Bedroom Tax Anomalies Start To Kick In

[chrisgel]

I think everyone new there would be cases similar to this where it seems that the whole idea hasn't been thought through properly.
I have sympathy for this woman. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/bedroom-tax-shame-devoted-mum-3316274

[anneasquith]

I hope to see many more cases in the media similar to this families, to show what a stupid ill thought out law it is.

[Sharingan]

Question for someone savvy on benefits- if someone were to pay her the shortfall as a gift each week would she have to declare that to the benefits agency and would it then make things worse for them?

[jim360]

Technically it's not a tax, just a benefits reduction. This distinction is important, and not pedantic, though I imagine it could easily feel like a "tax". But it's not.

As to this particular case, I'm surprised that this isn't covered by a carer's allowance or DLA. I'll pass the case on to someone in DWP and see if they have anything to add.

[sir.prize]

Dozy Dave and sidekick Nick have got this one wrong . . . .

[anneasquith]

very very wrong!!!!!!!!!!

[Sharingan]

Jim, can you see if they can answer my question please, about if someone was to give her the shortfall would it affect her other benefits? Thanx xx

[jim360]

Yup I passed that on too -- expect an answer some time tomorrow.

[Sharingan]

Thanks Jim :)

[DaisyNonna]

Heartbreaking.
When is the government going to realise that one size does not fit all?
We are all in this together?
Expenses? Second homes? Subsidies?
Tosh! swearing really

[anneasquith]

ive maybe missed something here, who is jim passing information to ?

[Sharingan]

Someone he knows at the DSS I gather Anne :)

[anneasquith]

oh, and does he give abers feedback sher. ?

[jim360]

DWP, technically -- it changed from DSS in 2001.

I will pass on any feedback I get to AB if possible, yes.

[naomi24]

Oops. :o)

[DJHawkes]

lol yes indeed

[Cloverjo]

When I was on benefits 18ish years ago, the local authority paid housing benefit only according to what you needed. If you were a single mother you could rent whatever size house you liked but you'd only get enough HB to pay the market rent on a 2bed flat and have to make up any shortfall out of other benefit or earnings. This seemed a fair system. I'm not sure when, or if, this changed and if it hasn't, why the ConDems have decided to grab a bit more back and leave people in the horrible situation the woman in question is in.

[Canary42]

Absolutely disgraceful.

But the Tory Toffs won't recognise this - their only personal experience of financial hardship is having to go "Let me have another million please Dad" - which of course was always forthcoming.

[emmie]

i now pay a good deal more than i did before, so a bedroom tax, not a bedroom tax, don't care, i may have to move, i am already in the wars, unwell over this, so not just anomalies, this is the way the council is covering the shortfall in funds from central government, they have said they had to find the money from someplace, and this is their solution.

[jim360]

The overall verdict from that friend of mine was more a series of questions: Does the child in question claim Income Support and DLA himself, as well as he mother claiming Income Support and Housing Benefit? The paper doesn't make this clear, but if the answer was no then that would be the way of solving their problem, as the total sum of money he should be entitled to individually is just short of £230 a week -- plus any income support for the mother (= approx. £100 a week), plus the Housing benefit that is taking the hit. So that's £330 a week of money that they could potentially be receiving that the story hasn't accounted for -- out of that it ought to be just about possible to re-budget and squeeze £20 a week.

This change is short-term as Housing Benefit is shortly to be replaced by UC, and I quote: "I guess the theory is that any dependants or non–dependants are cared for by the parents, so they shouldn't need an overnight carer. This of course ignores the need for respite for the carer, and it may not be possible for this to be provided by putting the disabled person in a hospice, rather than having an overnight carer. At the moment councils can make discretionary payments, but that doesn't seem to have been duplicated for UC."

So, assuming that the family is claiming all they are entitled to at the moment, problems like this could easily get more common in future.

* * * * *

Shar, to answer your question: The income rules for HB are very obscure, and my contact hasn't worked on them "since 1988", so doesn't know. But she suspected that no, it shouldn't make a difference. So if someone wanted to gift money and cover the shortfall for this woman then there probably wouldn't be a problem with that. I would still probably advise the woman in receipt of the gift to declare it, but there oughtn't be any issue. The only problem might be if her income is almost at the threshold beyond which HB stops being paid, but it's highly unlikely that £80 a month will tip her over that.

[youngmafbog]

Why have they got it wrong?

A few right-on pinko's and hardened lefties are not exactly going to bother Dave or Nick.

There will always be some cases you can pick on no matter what you do. It does not mean it is ill thought out.