Bloody housing and council tax benefit

[blahblah23]

I discovered by accident that my local council had decided I was no longer entitled to council tax/ housing benefit in October 2021, after an increase in tax credits, that lasted only a few months. They didn't notify me. Oddly, when my tax credits then decreased, there was no change made to my entitlement despite the fact the council were notified automatically. So they rightfully withdrew it when I had more money, but didn't reinstate it, when the situation reverted back.

Fast forward to February this year, I make some general enquiries about something else, and I discover that I have been overpaying council tax and underpaying rent for well over a year. I'm told to re-apply and ask for the application to be backdated as there had been an error.

They eventually assess my application, ignore the request to backdate it, leaving me with a monster amount of rent arrears, and refuse to refund any of what I overpaid in council tax. I can't really get my head around this at all. Neither the local council or the housing association told me anything about any changes to my rent entitlement, no letters, no phone calls nothing, no idea whatsoever that anything was wrong, but I'm now liable. They also seem to think they get to keep my council tax overpayment because I should have known what was going on, and re- applied sooner. This doesn't seem to be very fair to me, I'm liable for the debt, but tough luck about the overpayment?

I'm not one to bury my head in the sand, had I been told, I would have dealt with asap. I've asked both the council and housing association to explain why I wasn't notified of the change, and why now I'm expected to fix it immediately, but in the meantime, anyone been in the situation? Can they really do this? I'm not trying to avoid my responsibilities, I just think it's unfair they're expecting me to pay a massive bill, while keeping my overpayment. In Scotland also, in case it's relevant.

This seems unfair to say the least. Suggest you contact your councillor and have it chased up. Councillors set the policy for how the local authority operates so they are ultimately responsible.

I thought people normally had to update housing benefit and council tax on earnings increasing ?

I'm also surprised the HA didn't notify you if you were in significant rent arrears ?

Yes, at least twice in the same period, they had me send in a form with updated information. In my area at least, they are automatically informed about any benefit changes.

And yes, I really don't know why the HA didn't notify me of the arrears, especially as I've spoken to them a number of times on the phone and by email.

You can appeal, next time you ring, ask to speak to a manager.

I wouldn't speak to anyone on the phone

email them and follow up with a printed out version in the post

this they can't ignore but verbal conversation aren't audited

yes its your responsibility to claim tax relief, any changes and its you that has to investigate if you can claim - thats the way the system works for everyone. Can you imagine having to try and keep track of everyones circumstances, when they changed and then writing to them to let them know the might be able to claim again. What about people that haven't ever claimed but might be able to get assistance?

Yes your landlord should have informed you that you were in debt and im surprised they doidn't

We are in April, so technically the overpayment that was in March might not be an overpayment now in the new tax year. If your yearly tax demand was £1000 and you have already paid £900 in for this tax year - that will not be an overpayment, council tax is a yearly tax that we are just allowed to pay in instalments

I thought people normally had to update housing benefit and council tax on earnings increasing ?

They are supposed to, but many don't. There is a system that council tax relief/housing benefits officers can use to look at HMRC payments of wages extra - the system will flag the largest movements of wages up or down first, smaller increments can be missed but the onus is on the benefit claimant and they signed up for benefits agreeing to notify of changes

I work in England and the housing benefit department send out an automatic letter when there is a change (even by a few pence). Did they say they sent a letter and you didn't get it or are they saying they didn't write to you?

I would ask your landlord how to keep track of your rent- do they have an online account t or a way or sending regular rent statements out?

They claim that I would have been sent a letter, but that it is computer generated so can't confirm for certain. I didn't get it anyway. I've resigned myself to the fact that I have to pay the rent debt, but I have complained about why it was allowed to get so high, and also challenged the local council about the council tax overpayment.

Hi Op I overpaid on council tax and got a refund from the council for the overpaid amount ( was about 900) I’m in England but should be the same rule for every council?

You have the right to appeal. Try that to get someone else to assess your claim and address the backdate.
However if the increase in your tax credits made you nil entitled to housing benefit or council tax support then no your claim won't automatically start up again when your income decreases. You need to submit a new claim. If your entitlement was reduced but not nil then it is down to you to notify them when your income decreases. The onus is on you, as the claimant to inform them of changes that will benefit you, don't rely on the dwp to inform them.
When your claim is calculated a benefit notification letter should be triggered. Ask for the dates these were issued and the address they were sent to. If you didn't receive them then you need to take it up with the royal mail.