Housing benefit

[usernameXTX]

Hi

Does anyone know anything about housing benefit?

Am a single mum of 2,my son is 19 & my daughter is 8 i work part time (21hrs) i have always been in receipt of HB but now they have stop my claim and said am no longer entitled to anything.

My son left school in 2016 when straight into an apprenticeship till 2018 he was on a very low wage,he is since unemployed and noe the HB are saying i owe them nearly £6500 for this time?

So now i have to pay full rent on a part time wage,my housing association want £506 off me for next week to make up for no HB being paid then my actual rent is due on the 27th which is £427 i am already behind in my rent and this will set me back even further, i am having sleepless nights worrying i could loose my home,please does anyone have any advice?

Thanks

Did you notify them when he left education?

You should have informed them that he was starting an apprenticeship as he would then be classed as a non dependent and you would lose money from your HB. This I suspect is why you have been overpaid. he should have been contributing some to the rent, although I know it's difficult when apprenticeship wages are so low. If they can't re-start your claim you may need to look at claiming Universal credit instead as there would be no non dependent deduction for your son until he is 21 so you may be better off. if your son is now unemployed then he needs to make a claim for Universal credit in his own right so that you have more money coming into the household. You can't support him on such a low wage.

Also I presume you informed child tax credits and child benefit when he started the apprentiship and that these stopped.

I would also advise speaking to CAB or similar before you do anything. they may be able to do you a better off calculation. if the Hb claim has been cancelled you wont be able to open a new claim anymore and it sounds like with only one child on the claim now you are earning too much.

The benefit system is a minefield and with the addition of universal credit, it's important to try and access professional, accurate impartial advice and support from organisations like CAB. They provide telephone advice regarding many issues including those related to benefits. Their national telephone number is 03444111444.

There are also a number of benefit calculators which you can use in the meantime to see what your currently entitled too. I've included links for entitled and turn2us that may help

benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou

www.entitledto.co.uk/?utm_source=BAdviser&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=GovUK

Good luck

Hi

Yes i enformed all other benefits when he left school,i thought if you told one then they all would have been informed at the same time,he doesn't want to claim any benefits for the simple reason of univeral credits which i dont blame him

Youe ds has to pay you rent as that is why you no longer receive HB.

You need to inform them all as they are separate entities. He is regarded as an adult and expected to contribute towards your costs. He needs to claim benefits if he is not working.

Your son needs to claim benefits if he is not working or in education. Because his stamp will be paid towards his state pension & other things. To claim full state pension you need 35 qualifying years.
He may be able to receive some money & help applying for jobs/CV
He must make his own claim

you need to make a claim to universal credit as you will be entitled to something, you are entitled to working tax credits, child tax credit and Child benefit for your 8 year old.

and should also still be entitled to a housing element , i would contact Uni credit and check your eligibility etc.

Your son needs to claim himself, probably UC. He will need to take is identification to the job centre when he receives his appointment. He will need to register digitally. He will probably need to attend the job centre weekly & prove that he has been applying for jobs via his online diary.
He will be advised what benefits he will receive

Op do you realise your hb hasn’t just been stopped because your son is 18 it’s also because he lives there as a non dependent.

Yes i am aware of that.

Yes i get child tax credit,working tax credit & child benefit for my daughter.

I thought i would have been still entitled to some housing benefit as i do still have a dependant.

What is the process of universal credit? Is there still a long waiting process before you are given any money?

There is a wait of approx. 5 weeks for your first payment on UC, but you can take an advance payment to tide you over which you pay back over a number of month. Please get a careful accurate calculation done before you decide to do anything though. the online calculators are often not accurate.

You don’t get hb even though you have a dependent because your ds non dependent reduction effectively cancels out the hb you would have received.
You lose twice once because you receive no hb in regards to your ds being a dependent and again because he lives with you as a non dependent.
Why have you not told him to claim UC?

We had a talk this afternoon he is going to jobcentre tomorrow to apply for UC,if he gets UC does that mean i will get some sort of HB reduction?

Sorry for all the questions but i cant gets to speak to anyone till the 14th.

He needs to apply online initially. The Jobcentre will then contact him to make an appointment.

If your claim has actually ended, then you'll need to claim UC in order to get the housing element again. You cannot make a new claim for HB.

Do you have a breakdown of the calculation that ended your claim? Have they applied the maximum NDD because you didn't supply the correct information about your son? Also, are they treating your overpayment as potentially fraudulent?

Your son getting UC wont give you a housing benefit reduction he will still be classed as a non dependent. If you were to go onto UC you would not have a non dependent deduction on your UC rent element until he turns 21. This is about the only way that UC can be beneficial for people if they have a young person under 21 living with them. I think you need to find out whether you are still entitled to any housing benefit, has it been stopped completely because of the big overpayment ? You need to speak to them first before you make any decisions. On HB you will still have a non dependent deduction for your son regardless of whether he claims UC or not. If he claims UC though he will be able to give you a little to help with that shortfall.

If your sons claims UC he can use that to pay you directly.

And as NoBaggyPants says above - if your HB claim has stopped completely ( rather than just been suspended because of the overpayment) then you cannot open a new claim and would need to apply for UC yourself instead.

You need to get benefits advice and probably debt advice. Non dependents have been mentioned by PP. Here is some information on them. The reduction depends on your circumstances. Get the advice ASAP because there are deadlines to challenge benefits decisions. Challenges can be made late. The deadline is one month.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/help-if-on-a-low-income/housing-benefit/help-with-your-rent-housing-benefit/

www.entitledto.co.uk/help/non-dependants

You may still receive some HB due to your other child who is 8. However, you may not get the single person council tax reduction if your other child is 19.
You need a professional to clarify your benefit entitlement
Your 19 needs to claim himself & pay you some money for living with you

For your 19 son. Benefits are not back dated, so he needs to claim asap

www.gov.uk and type in how to claim universal credit for your son