ARGH! Council wanting £5000 by 5th Jan

[BitofSparklingPerry]

I really hope someone has some advice for us :-(

This year, we have both been in and out of various jobs. At the beginning of the year, I was on Employment and Support Allowance (support group), but then I started doing Avon and so didn't renew my claim when it ran out in about May (I was still eligible, as I was too unwell to do a proper job and in fact was doing Avon against medical advice, but I was desperate to get back to doing something productive, and with DH working the extra money from Avon made it so I would be getting about £3 a week ESA so I didn't bother with it)

We have been claiming housing benefit and council tax benefit all year, in varying amounts as our income varied (DH got sacked, got another job, got made redundant, got another job, I did the Avon and got a job doing the bar at a football stadium on matchdays, DD2's nursery hours changed according to what was going on in our lives - I study as well, again against medical advice, but imo a lot of the medical advice is just prejudice against people with severe mental illnesses, despite mine being fairly under control now)

Anyhow, I got a letter the other day, demanding ALL the HB and council tax for the year, totalling £5,000 or thereabouts, by 5th Jan.

Obviously we can't afford that, so DH rang them up. It sounds like the ESA stopping made them think that we shouldn't be getting HB anymore, despite them paying it ever since then. We definitely were eligible.

They have agreed to look at the claim again, if we can get every single payslip, bank statement, tax credits letter, full accounts and so on to them by the 28th of December. I am at my parents house for Christmas, DH is meant to be joining us on Friday. We haven't kept every piece of paperwork.

Can anything be done, or do we just need to pay the money? We really, really can't afford it, especially since the bank have decided to recall my £1000 overdraft and DHs old job want paying back some wages from holiday pay. I can't possibly take on any more work - the DDs are home educated, I study, do mystery shopping, content farming, surveys, avon and my bar job. Dh works shifts at a call centre so can't really find space to do anything else either.

HELP! Can we delay them at all?

Just get what you can to them & see what they say.

Don't panic. I'd be astonished if any public sector organisation managed to make good on such a threat at this time of year. Most of their staff will be off next week and the week after.

Would this site be any help to check what you're entitled to?

www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

Also, start keeping and filing every single bit of paper. You can only fight bureaucrats with paper. Some of the bank statements and so on may be available online if you ask the bank.

if your dh was overpaid holiday from an old job i am not sure that he has to pay that back if it was their mistake. contact cab on that one

Surely they have this information from when you originally claimed HB? Ring them and ask what they've done with it.

Then get as much as you can together. Take a day to do it. Then you can work out what you have/haven't got and you can give that to them. Explain you need to get the rest from employers etc.

Speak to CAB. Don't be fobbed off.