My client is on IB. She owns half of a property which is currently up for sale after a relationship breakdown. She is now living in rented accommodation and getting HB. When the property is sold, she would like to use her half of the proceeds (£40K?) to put towards the purchase of another house. I understand that, if she were in receipt of IS, she would be able to claim IS to cover the mortgage payments up to the amount of the HB she is getting at the moment (subject to £100K limit). Am I right in thinking that, because she gets IB instead of IS, she won't be entitled to any help with the mortgage? This doesn't seem very fair - the difference in the two benefit rates is marginal in this case.

I'd be really grateful for any help with this.

Technically yes. However if her IB amount is close to the IS amount then her mortgage interest could mean that she becomes entitled to IS via the mortgage interest.

Don't forget that there are waiting periods for help with a mortgage and they go from date of claim for Income Support. Your client would therefore need to claim IS, even though she won't get it until the waiting period is over, to start her waiting period.

Also don't forget that she would only get help with the interest at a rate set by the DWP, this is often different from someone's actual rate of interest, and that there's no help with any insurances etc.

That all sounds very confusing dosn't it - hope you understand it and that it helps!

Thanks for replying so quickly Bensup. I've just spoken to someone at SUSU about this, and I think I might have been looking at it from the wrong angle. If my client isn't getting IS or JSA(IB) then there's no reason why a mortgage that she takes out shouldn't be eligible for IS to help with the interest - she isn't in a "relevant period" (p. 911 CPAG) - subject to the 39 weeks/£100K rules. I was just looking at the rules for buying a property when you are in a "relevant period", hence my confusion.

Hi,

Your client may not necessarily have to serve the full 39 week waiting period before she is eligible to receive full housing costs. However,as I am not party to the full details of your client's present and past circumstances, there may be other exceptions which prevent her from fitting within the relevant Regs.

Essentially though if she has been in receipt of a relevant benefit (i.e. IB,CB-JSA,SSP or IB credits) and the only reason that she was not entitled to I.S. or IB-JSA was because her income or capital were too high, then she can be treated as if she has been in receipt of I.S.or IB-JSA for up to 39 weeks. ( I.S. (General) Regs 1987 Sch 3 para 14(4),(5)(5A) and (5B). This then effectively reduces the waiting period or means that she satisfies it altogether, depending how long she has been receiving IB for.

Hope this helps.

Mark

She still needs to actually claim Income Support. Yes she will be treated as if she is entitled if the only reason she dosn't get it is because her IB is too high. But she must claim to start the waiting period.

Sure SSU explained everything though.

Yep- claim for I.S. still needs to be made, but housing costs may be paid from day one of claim if relevant conditions satisfied. I should have clarified that in original posting.

Mark

I'm still a bit confused...

Does the waiting period only run from the date of her refused claim for IS? Schedule 3 s.14 para 5 says that, where a person is not entitled to IS because of too much income or capital, they can be treated as entitled for days when they were entitled to SSP or IB - only carers and lone parents have to have actually made a claim to fix the start of the entitlement (subpara 5A) - confirmed by CJSA 4613/2001 (p 581 in "Social Security Legislation 2004".

My client has had SSP for 28 weeks, and has just started on IB - if she buys a property in, say January, and claims IS then, am I right in thinking that, according to Schedule 3 s.14 para 5, she could be treated as entitled to IS for the preceding 39 weeks, and so have housing costs paid straight away? (She is neither a carer nor a lone parent - she is single).

It is very confusing!! Isn't it all!?

I'd contact SSU again if i were you, i think it could probably be much better explained over the phone than on here. Also you can give SSU all pertinent details about your client without having to worry about breaching confidentiality etc.

Best regards

Nicky

Hi David,

If your client claims I.S. after having been on one or more of the relevant benefits (SSP, IB)for 39 weeks or more then yes, she should be entitled to full housing costs from the date of her I.S. claim, as she will have satisfied the 39 week waiting period by virtue of Sch 3.If your client hasn't satisfied the full 39 week waiting period by the date of her I.S. claim then the I.S. claim could either be treated as an advance claim if made within 3 months of entitlement to that benefit or the I.S. claim would be refused and she would have to reclaim when she had satisfied the waiting period.The initial claim for I.S. would start the clock ticking for the purposes of satisfying the rest of the waiting period.

The only thing that has struck me about this case is that the DWP may seek to argue that your client has taken a loan out whilst in a 'relevant period', even though she will only be treated as in receipt of I.S. by virtue of Sch 3.This then takes us back to the point that you raised in your original posting when her housing costs may be resticted to the amount of HB she was receiving prior to taking out the mortgage.It may be worth seeking to clarify this point hypothetically with a Decision Maker at your local JCP Office to see how they would treat this scenario in practice.

Hope this isn't too confusing. ( can't she just stay where she is and carry on renting- it'd be a lot easier for us Welfare Benefits advisers!)

Cheers,

Mark

Thanks, both of you. I think I understand now...

I'll try and confirm it with SSU and post again when I've spoken to them.

Thanks Mark - I'll look into this.

Dave