Question regarding Housing Benefit/Council Tax

I have just gone onto JSA, and because I rent my own flat, I get housing benefit to cover the rent.

If, at some point in the future I am on JSA, and refuse to attend a course, my JSA will probably be cut or even stopped.

What I want to know though, if my JSA was cut or stopped, would my Housing Benefit and Council Tax be stopped or affected?

I am asking this because I know that when people get transferred from Inacapacity Benefit to JSA, H/Ben and C/Tax benefits get stopped and you have to reapply for them using JSA as your declared income.

Also, can you get H/Ben C/Tax benefits if you are not on any other benefits or income?

John wrote:

I have just gone onto JSA, and because I rent my own flat, I get housing benefit to cover the rent.

If, at some point in the future I am on JSA, and refuse to attend a course, my JSA will probably be cut or even stopped.

What I want to know though, if my JSA was cut or stopped, would my Housing Benefit and Council Tax be stopped or affected?

I am asking this because I know that when people get transferred from Inacapacity Benefit to JSA, H/Ben and C/Tax benefits get stopped and you have to reapply for them using JSA as your declared income.

Also, can you get H/Ben C/Tax benefits if you are not on any other benefits or income?

Hi,

Albeit Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit is really beyond our remit, I maybe able to answer some of your queries.

Firstly if your JSA does stop, then the Local Authority that pays your HB/CTB would be informed by the DWP and most likely you would have to at least go in and arrange for continutity of your HB/CTB claim, or even put in a new claim if it has already ceased.

Re your question ''Also, can you get H/Ben C/Tax benefits if you are not on any other benefits or income?'', this would be looked into very carefully as on what funding is one going to live and buy food/utilities etc. . One cannot live 'on nothing' hence there would be suspicion one is living on capital or income which has not being declared.

Pete

In reality in that situation you'd probably be applying for a hardship loan, so explaining that might convince them to keep paying HB etc. Or you might be applying for one of the government-approved 30% interest loans, I've read about them briefly, does anyone have a link to more on them please? And again, in the near future the HB people are likely to be snowed under with similar requests so it's perhaps difiicult to imagine there'd be anyone available to be looking carefully into anything, the pressure would be on them just to keep the benefits system running at all.

BB