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Original poster

HELP! No income since March

60 replies

Jux · 17/09/2020 11:27

Our basement was converted into a kind of granny flat with a connecting internal door to the rest of the house (our home); it has its own front door and separate address (the number with an 'a' added), but the utilities are not and cannot be separated.

We therefore charge tenants a combined rent which includes a certain amount for gas/elec/water, leaving them to pay their own Council Tax.

If they don't pay their rent, then we can't pay the joint utility bills.

The couple in there since before Christmas are elderly, one is retired the other was working but was sacked just after lockdown came about, which made it hard for her to find another job. We suggested they claim UC and apparently they did apply but actually haven't been paid it yet.

In the meantime they can't pay us. We have been using credit cards to try to stay on top of bills but can't go on.

They paid £200 last week but will not come up to discuss the debts with us. We have asked them and get shrugs, or vagueness, or "oh, I didn't know about that....." when we tell them of another benefit they could perhaps claim.

We've run out suggestions now and we've run out of credit. We dropped in a letter 3 days ago stating the amount of the debt and asking them to come and talk to us (yet again!). They have so far gone out earlyish and driven off for the day not returning until late. They are clearly avoiding us.

We don't qualify for UC ourselves as we own a property in which we do not live, ie the basement flat.

Is there anything at all we can do? Is there any help for us? A mortgage moratorium is not helpful to us as we don't have a mortgage.

TIA

OP posts:

RandomUser3049 · 17/09/2020 11:30

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Babyroobs · 17/09/2020 13:39

Have they got a proper tenancy agreement and have they showed that to UC.

Sargass0 · 17/09/2020 17:33

Shouldn't they be claiming HB not UC if they are elderly (state pension age) ? Maybe they applied for the wrong benefit

2020isnotbehaving · 17/09/2020 17:39

Are they hoping one of them can go back to work ASAP? How can they not ring a helpline to try and work out what they are entitled to after this long?

I’d suggest giving them a few days to prove they have made a claim (which could then take ages) or have to threaten to start eviction. Surely a genuine person who can’t pay would be updating you with exactly what is happening and doing their best to get sorted. If they couldn’t pay before where did the £200 come from?

Doodar · 17/09/2020 18:12

They're CF's, id give them notice. Not excusing them at all but if you haven't got a mortgage and their combined utilities bill can't be that much why are you struggling so much?

Babyroobs · 17/09/2020 18:25

It will complicate matters for Uc if the bills are included in the rent as Uc will want to know exactly what proportion of the amount they pay is rent and what is bills. Uc will only help with rent so it will not be a straightforward processing of their rent costs. This could be what is delaying things for them.

Babyroobs · 17/09/2020 18:29

@Sargass0

Shouldn't they be claiming HB not UC if they are elderly (state pension age) ? Maybe they applied for the wrong benefit

It says one was working so presumably one is maybe still under pension age in which case it would be UC, unless of course they are both over state pension age and just choosing to work, in which case they can claim HB.

Pearsapiece · 17/09/2020 18:36

I think evictions are suspended for now to protect renters. That doesn't help you though.
I'd be going and knocking on the door when you know they're in

CornishTiger · 17/09/2020 18:39

You need to be sending payment reminders, warning of notice and ultimately issue notice when law allows. I suggest you join residential landlords association.

Next time do not include bills in tenancy.

LoveLanky · 17/09/2020 18:48

Turn your gas, electricity and water off.

WrongKindOfFace · 17/09/2020 18:51

You can apply for their rent element to be paid to you. www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-landlord-request-for-a-managed-payment-or-rent-arrears-deduction

I would be gobsmacked if they have still not been paid uc. It could be that they’re not eligible if his pensions are too high?

Are you working yourself? If not but you have been then you could apply for new style Jobseeker’s Allowance as it’s contribution based and is not affected by the flat.

WrongKindOfFace · 17/09/2020 18:54

They won’t get the bills paid by uc though - they’d only get the rent less what you include for bills.

HaggieMaggie · 17/09/2020 19:17

Take the emotion out of it, imagine these tenants were young free and single and flitting out in the car for the day, what would you do? Get rid of them. If they are vulnerable they are the responsibility of the government not you.

BlackLambAndGreyFalcoln · 17/09/2020 19:35

The problem is that the OP cannot "just get rid of them" because evictions have been suspended!

Hollowtree3 · 17/09/2020 20:25

Hang on. Surely if you bought the place with the basement, then paid out to have the basement made into a flat, you should still be able to pay the mortgage for the place yourselves.... even if the tenants can’t pay for a bit....

Doodar · 17/09/2020 21:01

@Hollowtree3

They don’t have a mortgage.

Original poster

Jux · 18/09/2020 00:04

The basement had been done years before we bought the house. We bought with tenants in situ and they stayed for a couple of years then moved on. We have had a number of tenants over the years, one stayed for 6 years, most are there for a couple of years.

The elec, gas and water supplies cannot be separated from our own so we pay the bills and include their share in their rent. I know they won't get the full rent paid by HB.

We can't evict them due to the COVID rules though I think we might be able to give them 6 months' notice now that they're 3 months in arrears.

I am disabled and get PIP. I was working but the company moved the office up to Cumbria about 4 years ago which meant I was out on my ear. My dh is in the entertainment industry and so all his work stopped dead when lockdown started. It doesn't look like anything relevant to him will start up this year but obv if he can start again sooner he will.

We have been waiting since April for his application for carer's allowance to be dealt with, which is why we didn't really question the long wait our tenants have had for UC.

Anyway, I take there's no actual benefit/grant/help out there for us.

OP posts:

Babyroobs · 18/09/2020 00:21

@Jux

The elec, gas and water supplies cannot be separated from our own so we pay the bills and include their share in their rent. I know they won't get the full rent paid by HB.

We can't evict them due to the COVID rules though I think we might be able to give them 6 months' notice now that they're 3 months in arrears.

We have been waiting since April for his application for carer's allowance to be dealt with, which is why we didn't really question the long wait our tenants have had for UC.

Anyway, I take there's no actual benefit/grant/help out there for us.

Your husband could claim new style JSA ( contributions based), but I think the carers allowance when awarded would be deducted form it. Did you never claim Contributions based ESA yourself when you finished work?

Babyroobs · 18/09/2020 00:22

I would also chase up the carers allowance as usual wait time is 6-8 weeks.

Whyareblokesonhere · 18/09/2020 12:55

Can your dh not find a different job, not easy but certainly possible...

Original poster

Jux · 18/09/2020 15:19

The only thing I claimed was DLA; I know I was entitled to a lot of other benefits but I couldn't square it with my conscience so never claimed (I always feel like a fraud, both with DLA and now PIP, as if I'm not disabled enough .... apparently I am though, and I get a Blue Badge, which I feel so guilty about, but it really does help as I honestly can't walk that far).

Anyway, I've been looking for work since my office moved away and while there are things I can do, I ccan't do them for long enough at a time. I can stand up for about 2 minutes, then I'll collapse, I can type but my fingers are no longer that accurate - I used to type at nearly 60 wpm, accurately too, now I'm only good enough for forums like this one! And so on. Disability has robbed me of an awful lot.

DH is needed by me increasingly. I cannot even look at the higher shelves in my kitchen cupboards as it brings on faintness and dizziness and sickness.

I cannot stand up long enough to cook a proper meal and stirring a pot is painful. These things are ridic ulous but get in the way of being able to work. I am not strong enough to fill shelves and I am not stable enough to place the goods properly and I shake too much to arrange them as shops want them. It goes on......

DH himself is becoming frail and more debilitated. He is verging on COPD and has had a TIA. He has been quite ill with various awful infections which have seen him hospitalised twice in the last year and he hasn't recovered from the last time. He's been looking for driving jobs which don't involve lugging heavy stuff about, no joy so far.

He'd never bothered claiming carers' allowance before because it would have just meant that it would have been taken off his WTCs. He's never claimed anything before except WTCs,

OP posts:

Original poster

Jux · 18/09/2020 15:20

I am off to a funeral now - not COVID but cancer. Very awful. Thanks for your replies.

OP posts:

M00vi3Night3 · 19/09/2020 13:24

Why has your DH not claimed contributions based job seekers allowance via universal credit, the day after he lost his job ?

He can also claim the National Insurance contributions to his state pension, even if he isn't awarded any money.

Apply via www.gov.uk

Because he hasn't applied, YOU have assumed some things that may be incorrect

Original poster

Jux · 19/09/2020 19:01

He hasn't claimed that because we didn't know it existed (we are waiting for the guy at CAB to call us back). We are not entitled to UC at all because we 'own a property we do not live in' - ie, our basement flat - so how could he claim anything associated with UC?

I don't know anything about the pension thing so will ask him.

OP posts:

Babyroobs · 19/09/2020 20:45

@Jux

I don't know anything about the pension thing so will ask him.

New style ESA is separate to UC as it's based on contributions paid and therefore not means tested. If he has paid sufficient NI contributions then get him to make a claim today online via the GOV.UK and he will be getting payments within a couple of weeks. Not sure if it can be back dated like New style ESA is ??

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