housing benefit and council tax poss overpayment

[gengisxxx]

right where do i start i have 6 children 4 under 18 and 2 over 1 on jsa and 1 in ft work on oct 20 th ish i was informed my hb had been stopped when i rang up they said it was because of a mistake that i hadnt informed them of my daughter being in ft work so i took in all info requested and signed change of circumstance form and the woman said they would investigate now my daughter who works only stays here 1 night a week since she started work . and my hubby is registered disabled and is on dla and ib esa will this make any difference and also i did inform them 2 years ago as hubby went in prison and i had to make a statement then to council tax and hb about who was in home at time i am worried sick if they make me pay it back as am obs on low income anyway please can anyone help

[abc123def]

Do you work?

 

I am assuming not and that your dh is claiming ESA couple rate for you both? Do the LA know this and that he is living in your property now that he is out of prison ie did you inform the council of the change of circs when he was released and returned home?

 

I am protected from any non dependant deductions from my hb due to the fact that I receive DLA, so your dh's dla is an important thing to inform your LA of, but you need to go in and tell them who is living in your property and details of all benefits you and your dh receive as well as any other income or savings you have.

 

Just be honest, by the sounds of it, it will all be sorted out fine unless there is more to your situation than you are saying.

[gengisxxx]

i informed when he came out and returned home and he is on higher rate dla and they have a list etc of what we recieve does having dla protect from non dependant deductions then ?

[gengisxxx]

right just checked and we dont get care so will they then try to charge us for overpayment for the 3 years at a rate of 40 a week ish fgs this is making me really ill and cannot cope . my daughter stays 1 night a week is this classed as living here

[estellyn]

Where does she live the rest of the time?

[gengisxxx]

at her boyfriends house

[abc123def]

is she registered for council tax at her boyfriends address and does she pay bills/rent there? That will show where her main residence is. Where does her mail go? Bank statements etc

[gengisxxx]

no she isnt registered for council tax he lives with his parents and they dont ask for money for bills etc am i buggered or is there hope i genuinely didnt know i had to claim she was working as hubby was on dla and esa

[abc123def]

Seems that her main residence is with you then, despite her hardly sleeping there. At the end of the day, she is responsible for either living with you and paying her way and that means paying what any deductions are from your hb etc. or she can choose to move out and be independent. I had the exact same choice with my adult children before I was awarded DLA and they became exempt. Before that I had to give them the hard choice to pay the shortfall themselves or leave.

[gengisxxx]

so do you think that i will be charged and fined etc and have to pay back overpayment and then i will say to daughter move out completely also when will they reinstate hb and pay back to my landlord

[abc123def]

there may be an overpayment. they will need your dd's payslips for however long because the deductions are worked out on her level of income. once the overpayment is agreed they should reinstate the benefits and deduct the set amount they expect your dd to contribute and then hopefully you can agree the level of weekly deduction to pay off the overpayment. Your dd will have to pay what the council expect her to pay towards living there herself so your only conern is to agree a weekly amount to pay back the overpayment, they will leave you enough to live on though. Try not to worry, though I know it is hard.