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Time Limits for Decisions
Does anyone know if there is a time limit for a Local Authority to make a HB decision AFTER a claim for HB has ended?
We have a tenant who claimed HB for 8 years until Dec 2008 when he informed the LA of a change in circumstances and came off HB of his own accord.
The LA subsequently (May 2010) tried to claw back ALL his HB for the entire period!
I know there is a time limit for criminal proceedings of 3/12 months, but this is not a criminal case.
I presume the Limitation Act means the LA can only go back six years in this case, anyway?
But, do the HB Regs specifiy any time limits for the LA making or revising a decision more than a year after the HB claim ended? Do the Decision Regs only apply to current in-payment HB claims? It seems strange that it would be possible for LA’s to (possibly years after a claim has ended) revise their earlier decisions to reclaim benefit already paid - wide open to abuse.
[ Edited: 10 Oct 2011 at 01:18 pm by shl ]There is no time limit for decisions that are disadvantageous to a claimant.
A few questions come to mind:
- is the notification sufficiently compliant to count as a notification? (If not, the decision is of no legal effect).
- were appeal rights properly notified? (If not, time limits for appealing are still open).
- is there any basis on which to challenge the decision?
- is there overpayment correctly calculated?
Depending on the facts of the case, there may be many other questions that could be relevant.
There is no time limit for decisions that are disadvantageous to a claimant.
A few questions come to mind:
- is the notification sufficiently compliant to count as a notification? (If not, the decision is of no legal effect).
- were appeal rights properly notified? (If not, time limits for appealing are still open).
- is there any basis on which to challenge the decision?
- is there overpayment correctly calculated?
Depending on the facts of the case, there may be many other questions that could be relevant.
Thanks for your quick reply, Kevin. The whole matter is currently going through the appeals process and from what we can gather there is a good chance it will succeed. The LA have made a string of blunders, mostly on the basis of factually incorrect “evidence” they have “received”. I just thought a time bar on decisions might be a quick way to end this matter….