low income and Housing Benefit

[catrainor]

wondering if anyone has the answer to this - live in Housing Association property and have received Housing and Council Tax Benefit since 2009.

 

Basically I am autistic (and theregore legally a 'vulnerable' person but I only got my formal NHS diagnosis last month at the age of 56) both my autism and my caring duties for some disabled family members mean that it is impossible/impractical for me to get regular full time work and my only option is self employment working from home making craft items. For reasons that are not relevant here I currently receive neither disability benefits for myself nor Carers Allowance.(this may change in the future)

 

My work is essentially upcycling discarded fabrics (I make fancy versions of the old style rag rugs) there are little or no expenses. My autism causes me problems with organisatoin and prioritising and the up shot is that I could sit all day into the small hours cutting fabric and making rugs but forget about marketing the items! the upshot is that although I do intend to make a profit in time at the moment although I am putting in a lot of hours there is little to show in respect of income or expenditure.

 

I have just received a letter from my council saying that I am not entitled to HB or CTB as I am not in 'Gainful Employment" which is a term used under the definition of self employment in the Act that governs Housing Benefit as they term 'gainful employment' as one that pays an income.

 

I will of course appeal ths decision as I think their interpretation is wrong on a number of reasons but I have a question that I would like to thow out to everybody.

 

Essentially the council are disputing that I am 'self employed' under the HB rules. HOWEVER I am not sure that this is relevant because all the websites I have found and all the legislation I have looked at refer to entitlement to Housing Benefit arising if a claimant is in receipt of certain qualifying benefits OR ON A LOW INCOME!!! IN respect of those not on the trigger benefits I do not see anywhere a requirement that the claimant actually has to be in employment/self employment - simply it seems to look at the claimants income and capital.

 

As someone with and autistic spectrum disorder I can get anxious to the point of meltdown - do I really need to risk a complicated fight about their definition of 'Gainful Employment" or is the whole thing irrelevant as I wonder if HB/CTB entitlement arises simply by virtue of being poor (to use a crude but effective term) Have the council overlooked the big picture or have I overlooked something?

[Shoelover]

You are right.. They can assess your claim on low income grounds. However they may well ask for proof as to how you are supporting yourself.

[Rysoconnor]

As one who spent over 10 years managing a locality team providing a supported employment service to people who would benefit from extra support in work, and who now finds himself out if work claiming ESA, HB and CB, I agree with above post.

They should assess your claim on your income, however that is brought in.

The decision should be based on that

Good luck

[Rysoconnor]

You may have to prove any income, no matter how small.

[id6052]

can I just check that are you a UK citizen?

[Rysoconnor]

Indeed I am

[id6052]

there should be no reason (based upon info provided) that you would not be eligible to claim HB - try asking them which regulation they are relying on