non dependant charge ?

[the_pest]

i have today received a letter from the housing benifit stating my claim has been adjusted because A non dependant charge has been added ...

I have one child in full time college now (started this week) and 1 child who is unemployed. They are are 17 twins

I thourght a non dependant charge was for over 18's is this right or wrong.. i get JSA(myself).. child benifit for the 1 at college and child tax for the one at college.. the other child get nothinjg as he cant sign on till 18.. and is not in full time education... it seems the less we get the more money people want from us.. any help please ty

[abc123def]

No, it is for all over 16's not dependent on you so if a 16 year old has left education they count as if an adult for HB purposes. They should ask for his income though to calculate his contribution towards the rent and council tax

[the_pest]

Income..what income he has no income.. he cant claim anything at 17 (17 today i may add) ) ..so what their saying is.. because i now get less child benifit and less child tax i have to pay rent for a child that i get nothing for???? I would say he is more of a dependant now as he has nothing, he was going to join the army but his gcse results werent high enought to join, infantry wouldnt take him as he wasnt the right build according to them.. now he is stuck with no job, no money so i have to provide for him (i would NEVER abandon him) he has tryed the college but as he didnt enroll none will except him, he has made a appointment to see a under 18 adviser next week as we cant survive this extra bill, it was hard enought b4 with the jsa deducting money at stupid rates ..the council told me pay the excess or face evicion..how can you pay when you just dont have it to be able to...its physically impossible to pay out money that you dont have coming in... am now beyond help here ?

[estellyn]

No, I thought non dep ducs were only made for 18+. I checked a few sites and they all say no non dep duc for 16 and 17 year olds.

[id6052]

Non-dependant deductions are only applied if the non-dependant is aged 18 or over

 

The Local Authority should not apply in respect of 17 year olds

 

Are you sure the letter does not refer to period after his 18th birthday? How much is the deduction?

[estellyn]

Income..what income he has no income.. he cant claim anything at 17 (17 today i may add) ) ..so what their saying is.. because i now get less child benifit and less child tax i have to pay rent for a child that i get nothing for???? I would say he is more of a dependant now as he has nothing, he was going to join the army but his gcse results werent high enought to join, infantry wouldnt take him as he want the right build according to them.. now he is stuck with no job, no money so i have to provide for him (i would NEVER abandon him) he has tryed the college but as he didnt enroll none will except him, he has made a appointment to see a under 18 adviser next week as we cant survive this extra bill, it was hard enought b4 with the jsa deducting money at stupid rates ..the council told me pay the excess or face evicion..how can you pay when you just dont have it to be able to...its physically impossible to pay out money that you dont have coming in... am now beyond help here ?

 

Has he been to connexions as you were advised on another thread?

[id6052]

Just seen your post that he is 17 today? Is there a possibility they have the wrong date of birth and think he is 18?

[estellyn]

Just seen your post that he is 17 today? Is there a possibility they have the wrong date of birth and think he is 18?

 

Yes, you should take his birth certificate to the HB office with a letter stating non dep ducs are only applicable from the age of 18.

 

Sadly, mistakes are made all the time. The last change of circs I had with my HB, I had to contact them 5 times as each notice they sent, they corrected one thing, then made a new mistake.

[the_pest]

the letter states... Your claim has been adjusted because: A NON DEPENDANT CHARGE IS NOW APPLICABLE...Thats how it is writted and on the letter it stats i must now pay a 12.40 a week towards the housing benifit from 3rd sept 2012 to 24th dec 2012 and 7th jan 2013 to 18th march 2013....and in answer to Estellyn He is off to see a under 18's adviser next week was the earliest he could get in ...

 

oh also that this 12.40 is now in arrears and the 37.20 is now due to clear the arrears...nice only got the darn letter today saying they had adjusted it...ok i officially give up

Edited September 21, 2012 by the_pest

[estellyn]

the letter states... Your claim has been adjusted because: A NON DEPENDANT CHARGE IS NOW APPLICABLE...Thats how it is writted and on the letter it stats i must now pay a 12.40 a week towards the housing benifit from 3rd sept 2012 to 24th dec 2012 and 7th jan 2013 to 18th march 2013....and in answer to Estellyn He is off to see a under 18's adviser next week was the earliest he could get in ...

 

oh also that this 12.40 is now in arrears and the 37.20 is now due to clear the arrears...nice only got the darn letter today saying they had adjusted it...ok i officially give up

 

As I said. Write a short letter requesting a review of the decision and pointing out that a non dependant charge only applies for 18 year olds and older and your son is 17. Take the birth certificate aswell as proof. It should be simple thing for them to change - probably due to the date of birth being incorrectly entered on the computer when inputting your claim.

[Lillibelle]

It's an error..Take his birth certificate in and insist on watching them rectify it.

[jadeybags]

Income..what income he has no income.. he cant claim anything at 17 (17 today i may add) ) ..so what their saying is.. because i now get less child benifit and less child tax i have to pay rent for a child that i get nothing for???? I would say he is more of a dependant now as he has nothing, he was going to join the army but his gcse results werent high enought to join, infantry wouldnt take him as he wasnt the right build according to them.. now he is stuck with no job, no money so i have to provide for him (i would NEVER abandon him) he has tryed the college but as he didnt enroll none will except him, he has made a appointment to see a under 18 adviser next week as we cant survive this extra bill, it was hard enought b4 with the jsa deducting money at stupid rates ..the council told me pay the excess or face evicion..how can you pay when you just dont have it to be able to...its physically impossible to pay out money that you dont have coming in... am now beyond help here ?

 

Barmy isn't it. Reminds me of my situ a bit. My hearing impaired sons DLA & CA stopped when he went into seniors age 11. I have him in a particular school because of his disability, & his education has been great, which is 5 miles away, so I have to run a car (can't get the bus, or 2 buses rather) I would NEVER begrudge my son the best education, it WAS my choice to keep him in this school when the council moved us out the area so they could move the immigrants into the few available houses where we used to live, but it has actually cost me more to bring him up in the last 5 yrs, than it ever did the 10 yrs he was on DLA/Carers before that!

[abc123def]

I didn't know a child could get carers allowance, I thought that was an adult doing the caring?

[Lillibelle]

I didn't know a child could get carers allowance, I thought that was an adult doing the caring?

 

iI think jadey did the caring,,just the way the post is worded

[the_pest]

update: the Non depandant charge was for my daughter ..who i had already informed them moved out ..I informed them that over 18 months ago...doh!!! they said i DIDNT tell them so i asked ok IF i didnt tell you ..how come you have never charged me for a non dependant before now and my daughter is 25?? Reply..ermmmm ahhhh well... and AS my daughter doesnt live with me you cant charge me for her now anyway, also i can prove where she has been living the last 18 months... ok said the council housing benifit lady..we will amend that..however... they CAN charge a non dependant age 17 IF they no longer qualify for Child Benifit..so the council lady said and this letter i will get amending that with the next few days..But saying that the lad they were going to charge for starts full time college/achademy tomorrow and is again intitled to Child benifit and child tax credits so the under 18 adviser told me (she set this up for himand i didnt know any of this before i met with the housing benifits lady) so for once it looks like i have the last word x x x

[estellyn]

update: the Non depandant charge was for my daughter ..who i had already informed them moved out ..I informed them that over 18 months ago...doh!!! they said i DIDNT tell them so i asked ok IF i didnt tell you ..how come you have never charged me for a non dependant before now and my daughter is 25?? Reply..ermmmm ahhhh well... and AS my daughter doesnt live with me you cant charge me for her now anyway, also i can prove where she has been living the last 18 months... ok said the council housing benifit lady..we will amend that..however... they CAN charge a non dependant age 17 IF they no longer qualify for Child Benifit..so the council lady said and this letter i will get amending that with the next few days..But saying that the lad they were going to charge for starts full time college/achademy tomorrow and is again intitled to Child benifit and child tax credits so the under 18 adviser told me (she set this up for himand i didnt know any of this before i met with the housing benifits lady) so for once it looks like i have the last word x x x

 

She's wrong, non dep charges don't apply till 18. It sounds like she's confused about the fact that non dep charge don't apply for 18 and 19 year olds if child benefit is still in payment for them.

 

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/housing_benefit_calculations#5

 

http://www.tameside.gov.uk/housingbenefit/nondependentdeductions

 

http://www.hackney.gov.uk/f-non-dependant-deductions.htm#

 

I could go on....

[the_pest]

humm shes confused so am i lol...right i will wait on a letter from the council and see whats said then i will quote the sites you have listed (just had a read) it certainly says 18 not 17 so looks like i might be having yet another arguement with them..silly as she was/is the housing benifits adviser so you would think (ha ha) she would know what she is at...anyway many thanks will keep you posted x

[estellyn]

humm shes confused so am i lol...right i will wait on a letter from the council and see whats said then i will quote the sites you have listed (just had a read) it certainly says 18 not 17 so looks like i might be having yet another arguement with them..silly as she was/is the housing benifits adviser so you would think (ha ha) she would know what she is at...anyway many thanks will keep you posted x

 

You may well be able to find the non dep page for your own local authority - google the name of your authority and non dependant deductions, and it may bring something up. Some authorities on line information is better than others. Nothing better than challenging her with info from their own site.

[honour2012]

Housing benefit don't know what they are talking about I went there last week with proof of benefit and was told it was £105 for a couple I told her I think you have that wrong its £111 been that since April 2012. Very worrying when the public know the rules and they don't.