Terms & Conditions

[Anonymous]

Can anyone point me in the right direction? We are in the process of changing all monthly pyments of HB to into 4 weekly, much to the disgust of of the claimants and Landlords. I have noticed that some authorities are introducing monthly payments?. Is there a Reg that stipulates 4 weekly with no exceptions, or should we just be offering the option? I seem to be getting conflicting info from everywhere. 😯

[Anonymous]

Reg 92(4)(a) of the HBR 2006 states that where the liability is on a monthly basis, the authority [b:71f0de8be2]may[/b:71f0de8be2] pay rent allowance on a monthly basis…so the decision is yours (subject to a right of appeal, I believe).

[seanosul]

That does not sit too comfortably with Reg 91

[quote:85be4c1059]
91. Time and manner of payment

(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and regulations 92 to 98 (frequency of payment of a rent allowance, and payment on account of a rent allowance, payment provisions, offsetting) the relevant authority shall pay housing benefit to which a person is entitled under these Regulations at such time and in such manner as is appropriate, having regard to—
(a) the times at which and the frequency with which a person´s liability to make payment of rent arises; and
(b) the reasonable needs and convenience of the person entitled thereto.
[/quote:85be4c1059]

This in turn does not sit well with calculating the claimants weekly eligible rent. This becomes a problem when the claimant is overpaid as the weekly eligible rent will be changed every month except in July / August and December / January. (There are no other consecutive months where the number of days is the same).

[Anonymous]

I agree with Sean that the Regs lead you heavily towards matching HB payment frequency to the clainmant’s rent frequency, but I don’t think the problem of fluctuating amounts should be an issue any longer.

Since April 06 the calculation of weekly eligible rent from a monthly starting point is x12/52. For payment purposes, it would make sense to convert back by the same method x52/12. That way, neither the eligible rent nor the monthly benefit payment need ever change. That method also reverses the very slight windfall that would otherwise accrue to claimants on maximum HB with no RO restriction and make sure that they only receive what they are liable to pay.

[Anonymous]

So your saying that the regs allow payment according to LA discretion but the LA dont like to pay monthly because it causes an administration problem? Can this really be true that our technology cant cope?

[Author]

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