Housing Benefit
Bexley Council make it up as they go along. They talk absolute rubbish, lie through teeth, and don't bother to check facts, or even their own records when it suits them. They ignore evidence put in front of them and make excuses based on their lies.
A letter to my son, Ashley Tarrant, from Bexley Council explaining why they said they were not prepared to assist with his rent payments
Dear Sir,
Finance and Business Services
Reference 100728499/8412354/CL-NONASSESS-NIL
9 September 2014
Your case is dealt with by the Benefit office at Erith Town Hall
Contact Helpline 0345 302 2317
Mr Ashley Tarrant
148 Slade Green Road
Erith
Kent
DA8 2JE
Dear MR TARRANT,
Benefit Reference 100728499
This letter explains how the Council has worked out your benefit.
It is your responsibility as the claimant to check all of the details contained in this entitlement letter, and notify the Benefit Office of any discrepancies found with the information held. You must ensure that any changes to the details shown or any discrepancies found, are notified to the Benefit Office within one calendar month of the date of this letter. You may tell us of these changes / discrepancies online at www.bexley.gov.uk. You must also provide the documentary evidence where available.
Should you fail to report any changes or discrepancies in a timely manner, any resulting overpayment will be fully recoverable. Should you fail to report a change which reduces your entitlement the Council may decide that your failure to report the change was fraudulent, which may result in criminal proceedings.
If you would like an explanation of this decision, or believe that the decision made is incorrect, please write to the Benefits Office without delay (if you feel the decision is incorrect, please give reasons in your letter).
Re : Housing Benefit
Further to your application for Housing Benefit, I must inform you that you are not eligible for Housing Benefit.
Your tenancy is deemed to be created on a non commercial basis. The following reasons in coming to this decision are that you have state, That you would like Benefit to be backdated to 21 April 2014 as you have not been able to keep up with rent payments.
The Council believe that a commercial landlord would not let rent arrears build up from 21 April 2014 without you facing eviction and therefore it is deemed that the tenancy has been created on a non-commercial basis.
You have a right to dispute the decision made about your benefit if you think it is wrong. Any dispute must be made in writing to arrive at this office within one calendar month of the date of this letter.
You can also write to this office at any time to ask for a written statement explaining the reason for any decision made about your claim.
A letter from me to Bexley Council explaining that their 'facts' were 'incorrect'.
Mr David J. Tarrant
148 Slade Green Road
Erith, Kent, DA8 2JE
Tel:- 01322 345428
BEXLEY HOUSING BENEFIT
ERITH TOWN HALL
WALNUT TREE ROAD
ERITH, KENT
DA8 1TL
22/09/14
Re: Ashley Tarrant Benefit Reference 100728499
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing as landlord with regard to the above benefit reference, having noted the content of the letter you sent to Ashley Tarrant, which incorrectly states that he is not eligible for housing benefit. Ashley Tarrant has moved back to this address after 16 years of living elsewhere. He was previously living with his mother, however, due to his mother losing her house, he was effectively homeless. As you know, for many years now I have been renting two rooms at this address as part of my business. Due to a previous tenant leaving, I had a room available, which knowing that he would have nowhere to live, I kept free for Ashley. Although he conscientiously does all the shifts he can get, due to a shortage of hours and earning a minimum wage, his present job has been unable to offer him sufficient earnings to cover his outgoings. He therefore needs to apply for housing benefit in order to supplement his income so he can cover his rent, his travelling expenses, and his other outgoings. This should not be deemed unreasonable.
Only a percentage of my tenants have needed housing benefit assistance in the past, but the following tenants listed below have all been registered, at some point, for housing benefit from this address, so your own records will in fact indicate that this is a commercial letting situation and has been for many years. The previous tenants who have been registered with housing benefit from this address are Roy Foreman, David Ruiz, Rebeca Garcia, Mark Akrasi, Sean Beau-Pierre and Lloyd Daniel Welling. I have also included copies of the letters that were submitted at the times of their applications. You may also note that arrears were already in evidence with some of these tenants, as the dates of the letters are subsequent to their moving in. However, as you must be aware, housing benefit policy dictates that arrears can be paid for up to a maximum of three months.
While on the subject of arrears, I would like to say I feel it is wholly inappropriate for the council to decide on the basis of my moral makeup and my human decency, and whether I choose to evict people in arrears, as to whether this is a commercial setup or not, as this has absolutely no bearing on the business status of the above premise. Ashley had in fact been asked to address his housing benefit issue several times, but was slow to do so because he would have ideally liked to remain independent. However, this is not proving possible on the work he is currently being offered and he has just ended up going into debt as a result. He has in the past, when living with his mum, not had to worry about such issues and has been able to live a life with minimal responsibility. This may also have reflected in the fact that he has perhaps taken longer than he should have to address this problem and make his application. Again this has absolutely no bearing on the commercial status of this premise and it is wholly inappropriate for the council to stand in judgement on the basis that he didn't attend to this issue more promptly, or that I haven't evicted him.
In fact, regardless of who they are, I have never evicted any of my tenants for rent arrears and have always done my best to give them an element of leeway where necessary and help them deal with any problems. Sean Beau-Pierre, for example, had his housing benefit suspended several times and finally was abruptly cut off when he enrolled as a student to go to university. He consequently had no money to pay his rent. Housing benefit denied him any help to cover the duration but he gave me his word that he would pay what he owed when his student finance loan came through. Unfortunately, even though I was dealing with it personally, due to a series of ridiculous schoolboy errors on their behalf, it took the completely inept Student Finance England three months to process his application and grant his payment. Unlike housing benefit, they had no facility in place to pay landlords direct, which was also completely unhelpful. Even so, I still allowed Sean to reside here during that period without payment because he had no money and nowhere else to go. I didn't expect it to take three months but as more and more time passed by it became more and more likely that he would be tempted not honour his word and sure enough he didn't. I could have kicked him out but where would he have gone? A park bench perhaps? I have never evicted any of my tenants, arrears or not. In his case, I could have made an exception, however, I like to try and help people and do the right thing. Unfortunately they don't always do the right thing in return. Nevertheless, I for one would like to live in a better world where people can be trusted and have consideration for each other. I therefore try and practice what I preach. This has no bearing whatsoever on my business status. As you know, many businesses and concerns operate in arrears with invoicing and payment, and in fact housing benefit is one of them.
I would also add that three of the previous tenants registered for housing benefit from this address have behaved with criminal intent. As a result I have incurred losses and damages, all of which are on record and have been reported to the police. I have also had to endure a high number of early morning visits from the police, at times in significant numbers, wishing to capture one of the three tenants in question and take him away for interviewing. Another one of the three tenants in question was perpetrating credit card fraud from this address, using false identities, which again was reported at the time both to the police and to Barclaycard. I had a number of other issues surrounding all three of the tenants in question, including deceit, mail-order fraud, noise and affray, drug offences, theft and criminal damage. Ashley may have his faults, but by comparison he is an absolute saint with the best of hearts and would not dream of committing such offences. I think if you are going to penalise him for trying to be independent, or for being a bit remiss, and are implying that I should evict him because he cannot meet his commitments, whilst the other three criminals get off scot free, having been assisted by housing benefit without a quibble, you should rethink your own moral and ethical standing.
Finally, as I have been registered with both housing benefit and HMRC as a commercial landlord for many years, the content and assessment in your letter is inaccurate. Out of all the applications made by previous tenants who have resided at this address over the years, this is the first time any such issue has ever arisen regarding any of my tenant's claims, or my status as a landlord. It therefore appears that, despite the content of your letter, you are in fact penalising Ashley because he is my son and not for the reasons stated in it, which are both untrue and unjustifiable. This is wholly unacceptable and I would urge that you reconsider your evaluation to avoid future embarrassment. As you know, if he had gone to lodge anywhere else, he would have been eligible for housing benefit assistance without quibble. Likewise, if the form submitted had been from anyone else residing at this address, they would have also been eligible for housing benefit assistance without quibble, as we have seen with all previous applications. Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
D.J. Tarrant