Confusion over Housing Benefit and rent payments resolved for pensioner
CHAC Case study
Jack’s story
When Jack began receiving his State Pension on his 66th birthday, his Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) automatically stopped as expected, but his Housing Benefit was also suspended.
Jack, who lives in social housing, turned to CHAC for help.
How we helped Jack…
In order for Jack’s Housing Benefit payments to be resumed, we helped him submit a form to Canterbury City Council, notifying them of a change of circumstances.
Once Jack’s Housing Benefit payments resumed, his landlord asked him to pay over £50 rent every month. Jack found himself struggling to meet these payments so turned again to CHAC for help.
Firstly, we were able to confirm that Jack was receiving the correct amount in Housing Benefit payments. Next, we requested a copy of Jack’s rent statement and were able to determine that the amount of rent he should be paying to his landlord was only £13 each month. We also found that Jack was £800 in credit with his rent.
The result…
We helped Jack to claim this £800 credit back and advised him that he only needed to pay his monthly rent shortfall of £13 in the future.