Housing Benefit Over Payment

[odds]

I hope someone can assist in this claim by the local council that a change in my household has caused an over payment of £1200.
 

Circumstances are that myself and my wife are in receipt of ESA Contribution Based due to heart problems. 

We have 2 grandsons and one son living with us.

My eldest grandson left college in 2018, the younger one is still in further education.

I informed the Child Benefit Office and HMRC about it at the time and he has not been on the Child Tax Credits since then and Child Benefit was stopped.

 

From September 2018 after leaving college he has and still has drug abuse and mental health issues and had no income at all,

in September 2019 we managed to persuade him to claim ESA/UC which he did and was placed in the LCWRA straight away after an assessment 

Two weeks ago I received a letter from the Local Authority asking about the circumstances regarding my eldest grandson and Further Education, which they certainly must have known about because he hadn't been on any Child Tax Credits Statement which the Local Authority are informed of.

 

I have no problem about the fact that I may owe the over payment but what is annoying me is the fact that the Local Authority are provided with all the information from HMRC regarding Child Tax Credits and Child Benefit.

 

At no time have I had to tell the Local Authority that my grandsons are staying in full time education, I inform the relevant departments and they inform the Local Authority as HMRC provide them with the household income and names of Dependents. The Local Authority actually seem to know before me how much Child Tax Credits I'm due to get.

 

I have been sent revised statements covering the period from 2018 to 2020 and they state that there is no deduction from your benefits for these Non dependents(2), but what has dropped significantly is the amount we now need need to live on, approximately £70 per week.

 

The letter states:

"I will recover the overpayment from your current entitlement

Your repayment will be accepted without prejudice to any further further action the DWP may wish to take against you in this case"

 

There is no mention of how much they are recovering weekly though.

 

Like I said, if I have done something wrong, which I believe I haven't,  I will gladly repay it but I feel there is a bit of an administration error here and I'm now in arrears through it.

Is there any point in appealing this decision, or any advice would be welcome.

 

Thanks.

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Some Councils issue a benefit form in March every year, asking for all information to be confirmed again, just in case the benefit claim needs to be revised.

 

Did you receive a benefit assessment form March this year,  March 2019 and March 2018 ?

 

Councils receive some data from Government departments, but this does not remove the responsibility of the benefit claimant in reporting all changes in circumstances.

 

If the Council have calculated an overpayment of benefit, then ask them for a detailed breakdown of how they have calculated the amount. Also send them a GDPR subject access request asking for all information held on your benefit records.

 

When a younger member of the Household aged 16-20 leaves education or training, you do have to contact all benefit services. Councils under Housing Benefit may apply a non dependant deduction for your older grandson who left education back in 2018.  He would have been expected to help you with Housing costs out of any money he receives.

[odds]

50 minutes ago, unclebulgaria67 said:

Some Councils issue a benefit form in March every year, asking for all information to be confirmed again, just in case the benefit claim needs to be revised.

 

Did you receive a benefit assessment form March this year,  March 2019 and March 2018 ?

Thanks uncleb for the reply.

I've never had any such form off the Local Authority

 

50 minutes ago, unclebulgaria67 said:

 

 

Councils receive some data from Government departments, but this does not remove the responsibility of the benefit claimant in reporting all changes in circumstances.

 

Which is exactly my point, when they began Further Education I reported it to the relevant Departments, who in turn notified the Local Authority.

At no time have I had to notify the Local Authority directly about them starting Further Education.
When he left Further Education I notified the same Departments and my payments from them was adjusted and his name removed from the Child Tax Credits notification, so I think it is fair to think that the Local Authority were made aware as the income from Child Tax Credits changed on the Housing Benefits statements to reflect the changes

50 minutes ago, unclebulgaria67 said:

If the Council have calculated an overpayment of benefit, then ask them for a detailed breakdown of how they have calculated the amount. Also send them a GDPR subject access request asking for all information held on your benefit records.

 

They have sent amended statements for the period in question from Sept 2018 until March 2021 and the eldest grandson is now listed as a Non Dependent, however, they are still listing Child Benefit for 2 children in the Income section.

I know it's classed as disregarded income but it shows that something has gone wrong somewhere, and still is wrong.

Even more confusing is the Housing Benefit statements are now produced and sent from a different county, yet they list the Local Authority office to reply to.

Too many cooks ? 

50 minutes ago, unclebulgaria67 said:

 

When a younger member of the Household aged 16-20 leaves education or training, you do have to contact all benefit services. Councils under Housing Benefit may apply a non dependant deduction for your older grandson who left education back in 2018.  He would have been expected to help you with Housing costs out of any money he receives.

 

 It states that  " There is no deduction from your Housing Benefit for these Non Dependents (2), but in the Income total used the amount you need to live on has dropped significantly.  That is what has caused the overpayment as far as I can see.  Due to his health issues he had no income/benefits at all from Sept 2018 until Sept 2019, that was his choice I know and irrelevant but it's a fact.

[lenny100]

i found to my own cost that local athoritys seem to get info from the benifit system before you on most ocasions and also get info you never get, and as for rules they seem to make them up as they go and it always your fault never theirs, they also seem not to have rules on how far back they can ask for , mine dated back nearly 6 years because of what i belive was a problem with their system and miss type info, but it was my fault i hadef made sure the info was correct, (still havent found how i was to do this ) now repayind back £2500 at £ 10 every 4 weeks!

[unclebulgaria67]

Never assume that you don't have to report changes to Council, because other Government departments should pass on information.

 

Ask for a breakdown of the overpayment amount and make a GDPR subjrct access request to see if they were told about the change.