Helen_1801123 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 9:44 pm
I have posted about this before, but am getting nowhere, and the situation has since escalated.
I have no work for my zero hours contract job this term, which is due to the fact that they wanted me to do a First Aid course at a time when it would've been particularly stressful / I had other commitments, and because I couldn't do it that day, I have had no work allocated.
My Working Tax Credits are £53 per week atm. We have some HB and my son's ESA.
Since my youngest son left college back in February, we have lost a significant amount of income support - Child Benefit, Child Tax Credits and maintenance. To add insult to injury, my ex owed £400 maintenance that was recently written off.
He was advised to apply for Universal bloody Credit, and has been destitute for eight months, because they are not telling him vital information, or he doesn't know what he needs to do, or they're making errors - he finally has a claim active, which he was due to be paid last month, but they messed up his bank account number, didn't pay him, and was supposed to pay it this month - but they haven't rectified their mistake and made sure it's sorted.
I have a £300 Council Tax debt, am over £700 in arrears with energy costs, despite paying monthly, and I'm now relying on my overdraft to pay bills.
I can't cope with it at all, I need legal help. I want my son to claim back eight months' worth of UC, because if it were the other way around, and he owed them, they would claw it back immediately!!
In the very least we need to challenge the DWP on making my son destitute for eight months, and the effect this is having on my rights, and ability to care.
I've been in touch with my MP, who has been unable to help, am thinking of going to the media, because no one is actually helping!!
What rights do we have??
I'm unpaid, I'm stressed out, and fed up of being forced into more and more debt and economic abuse!!
Dear Helen,
Thank you for your post.
That does sound incredibly stressful.
We are not legally trained here so I hope we can provide some information that may help.
You talk about challenging your son not getting Universal Credit for 8 months. If this was official error on behalf of the DWP then you may be able to challenge this.
Citizens Advice cite Official Error as being:
An official error is an error made by a DWP employee or by someone employed to provide a service to DWP. The error could be that the person:
• got the law wrong, or
• failed to take into account information or evidence that may have shown you were entitled to the benefit or that you should have been awarded more money, or
• made a mistake about a fact.
If the decision on your claim is wrong because of an official error you can ask for the decision to be changed by revision. It does not matter when the decision was made, it can be changed at any time. This is known as an any time revision.
If the decision maker agrees that there was an official error a revision decision will be made which changes the decision from the date it was made.
A local Citizens Advice may be able to help you with a challenge of you may want to see if you can get some legal advice as below
• Law Centres Network has a list of law centres with a Legal Aid Contract
• The Disability Law Service has a free helpline providing legal advice on welfare benefits issues.
•
www.advicelocal.uk
Your son can also make a formal complaint about the way his claim for UC has been processed. This would force the DWP to look at the issues your son has faced and to respond within specific time scales. There is further information about making a complaint available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisat ... -procedure
It might be worth you having a benefit check just to make sure. You are not missing out on any benefits.
To do this please get back in touch with the advice team directly on
advice@carersuk.org with the following information:
· Whether you are single or in a couple;
· Your date of birth and that of any partner/spouse if applicable;
· How many dependent children you have living with you (if any) and their ages;
· Whether you have anyone else living with you. If so who;
· What your level of earnings are (if any) and that of any partner or spouse if applicable – per week, month or year please specify;
· If you are in employment what your weekly hours of work are (if any) and that of any partner or spouse if applicable;
· Whether you or any partner/spouse are in receipt of any benefits currently. If so what and how much (please specify which rates apply and provide weekly amounts where possible);
· Details of any other income you or any partner/spouse have coming in;
· Details of any capital you or any partner/spouse have;
· What your full rent per week (before any Housing Benefit;
· If you are in a social rented property do you have any spare rooms; if you are in a privately rented property who do you live with;
· If you own the home you live in – what is the amount of your outstanding mortgage;
· What your council tax bill is for the year, before any Council Tax Reduction;
· What your postcode is.
Alternatively, if you would like to speak to someone on the phone you can call Turn2us for free on 0808 802 2000 who can do this for you, or if you would like to speak to someone face to face, you can contact your local Citizens Advice.
You can also do a benefit check yourself with online calculators such as Turn2Us or Entitled to. However, these calculators are not able to cover complex situations.
I hope this helps a bit and you are able to get some face to face or telephone support with your issues.
Kindest regards
Suzette
