in hostel 4 three months :discetionary backdating issue

[lycamobile]

Hi i have recently moved to a hostel/hotel that accepts dss. its licenced rather than rented which means they can throw me out any time they like. my full rent is not covered i am short each week by 36 pound. ive been there approx 3 months. ive found out i can apply for discretionary payments. and if accepted get it backdated. problem is according to hostel rules, they keep any backdating as 'credit' i.e if i dont pay the shortfall they take it out of the credit.

 

ive had to kill myself to get the shortfall paid. im sure its illegal for them to do that but basically they can just throw me out . can i ask discertionary payment department 9if accepted) to pay the backdated cash to me (as long as i prove its been paid?)

 

the hostel made me sign a form to make sure hb payments went straight to them? and they can phone up if its stopped

 

ive thought of tranferring the payments back over to myself and paying up front for a month, till discretionary payments come through, but im sure if i did that the hostel would phone up hb and find out what ive done, theyre canny crooks form what i gather

 

need advice

backdated money amount to 500 pounds which i could use to get a room somewhere.

 

thanks in advance

[id6052]

the difficulty might be, that if you have already paid your shortfall for the back period, most councils would be unlikely to give you a discretionary housing payment as you have already managed

[lycamobile]

thanks for response. seems i can get backdated pay sent to me long as i can prove i paid it. also i didnt manage i loaned money which i can prove and i have to pay money back.

 

they only backdate upto 4 weeks unless i have a good reason . i suffer from depression, agoraphobia social anxiety and bdd (self -image) plus i have a strangulated hernia and am awaiting an operation. this means that simple tasks filling in forms on time etc are almost impossible. would that count as a good enough reason for backdating twelve weeks in your opinions? if i can prove i loaned cash and can prove my condition would they backdate further?

[lycamobile]

Hi i have recently moved to a hostel/hotel that accepts dss. its licenced rather than rented which means they can throw me out any time they like. my full rent is not covered i am short each week by 36 pound. ive been there approx 3 months. ive paid shortfall myself 36 pound each week.

 

disctionary payment say they will pay backdated money (if accepted) to me if i can prove ive paid which in can.

 

problem is they can say i managed to pay myself which is untrue. i took out loan to pay pay shortfall which i only took until i applied for discrtionary payment. this took longer than i intended because i supper from body image problems, agoraphobia, social anxiety and depression

 

also they only backdate for no more than four weeks without good reason.

 

so is they loan proof that i couldnt manage and is the medical issues excuse for more than four weeks backdating?

 

thanks in advance

[Crocdoc]

Mental health issues can in some cases of benefit claims be considered to be good reason,

Edited January 31, 2013 by Crocdoc

[id6052]

because these are discretionary payments, the policy varies from Council to Council, so it is really difficult to say

 

also, whether you are awarded would also depend upon how much (if any) the Council has left

[id6052]

does any of the shortfall relate to ineligible services? i.e. utilities?

 

DHPs will not cover ineligible services

[estellyn]

because these are discretionary payments, the policy varies from Council to Council, so it is really difficult to say

 

also, whether you are awarded would also depend upon how much (if any) the Council has left

 

Yes, one council we dealt with used to make an award to most people who completed a form - though they had few applications, but they tended not to make repeat awards except in exceptional circumstances, but another council used to make each applicant jump through many, many hoops and whether an award was given would depend on getting through each 'hoop', and they rarely awarded backdating, but they were much more willing to give repeat awards..

[Nystagmite]

You've got 2 threads on the same subject.

[antone]

Threads merged - best to keep all discussion about this in one place.