I have been assisting a client with her HB claim for some time, which has now been resolved. The problem I have is that for a period she was in temporary accommodation and working in 2 part time jobs. The client was always proactive and supplying the necessary information ( sometimes the same on many occasions)and althought the HB was awarded,it took a considerable time to resolve and she was not given the full amount.This left a considerable shortfall, and she now has some former tenant arrears of over £2,000. As she is a single parent on Income Support with other debts,has anyone applied for a DHP for former tenant arrears and for such a large sum?

Not applied for DHP but have dealt witha few applications from an LA point of view.

I assume that she was not on Income Support for the time in question and that has caused the shortfall between rent and HB. If that is the case, as long as she was entitled to HB, she can claim DHP.

There are no backdating restrictions the the DHP regs only the requirement that HB is in payment so you could apply for a payment to top up Hb awarded at that time. (Subject to the usual controls on eligible rents, service charges etc).

One thing though, DHP cannot be used to cover increases in rent due to arrears so emphasise that the DHP is required for the shortfall rather than the fact that it is arrears.

After that it is over to the LA