Hi, I work part time for about 9 hours receiving gross pay of just short of £80 a week. The actual amount I receive is the net pay which works out at approx £63 a week.
I live with my daughter and she has just passed 18 yrs old. She has a disability and was receiving DLA middle rate from the age of 9 - 18 ( 9 years as a lone parent carer ). I started the part time job when my daughter was 17 and at college and my Income support was adjusted to reflect the fact that as a lone parent I was able to keep £20 of the money from the part time job. Housing Benefit was awarded in full ( social housing with a rent of approx £88 a week )
The problem that I now have is that Income support has stopped recently as my daughter became a non-dependant and Housing Benefit have suspended my claim and now my only source of income is £63 a week to pay for everything ( Rent, Council Tax, Food , All Bills etc ) .
Housing Benefit were made aware of my part time job and the correct earnings per week which have not changed from day one ( June 2012 ) I even provided them with payslips last summer which they have on file. I now have to provide proof of earnings and await a decision re: housing benefit and I have been told that this could take many weeks. In the mean time, pressure is being applied by my housing association with regards the rent arrears - e.g. I was told to get rid of my two cats to save money / it has been suggested that because I cannot produce instant payslips I might be working cash in hand - I must have failed to return a form asking for information or report a change of circumstances / and to not bury my head in the sand - all these comments are from a lady working in the financial dept of the housing association.
My circumstances with regards to earnings / income has in fact not changed in any way at all. I am strongly considering packing in the job and claiming job seekers allowance which I have not claimed for about 12 years.
The incentive to work is clearly not in place with different departments dealing with benefits unable to help and give proper guidance. Is there any avenue I can take to get my housing benefit reinstated expediently to avoid running up a huge debt to the housing association ? Is this the type of experience that others go through when working part time and claiming housing benefit ? With gross earnings of £79.25 I assume that I am unable to claim job seekers allowance even though I am taxed 20% and actually only receive £63.40 which is less than the rate that a jobless over 25 gets - in other words I am working for less money than I would receive on benefits and that's assuming my housing benefit eventually gets reinstated!
I live with my daughter and she has just passed 18 yrs old. She has a disability and was receiving DLA middle rate from the age of 9 - 18 ( 9 years as a lone parent carer ). I started the part time job when my daughter was 17 and at college and my Income support was adjusted to reflect the fact that as a lone parent I was able to keep £20 of the money from the part time job. Housing Benefit was awarded in full ( social housing with a rent of approx £88 a week )
The problem that I now have is that Income support has stopped recently as my daughter became a non-dependant and Housing Benefit have suspended my claim and now my only source of income is £63 a week to pay for everything ( Rent, Council Tax, Food , All Bills etc ) .
Housing Benefit were made aware of my part time job and the correct earnings per week which have not changed from day one ( June 2012 ) I even provided them with payslips last summer which they have on file. I now have to provide proof of earnings and await a decision re: housing benefit and I have been told that this could take many weeks. In the mean time, pressure is being applied by my housing association with regards the rent arrears - e.g. I was told to get rid of my two cats to save money / it has been suggested that because I cannot produce instant payslips I might be working cash in hand - I must have failed to return a form asking for information or report a change of circumstances / and to not bury my head in the sand - all these comments are from a lady working in the financial dept of the housing association.
My circumstances with regards to earnings / income has in fact not changed in any way at all. I am strongly considering packing in the job and claiming job seekers allowance which I have not claimed for about 12 years.
The incentive to work is clearly not in place with different departments dealing with benefits unable to help and give proper guidance. Is there any avenue I can take to get my housing benefit reinstated expediently to avoid running up a huge debt to the housing association ? Is this the type of experience that others go through when working part time and claiming housing benefit ? With gross earnings of £79.25 I assume that I am unable to claim job seekers allowance even though I am taxed 20% and actually only receive £63.40 which is less than the rate that a jobless over 25 gets - in other words I am working for less money than I would receive on benefits and that's assuming my housing benefit eventually gets reinstated!