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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Housing costs  →  Thread

Housing benefit after one partner dies

Ealing Advice Service adviser
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Ealing Mencap - Specialist Advice Service

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Total Posts: 19

Joined: 12 April 2016

I have a really difficult case. The client’s husband was in receipt of HB from Ealing Council as a privatre tenant. The family consisted of himself, his wife & 3 children. The wife has 2 low paid PT jobs & also gets tax credits and Child Benefit.
The husband died very suddenly in December in extremely tragic circumstances. Ealing Council were notified by telephone about 2 weeks after the death.
Since then, my client, the wife has been caught in a nightmare of conflicting information from Ealing Council, at first being told to make a new claim for HB & then being told to claim UC. Then being asked for documents to support the HB claim & then being told again to claim UC. It is never possible to get through to anyone on the phone at Ealing Council & so the cnfusion has continued & a claim was first made for HB but has never been paid & a claim has now been made for UC.

Any advice on what should have happened & what can be done about the missing 3 months rent, would be most welcome. I think I have read somewhere that the husband’s HB should have remained in payment for a year but maybe I have misunderstood this.

Many thanks.

Mr Finch
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Benefits adviser - Isle of Wight CAB

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I’m sure someone more knowledgable will confirm if this is right, but my understanding is that three or more children is an exemption from UC.

Rebecca Lough
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Welfare rights - Greenwich Council

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Up until 1.2.19, she couldn’t make a claim for UC due to the three dep children. At the point of death, she should have been able to make a fresh HB claim and a new TCs claim (would need to be a new claim due to the death).

From 1/2/19, it’s a normal claim for UC if she had not yet made a new claim for TCs and/or HB. It reads like the HB claim was accepted/progressed? I would try to press this issue for a formal decision, and request backdating for one month, paid until the UC claim was made. I would consider a complaint to Ealing HB on the conflicting advice, and perhaps get the MP involved if you need to nudge things along.

Hope that makes sense. The dates will be pretty important here.

Ealing Advice Service adviser
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Ealing Mencap - Specialist Advice Service

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Total Posts: 19

Joined: 12 April 2016

Thank you - this is really helpful.