this owns a small farm holding back in Romania. So he gets on the bus to come here, so he can claim as much as he stated so he can then take the money back to Romania to build his family a home!!! This was in the first 4 mins of this show!! I'm furious at such a blatant use of our benefit system!! Why are these people allowed to get away with this?? They have never paid into our country but are allowed to openly do these things? It's no fu**in wonder our resources are stretched to the limit & the ill & vulnerable are targeted to the point they can't live!! I'm truly disgusted by this show!

Showing Thursday April 10th at 9:00 PM http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040rdf3

Could somebody please help with an issue I'm having. I've received a couple of letters from the DWP recently saying I have been overpaid benefits over a number of years, ending a few years ago, because of a mistake in their calculations of how much I was due and therefore I must repay them. The sum totals a few thousand pounds. I am aware of this situation from before, and I was paying back a sizeable sum each week when I was on benefits. However, I am no longer on benefits and am very short of money, as I don't have an income. I am now a part-time student and I look after my elderly father who is quite ill. I get by on a very low expenditure, with money my father gives me from his pension (spending about £5 a week on my groceries for example). The letters are becoming more forthright. The latest one I have just received states: "DO NOT IGNORE About the £xxxx owed We have contacted you about paying back this money You must make a payment by xx/xx/xxxx Please do not ignore this letter. This will not mean you can avoid paying back this money, and you need to contact us to stop any further action being taken" It goes on to say that they will consider recovering the money through the courts or "refer the case to a private company for repayment collection. You may have to pay additional costs if this happens, and your future credit rating may be affected" I am very worried as you can imagine. I simply don't have the money anymore. I don't know what to do. I know from past experience the DWP can be inefficient (even in their current letters they are commenting I am on benefits, which I haven't been for a long time now) and do you think they might pass over/'forget' this fairly old overpayment if I ignore their letters, including the one I have just received? Or will they continue to pursue it? If they will pursue it, what do you think I should do pls? I am very appreciative of any help anybody could offer please.

Hi, I hope someone can offer me some advice regarding the following: I am due to attend a tribunal hearing tomorrow to appeal against a decision to recover overpaid CTB. Although the council in question have admitted it was an "official error" on their part, they maintain that it was "reasonable" for me to have realised the error at the time. The error in question is that I was awarded 100% CTB when I should have been awarded 50% due to me sharing the property I live in with another tenant. I did not question the decision at the time as I had provided them with all the relevant information (on more than one occasion), and trusted that their calculations were correct based on what I had provided. I am also self-employed and consequently the benefit and WTC I receive fluctuates throughout the year, so when I received a letter telling me it had changed again I did not believe anything was amiss. Their argument seems to assume a detailed knowledge of how CTB is calculated that I could not possibly have unless I actually worked for the department! (although it seems this would still be no guarantee... ;-) Having taken some legal advice I have decided to continue with my appeal and am due in court tomorrow. The solicitor has advised me that the Tribunal will take an "inquisitorial" approach, requiring me to give my version of events which I have outlined above. I would like to ask if anyone has experience of these kind of Tribunals and what I can do to give myself the best possible chance of winning the case. Many Thanks in advance!

Hi need some urgent advice. I ‘m currently in a dire situation, I’m looking for a single room in London. I’m going through a divorce. My ex- partner threw me out the house. That doesn’t really concern me. I’m working at the moment and can pay three months rent no problem. Thing is if I get the property (single room, shared bathroom kitchen etc) and I lose my work as it’s a short term thing, can I claim housing benefit, until my next project? I have never been on housing benefit before but it looks like I may have to once this project comes to an end, in three months. As I reckon there will a 3-5 month gap before my next project begins. The private landlords only want professionals which I am. I’ve contacted housing benefit in anticipation regarding this. They have told me you have a right to claim housing benefit and if your job ends do not have to tell the landlord about this. They mention something regarding ticking a box to have the money paid to you, on the form? Is this correct? The lady informed me not to beat myself up. She said you’re working and you have a right to a roof over your head and to claim housing benefit (and job seekers) until your next job, if needed. Thing is I’ve rang many single room vacancies and It seems that regarding these single rooms lets, the people in charge are loathe to offer tenancy agreements? Which I would need to prove to housing benefit that I am there? What do I ask for, a contract, a short hold tenancy? Which? Also the single room offers seem to fall into two categories, either:- A- families or house owners letting out their spare room B professional landlords that convert multi-room properties into bedsits; with communal bathroom and kitchen? The lady also warned me regarding to be careful of families or owners letting out rooms. It seems many of these in London claim benefits themselves, and as such is therefore acting illegally. Is there any method for finding the professional landlord that lets out single rooms? As I do not want to be in the situation of trying to claim housing benefit for a single room in a house where the owners are claiming as well! I assume for my purposes I would be best looking for b? Is this correct? I’m also concerned if my job falls through in the next three months that if I do claim housing benefit at the property then letters may be picked up? Is there any way avoiding this? I’m not trying to play any angles just want to keep a roof over my head. I’m seeing 5 properties today so any advice would be helpful. I do not want to move into a place only to be in the same dire situation as now in three months, thanks. please reply as im running out of time

I've been receiving Incapacity and Housing benefit for quite a few years due to various mental health issues but now I have a decent chance to start up a home business repairing computers and I'm worried about losing all my support if things don't work out. I've spoken to Incapacity Benefits and they told me I can apply for Permitted Work which would allow me to work up to 16 hours a week and earn £101, anything over £101 will be deducted from my benefits. I also got in touch with Housing Benefit and they told me that as long as I sign up for Permitted Work and keep them updated with my monthly earnings I would be able to keep a certain amount of the benefit. If the system really works this way then I think I could make a go of this, I'm just staggeringly anxious about it all I still need to ring the Tax Office to ask for advice, I'm utterly clueless about tax but I'm told that at this level I won't have to pay anything and I will need to apply for Self Certification. If anyone has been through this sort of thing I'd greatly appreciate some guidance, I feel a bit like I'm jumping without a parachute.

Confirmation of complete chaos and disarray in delivering these assessments. http://www.channel4.com/news/disability-benefits-contractor-runs-into-trouble-video

Hi, Im a little worried on whether i need to declare my partner to WFTC and CHB if i do this does anyone know what will happen? Will my money stop?, Will they want to know his income?, will there be a history check? Has anyone been through this situation, if so can you give me some advice. Thanks Emma

In a moment of madness (I have a recurring mental illness), I rang the benefits agency and told them (incorrectly) that I had received a lump sum which I had given away a number of years ago - what actually happened was that the money went to someone else but it had been offered to me and I hadn't accepted it. Since the 1st of January they stopped all benefits whilst they decided they would investigate what had happened. They stopped the benefits retrospectively - I did not find out until a couple of weeks later when I received a letter from them. So, now we are in February and my rent is not being paid and I understand that I can not apply for a crisis loan whilst they investigate me. It looks as if this situation could go on for some time. I have been to a drop-in in my local town where they have started to correspond with the benefits agency and local council - and it seems that there is nothing anyone can do about getting me a loan to manage. The only help that seems to be available is a bag of food each week - but it is not enough to last more than a few days. Does anyone know of anywhere where I can get financial assistance to pay for food? I don't think that I can last more than another week.

Hi there. I'm hoping for a bit of advice on where I stand with regard to workplace benefits promised to me but not provided. When I started working for my new employer in February 2013 I was promised enrollment into the one of the company benefit schemes if I achieved a certain target. I met the target in early July and had a meeting with both of my bosses (the company MD and the HR boss) who confirmed that I would now be enrolled with immediate effect. This was put in writing and I completed the application forms for the scheme that afternoon. I thought no more of it until this month when I had a need to potentially use the cover. I spoke to the MD about details of the cover and he directed me to the scheme administrators for further information. The scheme admin responded to my enquiry this week to advise they have no idea who I am - as it turns out the HR boss never bothered submitting my application, as he thought it was 'unaffordable for the company' to provide me with cover despite being present in both meetings where it was all agreed. Neither myself or the MD were informed of this decision. So now I have no cover (and have missed out on 8 months of a benefit I was promised in writing) and am faced with paying the full expenses myself without any help. The MD has promised the cover will be in force by the end of February but that won't be of any help to me. I'm not really sure what I'm asking other than do I have any rights in this instance to expect them to compensate me for the benefit not provided? Many thanks for any advice you can give. Lola

Need some advice if possible. I am currently on DLA HRM and LRC since 2006, my initial application failed for any MR but awarded LRC so I asked for a review which agreed same so I went to appeal and in between provided further evidence. Please note I had included on my application and in continuation sheet that my condition was variable and reference was made to good and bad days. I went to appeal hearing and it was agreed to adjourn for more information from a medical examination. I had the examination and just a week later suffered a brain injury which almost killed me and required surgery, upon discharge more documentation from the tribunal service had arrived including he doctors report which was to be added to my bundle for the next hearing. There were one or two errors in my opinion in the docs statement so I wrote to the tribunal to say so and to advise that I had just been discharged from hospital with a serious brain injury, that my care needs had increased temporarily and my mobility remained unchanged and confirmed attendance at the rescheduled hearing although I could no longer drive (DVLA removed my licence for 6 months min). To my surprise without the final hearing I received notification from the tribunal service that my appeal was revised by the Appeals Officer, without the further hearing and was a more favourable one! I then received instanty an award letter from DWP stating HRM and LRC indefinately. Since the award I have the added post brain trauma syptoms which are in addition to my original claim but by care needs are now as they were at the point of claim, mobility remains the same. I have just received a letter to invite me to attend and IUC with DWP regarding possible criminal offence regarding my benefits, I only claim DLA as work (home based) as I did at the point of claim. I have read everything I can on this online so am getting rather clued up but am absolutely dreading the interview. I have arranged for legal representation as I know I will not cope with the interview on my own. I am guessing if they have had a tip off that I am not disabled that I will have been under surveillance and that they will have evidence to now support the allegation; however my circumstances have not changed in my opinion, I am as I was at the point of application and have referred to good days to show that my issues are not always present i.e variable so I am assuming any evidence would be around those such times (I am never out in public at the worst times) If anything my condition is worse given the new syptoms and I am guessing he will not be aware of my brain issue or new syptoms which, given they will not change my award were never reported directly to DWP as they are technically additional issues with mobility and mental health and this will not increase my award! I have had and continue to have ongoing treatment for all my conditions, have been hospitalised four times since claiming including two strokes, now what a benefit thief would have to suffer! What I am worried about is that I never qualified in the first instance and I am wondering if the Tribunal, faced with news of my significant brain trauma and hospitalisation, have made a decision to award and I am now paying the price! My mobility features on servere discomfort and pain and whilst I had stated risk of fall and stumbles and the need (but do not always have) for somebody to be with me; for the record I attended the hearing alone as it was not possible to have somebody with me. Two questions, If I have stated variation in my application and I have variation now can they prosecute on this i.e. no change in circumstance to report and secondly, would the tribunal have a manuscript of the hearing and details as to why they overturned the decision as I think this would also support my case and if so how can I get access to this. I am rather expecting the chap from DWP will be sat there, with my application and photos/video of my walking unaided or not seemingly with pain which is not unusual but not my permanent state of mobility; I usually always have a walking aid unless extremely well (rarely) Will he have all the tribunal paperwork as within this is where all relevance to variable is in the main other than reference to this in a few places in my application? I also hope he has the written note sent to the Tribunal (and confirmed as received) stating I had had the brain injury, was now home and care needs increased but mobility not) as this is a change in circumstance which I have reported. I do not believe anything has changed, no surgery, no cure and still with a degenerative condition! I am fully aware of the need to notify if anything changes but not if it changes day by day? I would be on the phone to DLA every day! Has anybody been to an IUC, how was it and what should I expect. This is making me more sick, have not eaten a thing for 48 hrs, pain is escalating and affecting everything for me! One minute I am a wreck the next I want to fight this all the way, they can not accuse me of fraud, I have not knowingly done anything and actually pay more in taxes that the bloody benefit is worth! One last point, phoned today to rearrange the interview and the chap was a little bit shocked to hear I was bringing a legal rep; not rolling over with this. Any help, support, encouragement or opinion gratefully received. Worried sick!

Can you please direct me to the template letter re Bank taking benefits to offset charges etc, and is a) this still valid and enforceable and b) Does the possibility of pursuing unlawful penalty charges ( Not PPI) still have legs? Many thanks

We currently claim Housing Benefit and get a council tax rebate. I'm looking at applying for Child Tax Credit. I haven't applied so far because I didn't want our council tax bill to rise too much. I appreciate its difficult to judge, but on the whole does child tax credit balance out the decreased housing benefit and decreased council tax rebate? Many Thanks

My benefits have been suspended for 11 weeks so far while the DWP investigate me for benefit fraud. I am innocent but they havnt proved me innocent or guilty. I know if they find me innocent they will repay it all but if they find me guilty my question is this, Do they a) repay the money theyv taken so far and then tell me to pay back in installments? b) say i owe them so much and keep what theyv taken so far and then i pay back in installments? c) say i owe them so much so keep what theyv taken so far and not pay me anything till its all reclaimed? I have had to borrow of friends and family to get thru and if the dwp pay me back i can clear my debts but if they dont then im screwed... nobody (def not the CAB) can tell me how they proceed. Can anyone advise please? Thank you

Help! To cut a long story short, I am so useless when it comes to getting back bank charges and it is not as easy as I thought it would be! I currently get Income Support, Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit into my bank account, this is ALL that's goes into my account. I heard that because of it being a benefit the banks can not legally take it from my account, I have seen a few stories where no judgement was made and Barclays refunded, so I gave it ago. On the phone the lady actually lied to me and told me they treat all their customers the same, if they are working or not a charge will still apply.. .. I told her I knew she was lying as I have seen a few people beating the banks. I received a letter in the post last week and it states: 'I understand you are unhapy with the bank charges incurred and debited from your account between 2009-2013, when taking into consideration the provisions of the Social Security Admin Act 1992. As a resolution, you would like a refund of the above charges.' 'I can clarify that where the Act refers to a 'charge' it is intended to mean ''to assign an asset'' rather than to ''incur a fee''. Therefore, the true meaning of the Act is that benefit payments can not be used as security or assigned to a third party. This means Barclays can charge fees in respect of the products and services we offer your banker. ' This bit is the bit that has thrown me 'As a result, I am unable to uphold your complaint and will not be refunding the bank charges you have complained about' Since writing to them and them giving me this as there final findings I have incurred 2 more bank charges. What do I do?

This has been posted elsewhere on the site,but its needed in here too. A friend of mine was in despair following Santander not only charging him for a failed direct debit,but then continued to add further daily charges. He informed me that he had called them and emailed them,explaining that the charges were punitive since his only income is Jobseekers allowance. The fees stood at £55 and were rising. He asked me if I could help,and duly wrote him a letter. I was finding it hard to understand,how a bank like Santander,were openly flouting their obligations. My friend had pleaded with them and explained his situation. Santander of course could see from the account too-that he was in reciept of benefits since they were paid into this account. No excuses then...lets get to work. Account number xxxxxxxxxxx Sort Code xx xx xx letter before action Dear Sir/Madam, I am very disappointed in your response to my complaints which were made to you today, and that you have chosen to ignore my request for hardship, I therefore have no alternative but to seek recourse through the county court system. I believe that Santander have treated me unfairly under the following BCOB rules of which Santander should be compliant with,since Santander is a firm regulated by the FSA. Rule 5.1.1 R states “A firm must provide a service in relation to a retail banking service which is prompt, efficient and fair to a banking customer and which has regard to any communications or financial promotion made by the firm to the banking customer from time to time.” Rule 5.1.4 G “Principle 6 requires a firm to pay due regard to the interests of its customers and to treat them fairly. In particular, a firm should deal fairly with a banking customer whom it has reason to believe is in financial difficulty.” Santandar have been informed that I am in reciept of state benefits and that I need these to cover essential living costs including food and heat/lighting. Santander have not at any point acknowledged that this is a hardship case despite me notifying you.You have levied charges of £55 in recent days,and have refused to refund these in your return call to me on 6th.June. For these grounds I feel that I have been treated unfairly. In order for this claim to be settled without the need for court action I require that the full amount taken of £55 returned to me by way of a credit to my account. If I have not received a satisfactory response within 14 days then court action will be commenced without further notice and further costs will be incurred. A judgment for a breach of BCOBS is very serious and the FSA would be empowered to act. Yours Faithfully Mr V. Upset Would the recipients of his email to Santander actually know what the letter was about ? You bet they did! He got a reply quite swiftly...in fact in the space of 30 minutes. Message: Good Afternoon Mr V. Upset Thank you for your email. I am happy to reverse the amount of £55, which have been waived due to exceptional circumstances. To ensure no further charges are incurred on your accounts, we would ask you to monitor your accounts throughout the month. This can be completed through Online Banking, Local Branch and Telephone Banking. I hope this information is useful and if you have any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact me via Secure Messaging or my colleagues on 0845 9724724. Kind Regards, The nice man (who knows his BCOBs from his bankcharges) Santander Customer Services So the message to all those who believe they have been treated unfairly,is to give them a taste of their own famous words when they fob you off with sorry we cant refund the charges..... "This may not be the reply you wanted" Edit. The banks get letters and emails from people threatening them with Court action every day. We know this and so do they.So its essential,that you are willing and prepared to act on any threats if the bank do ignore your letter/email.

My friend has recently left her husband and they have two young children under 7. She's moved into a friend's empty house that's on the market, for the time being, until she's able to find somewhere more permanent. Her husband is staying in the family home where their kids were born, which is rented. She only works 12 hours a week and wants to know what benefits she'd be entitled to. She doesn't have a tenancy agreement for the house she's staying in for now as the owners are letting her stay there as a favour and not charging her a set rent. She's 41 and her children will be staying with her.

With all the testing involved with ATOS and now these PIPS run by the same company , I've been wondering if its worth while staying in the UK at all given the quality of life and what the alternatives are , is it actually still possible to move abroad on and still receive DLA ( I am interested in moving to Holland ) or has ATOS's take over of that too made it impossible ? And how does ATOS actually enforce their testing if your living there , as opposed here ? thanks, mike

Hi, myself and my partner have both been claiming income based JSA for a short while now. We've always had the same person in our 'signing on sessions' and have never had any issues until today when we went to sign on. We had a different person from before, and when examining our job search asked my partner if she had been using Universal Job Match. She told them she hadn't as she had better luck finding more appropriate jobs elsewhere. Her job search sheet reflected this, she has always applied for at least 3 jobs every week and had managed about 3 or 4 interviews with different employers over a 5 month period. She told her that she would unfortunately have to refer our case and possibly have our benefits docked, just because she hadn't used Universal Job Match? Is this right? I can't for the life of me understand how this is fair. We both apply for a combination of about 12 jobs in total every two weeks, and always check job sites daily (such as Indeed, Reed etc. ones with better functionality than Job Match) we put our reference numbers down and everything can be very easily traced and backed up if calls were made etc. So why just because my partner hasn't used the Universal Job Match site would we have our money taken off us? As long as we are applying for jobs and writing down the steps we are taking in detail to find work, surely there shouldn't be an issue? Or am I totally off the mark here? Any help or advice is very much appreciated. Henry.

I'm due to sign on boxing day but have been told that ill be excused and will b signed automatically. The person i spoke too told me ill be paid x-mas eve ( today ) but i have not been paid yet, if i don't get paid is there any way of chasing up my money?

Has anybody got the dates for ESA payments over the holiday period. Do they go in as normal, or early. My next due payment is the 30th thanks

Currently unemployed after losing my job in september 2012....receive JSA and housing benefit, if I was to go self employed would I still get help to begin with ?

Hi, I am currently receiving ESA and have an overdraft with Barclays. Currently my overdraft has been limited and when I receive my ESA, Barclays are taking £22 a time every time I am using my reserve. This month they took £88 in charges and this was taken from my ESA which left me with little money to survive on for the rest of the month. Can Barclays do this even though I am receiving benefits? Thank you.