Housing Benefit Problems, Answers and Future Developments

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Housing BenefitProblems, Answers and Future
Developments
Julian Morgans Benefits Training Team
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Contents

• Problems
• Confidentiality
• Claims
• Evidence
• Amount of benefit
• Payments
• Changes
• Overpayments
• Appeals
• Future developments
• Claiming by telephone
• Local Housing Allowance

Solutions (where possible)
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Housing Benefit (HB) General Background

• A national scheme based on legislation set by
  central Government.
• An income related benefit.
• Administered by local councils on behalf of the
  Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
• In Swansea approximately 18,000 people claim HB
  and of these, approximately 8,000 are in
  privately rented properties.
• Last year in Swansea, approximately 26 million
  was paid out in private sector HB.
• HB is not a payment of rent.

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Landlords difficulties with the Housing Benefit
scheme.
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Confidentiality

• At the core of a lot of the problems experienced
  by landlords.
• Landlords have no general right to be given
  information about a benefit claim of one of their
  tenants. All details of the tenants claim are
  confidential.
• Questions like
• Has my tenant claimed ?
• What evidence is needed ?
• When will they be paid ?
• Have they been paid and how much ?
• often cannot be answered to the landlords
  satisfaction

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Confidentiality problems possible solutions

• The rules are different if HB is being paid
  directly to the landlord. In such cases,
  landlords are entitled to know-
• How much they are going to be paid.
• When they will be paid.
• The period the payment covers.
• You could obtain your tenants written permission
  for us to discuss their claim with you.
• Visit our office with your tenant.

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Claims

• No claim no benefit.
• If your tenant does not submit an application for
  benefit (and all the supporting evidence) they
  will not be entitled to HB.
• If the claim is received late, they may not be
  entitled to benefit from the start of their
  tenancy.

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Claims possible solutions

• Benefit is normally allowed from the Monday
  after a claim is received at the benefits
  Section. Make sure they apply NOW!
• Keep a stock of benefit forms to give to new
  tenants.
• New tenants should claim in the week their
  tenancy starts.
• Ask to see the receipt issued when the form was
  handed in.
• Ask tenants to confirm when they have made their
  claim and the progress of the claim.
• Some landlords take the completed forms /
  evidence off their tenants and bring them to the
  office themselves. This makes the landlord
  responsible for any delays in the claim being
  received.

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Evidence

• Swansea is Verification Framework compliant which
  means the amount and type of evidence it requests
  in support of benefit claims must reach specific
  standards.
• Failure to provide complete evidence is one of
  the biggest contributors to delays in processing
  claims.
• Either applicants fail to send in all the
  evidence requested on the form or they fail to
  reply to our letters.
• If benefit claimants provide what is requested,
  in full and promptly, then claims can be assessed
  without delay.

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Evidence possible solutions

• Difficult issue to resolve.
• Keep up communication with your tenant.
• Encourage them to reply promptly (and fully) to
  any letters.
• If you are unhappy with any delay before payment,
  contact the Benefits Section. We may not be able
  to provide specific information about the claim
  BUT we could tell you whether there are any
  general delays in claims being assessed that
  could affect your tenant.
• If your tenant owes you rent equal to 8 weeks or
  more, contact us immediately.

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Amount of benefit

• Most awards of HB are calculated using a
  valuation of the rent charged for the property
  made by the Rent Officer Service.
• When benefit is awarded we will send a letter to
  the tenant to tell them how much they are
  entitled to, from when, payment details, income
  used in the calculation, rights of appeal etc.
• If benefit is going to be paid directly to the
  landlord, they will also be written to but will
  be sent less information (basically details of
  the payments and rights of appeal).
• A landlord cannot dispute the amount of benefit
  awarded to one of their tenants.
• The tenant must make any appeal that they
  consider appropriate.

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Amount of benefit possible solutions

• Very little a landlord can do if they are unhappy
  with the amount of benefit awarded.
• The HB is the tenants entitlement and so they
  must make any appeal they consider necessary.
• However, in the first instance landlord and
  tenant should ensure we are given accurate
  information about the rents charged, family
  circumstances etc. so our decision is accurate.
• If a tenant makes an appeal they should give us
  as much information as they can to support that
  appeal so we can make a proper reconsideration of
  the claim.
• Pre Tenancy Determination A Rent Officer
  valuation in advance of taking on the tenancy.

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Payments

• Normally, HB is paid to the benefit claimant
  (fortnightly in arrears) and it is their
  responsibility to pay any rent due to the
  landlord.
• However, currently, we can pay HB directly to a
  landlord (4 weekly in arrears) if -
• The tenant asks us to pay the landlord direct
• The tenant owes rent of 8 weeks or more
• It is in the best interests of the claimant and
  their family to pay their HB directly to the
  landlord.
• Payments are made by directly credit into bank
  accounts (BACS) or crossed cheques.

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The tenant asks us to pay the landlord direct

• The tenant requests it on their application form
  and the landlord will be asked to sign an
  agreement to -
• repay any Benefit they are not entitled to if
  their tenants circumstances change.
• tell the Benefits Section immediately, in
  writing, about any change in the tenants
  circumstances they find out about.
• confirm they understand that if they do not
  report such a change of circumstances, they may
  be prosecuted.
• confirm they have read and understood the
  agreement.

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The tenant owes rent of 8 weeks or more

• The landlord must report the arrears to the
  benefits section before we can take any action.
• Normally we would suspend any HB in payment and
  write to the tenant and ask them if they agree
  they are in arrears and if so, their reasons for
  it. They will be given a time limit in which to
  reply.
• Once they respond, or fail to, we will make a
  decision on who to pay the benefit to.
• We might make a one off payment to the landlord
  to bring the arrears under 8 weeks or, more
  usually, arrange for ongoing payments to the
  landlord as well. In that case the landlords
  agreement would need to be signed.
• Contact us before evicting a tenant.

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It is in the claimants best interest to pay the
HB directly to the landlord.

• Difficult to judge as its a matter of opinion.
• We do this very rarely and only in extreme
  circumstances as in effect we are taking away the
  claimants rights and their responsibility for
  managing their own affairs.
• An example of a case where we might do it could
  be if the tenant was unable to manage their own
  affairs and was in danger of losing their
  accommodation due to non-payment of rent.

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Changes in circumstances

• Once HB has been awarded a tenant has a duty to
  report changes in their circumstances that might
  affect the amount of benefit they receive.
• If a landlord is receiving direct payments of a
  tenants benefit, they also have a duty to report
  changes they become aware of (see landlords
  agreement).
• Guidance on the type of changes to be reported
  are given on application forms, letters, cheques
• Failure / delay in reporting changes in
  circumstances can result in overpayments which
  then have to be recovered.

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Changes in circumstances possible solutions

• Encourage tenants to report changes immediately
  they occur.
• Report changes to us as soon as you become aware
  of them.
• Changes can be reported by telephone, e-mail or
  at the office.
• If reported by telephone we will probably ask for
  written confirmation but if possible we will act
  on the information while we are waiting for the
  details to arrive.

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Overpayments

• These occur as a result of changes in
  circumstances especially if they are reported
  late.
• If HB is being paid to the landlord, we are
  likely to ask the landlord to repay the debt as
  the HB was paid to them BUT each case is
  considered individually.
• Recovery can be by deductions from future HB paid
  for -
• The tenant on whose claim the overpayment
  occurred
• Other tenants of the same landlord (blameless
  tenants).
• If recovery by these methods is not possible we
  will issue repayment invoices and take court
  action if the debt is not repaid.

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Overpayments possible solutions

• This is an issue to consider when deciding to
  accept direct payments of a tenants HB.
• The best option is to try and prevent them by
  ensuring changes are reported promptly by tenants
  and by landlords if they are aware of the change
  (s).
• In cases of fraud, if a landlord had reported the
  act of fraud to us, and had not contributed to
  it, we would not recover any resulting
  overpayment from the landlord.

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Appeals

• Landlords have very limited rights of appeal in
  respect of HB awards as the benefit is awarded to
  the tenant.
• If you disagree with our decision you can -
• Ask for an explanation.
• Ask us to look at the decision again.
• Appeal to an independent tribunal run by the
  Appeals Service.
• You can choose to do one or more of the above
  options but only in respect of certain decisions.

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Appeals

• As a landlord, the decisions you can dispute
  are
• A decision about whether Housing Benefit is to be
  paid directly to you.
• The amount and period of an overpayment we have
  decided to recover from you.
• A decision about whether to recover an
  overpayment of Housing Benefit from you

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Appeals

• Appeals must be in a proper format
• In writing
• State the name / address of the tenant
• Tell us which decision you disagree with and why.
• Sign the letter.
• It must reach the Housing Benefits Section within
  1 calendar month of the date on the decision
  letter.

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Appeals possible solutions

• None really, as we are obliged by law to follow
  the procedure.
• However we can give some tips to ease the
  process.
• Try and avoid appeals in the first place by
  making sure the tenant gives us all relevant
  information.
• If an appeal is necessary make sure its in the
  proper format first time.
• Make sure we get all relevant information and
  evidence.
• Make any representations promptly as soon as you
  get the decision letter.

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Housing Benefit Future Developments
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Claiming by telephone

• For most other state benefits you can at least
  register a claim by telephone.
• For HB we are waiting for imminent changes in
  legislation to allow us to do this.
• At the moment all we know is that a person will
  be able to telephone and say they wish to claim
  HB and as long as they send us a completed form
  within 4 weeks, we will treat the claim as made
  on the day they telephoned us.
• When the rules are changed we will arrange
  publicity.

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Local Housing Allowance

• Piloted around the UK likely full roll out by
  March 2008??
• Currently HB is based on a valuation of the
  property occupied.
• Under LHA, it is based on rent levels for the
  area.
• Rent levels are published so tenants and
  landlords will know the maximum amount of rent
  that the benefit will cover.
• The benefit awarded may be less than the rent
  level depending on the claimants income etc.
• If a tenants rent is over their LHA they make up
  the difference
• If the is rent below their LHA they keep the
  difference.
• Payments will normally be made to the tenant, who
  will then pay the landlord (there are safeguards
  for arrears / vulnerable cases).

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LHA Good or Bad ? Nationally

• Information from the DWP
• More generous scheme.
• Evaluation in pilot areas is continuing early
  findings..
• Payments 90 to tenants, 10 to landlords.
• No significant increase in arrears (8 week rule
  remains).
• Many tenants better off under LHA.
• Increase in the HB paid directly into tenants
  bank accounts (25 to 75 in Blackpool).
• No sign of landlords withdrawing from the
  market.
• Little impact on homelessness.

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LHA Good or Bad ? - Locally

• Anecdotal information from Pembroke pilot site
• More generous scheme 97 of HB claimants were
  better off. Most (80) gaining between 1p and 20
  a week.
• 1.7 of HB claimants worse off under LHA but
  received transitional protection so didnt lose
  out.
• No big jump in arrears.
• Landlords are told not to wait for the 8 weeks
  arrears to accrue before contacting the Council -
  action can be taken immediately.
• A lot of work needed on requests to pay
  landlords as the tenants are vulnerable (to
  obtain evidence of vulnerability).
• Good practice standing orders from tenants
  bank account into landlords

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LHA in Swansea

• Government are committed to this radical change
  in Housing Benefit as part of their programme of
  choice and responsibility.
• No date for implementation in this area, but it
  is coming.
• For this to work we will need to publicise the
  changes.
• There must be good liaison with local landlords.
• We will be looking at the experiences of other
  Councils to identify areas of good practice as
  well as for input from landlords.

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Housing BenefitProblems, Answers and Future
Developments
Thanks for listening Any Questions ?
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Useful Information - confidentiality

• Generally the Benefits Section will be unable to
  discuss specific details of a benefit claim
  without written permission from the claimant to
  do so.
• If payments of benefit are being made directly to
  a landlord, we will be able to provide limited
  information about how much is going to be paid
  and when.

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Useful information proof of rent

• If there is no formal written tenancy agreement
  between landlord and tenant, the tenant could
  have difficulty with providing suitable evidence
  of their liability for rent with their HB claim.
• Instead of a tenancy agreement, the Benefits
  Section may accept a signed letter from the
  landlord confirming -
• The full name and business address of the
  landlord or their agent.
• The name and address of the tenant.
• The date the tenancy started.
• The amount of rent payable.
• What is included in the rent fuel, water rates
  etc.
• The frequency of the rent e.g. weekly

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Useful information - payments

• HB is calculated on a weekly basis so monthly
  rents will be converted to weekly amounts to
  allow for this.
• As a result 13, four weekly payments will be
  issued in a year even though the tenant would be
  liable for 12 monthly payments of rent.
• The 4 weekly payments will be less than the
  normal monthly rent.

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Useful information end of tenancy

• When a tenant who has a weekly rent liability
  leaves a property, their HB will end at that
  address from the Monday at the start of the week
  in which they leave, unless they are liable to
  pay rent for the whole of that week.
• The council will need proof from the landlord
  that they are liable for rent for the whole of
  that last week.
• When a tenant who has a monthly or daily rent
  liability leaves a property, their HB at that
  address will be paid up to and including -
• Monthly rents - the day they leave
• Daily rents (usually B B) the day before they
  leave

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Useful information - overpayments

• If a landlord is receiving direct payments of a
  tenants HB, they may be liable to repay any
  overpayment of HB created in respect of the
  tenants claim.
• Overpayments of HB can be recovered by -
• Deductions from future payments of HB made for
  the tenant on whose claim the overpayment
  occurred.
• Issuing invoices and normal civil debt recovery
  methods.
• Deductions from future payments of HB issued to
  that landlord for other tenants (blameless
  tenants method). If HB is not in payment for
  other tenants, recovery will be sought by other
  methods and will not be suspended just because
  the blameless tenants method cannot be used.

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Useful information blameless tenants

• If this method of recovery is used, the debt is
  not considered as recovered from one tenants HB
  but from the total payment issued to the
  landlord, hence the term blameless tenants.
• A schedule is sent with every payment which
  explains the amount of benefit paid for each
  tenant and the amount recovered from the total
  payment.
• The tenants for whom the payment is issued are
  considered (by law) to have paid rent up to the
  full amount of their HB entitlement, regardless
  of how much has been recovered in respect of
  overpayments for other tenants.
• Many landlords find this a convenient method of
  repaying overpayments.

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Useful information temporary absence

• In most cases, HB can continue to be paid for up
  to 13 weeks while a person is temporarily absent
  from their accommodation, providing they intend
  to return and the property is not sub-let in
  their absence.
• Once it is known that their total period of
  absence from the property is going to exceed 13
  weeks, HB will cease immediately.
• There are occasions when this temporary absence
  period can be extended to 52 weeks e.g. if a
  person is on remand or in hospital.
• The claimant would have to provide details of
  their circumstances during the period of absence.

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Where to go for more information

• www.swansea.gov.uk/housing benefitInformation,
  downloadable forms, leaflets and pre-tenancy
  determination request forms.
• Contact the Benefits Section in the Guildhall
• Tel [phone]
• e-mail benefits_at_swansea.gov.uk