change of circumstance

fieldsofnew

Citizens advice suggested to send in all evidence I have from all times - insist on my claim on the phone ask to speak to a manager - date the person’s name and time of call - a claim made has a right to appeal - and write to my MP.

do you have any advice in this regard please ?

♥️

poppy123456

If you have a letter saying your ESA ended on 28th September, i don't understand how you continued to receive payment up until 2nd November. Once it ends it shouldn't continue. There's a 5 week difference between those dates.

Can you please confirm whether you're still claiming housing benefit or did that also end on 28th September?

Sorry for the questions but what you're saying isn't clear.

fieldsofnew

Hi - Yes this is true. I received esa last on the 2nd of november, When I changed circumstance they ended esa from the date I started work at the 28th september. Apparently this is a grey area in benefits so perhaps that's why it isnt clear! please forgive me! I am trying my best! I called in within the month and could not get through on the phone line - we had just come into lockdown, for two weeks I called on my day off and didnt get through the whole day. It baffles me as well. So the last thing I hear is from WTC who say even if i had applied in time they wouldnt have awarded it because you need continuing entitelment to SDP and that when ESA stops entitelment stops. (?!)
They also said that I may still be entitled to SDP via my housing benefit, And if i can provide evidence of this by DEc !7th they may progress my claim?
I have no idea if I am entitled to SDP via hB, or how to claim it if not or if i can claim it in time.

What would you suggest I do now please? 
thank you so very much.

fieldsofnew

sorry about this Poppy I am very grateful for your help. 

Today I sent evidence to HB for my claim to stay open with them. 
fingers crossed.

poppy123456

SDP is not actually paid to you in the housing benefit like it was with the ESA. If you're still claiming housing benefit, which you haven't actually stated whether you still do or not. The SDP is in with the calculation, so you should see it on your housing benefit award letter. If you're no longer claiming housing benefit then you won't be able to claim working tax credits if your housing benefit ended more than 1 month ago.

HMRC are incorrect with their advice, if you claimed working tax credits within 1 month of your ESA ended and you were still entitled to the SDP then you should have been awarded working tax credits, if entitled to them.

If it's more than 1 month then you won't be able to claim working tax credits and the only other benefit left to claim would be universal credit, which doesn't include a disability premium, like tax credits does. Instead it would be fit notes from your GP to go through the work capability assessment again.

Complicated and i do think you would benefit from some advice from an advice agancy near you. They're are available by telephone, not face to face appointments.

fieldsofnew

Phew confusing ! 

I was awarded an extended HB payment and have sent in evidence today to keep my claim for housing benefit open.

fieldsofnew

Thank you I hoe to hear from HB with a letter and breakdown of the benefits? 

fieldsofnew

Yes I don’t get it tbh.

ESA is how I got entitlement to SDP and they measure it ending at my work start date. 

As far as I gather I now need to show entitlement via housing benefit?

I still wonder if it won’t  show up on their system - or shown as ending when I started work?

?‍♀️ I really hope not as why ask for evidence this way if they know it wont be there?

I don’t understand how one can apply for working tax credits based on an SDP entitlement because on their systems that shows up as no longer existing at your start date of work.

Anyway fingers crossed ? 

fieldsofnew

As far as I’m aware I’d got severe disability premium via my ESA.

At the moment to claim working tax credits they say I need to prove entitlement to SDP via my housing benefit.

I am confused honestly.

I have asked housing benefit to send me evidence of this and they said they will send me a letter shortly. Fingers crossed. I don’t know what it is going to say. The last letter they sent to me said I need to ask ESA for evidence.

fieldsofnew

Do I need to apply for severe disability premium via my housing benefit?

fieldsofnew

Thank you so much for your help

poppy123456

fieldsofnew said:

Phew confusing ! 

I was awarded an extended HB payment and have sent in evidence today to keep my claim for housing benefit open.

This here ^^ when you say extended housing benefit, are you saying you're no longer entitled to housing benefit? If this is correct then your housing benefit can't be kept open, it will close. If your payments ended longer than 1 month ago then you won't be able to claim working tax credits.

If you are still entitled to housing benefit then the award letter will show the SDP in the calculation.

Sorry for all the questions but you're not making yourself very clear at all.

poppy123456

fieldsofnew said:

Do I need to apply for severe disability premium via my housing benefit?

No, you can't apply for it, it's a benefit that's in with the calculation, it's different to the SDP that you were receiving in with your ESA.

fieldsofnew

Oh I see ! I do apologise I’m trying my best it isn’t clear to me so that’s why it isn’t clear to you I imagine! 

I was awarded a one month extended housing benefit payment after I started work according to the letter they sent me. They asked for more evidence which I have sent in. To hopefully continue my housing benefit award.

Having said that, I have no idea if it will be awarded or not considering I’m now in work. Fingers crossed as per usual!

It would be quite bizzare not to be as I don’t earn that much. ?‍♀️?‍♀️?

poppy123456

Ah i see, now it's clear, thanks for that.

If your housing benefit didn't stop completely and you're entitled to it now then it should continue, with how ever much you're entitled to. This should also include the SDP but as advised, you don't actually see it, it's part of the award. You will then be able to claim working tax credits because of the SDP that's included in your housing benefit.

If the worst has happened and your housing benefit claim has closed then you won't be able to reclaim it and you won't be able to claim working tax credits if your housing benefit ended more than 1 month ago.

If this does happen then i'd advise you to use a benefits calculator to check entitlement to Universal Credit.

Hope this is now starting to be a little more clear. Good luck and i'd appreciate it if you could came back and let me know the outcome

fieldsofnew

Thank you so very much and kindly Poppy.

??

fieldsofnew

I will of course keep updated 

poppy123456

You are most welcome

fieldsofnew

With 3 days to go I sent in my HB evidences and they said It was accepted and approved! 

??

poppy123456

That's good news, glad it's all sorted.