Terms & Conditions

[andrew_hodkinson]

Hi
Landlord informs us that customer has vacated and that liability ended on 20.08.10. We have no idea where the tenant has moved to and no change of address within the Borough has been received. The rent is paid monthly so HB should be paid until 22.08.10?

[Kevin D]

Changed mind – see below..

[Anonymous]

I originally thought that when the liability ends, the HB ends on that day, for the reasons suggested in this thread: http://hbinfo.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18048

But then I saw Peter Barker’s post in this thread and I got confused: http://hbinfo.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20335 [quote:4d857f4556]If the rent was charged by the week or month, Reg 80(3) does not apply, which means that Reg 80(2) does, which means the eligible rent for the final week is a full week’s rent, even if the liability ended part way through the week.[/quote:4d857f4556]
And then I came across a case where the rent liability ended at midnight on a Sunday/Monday and got even more confused 😳 : http://hbinfo.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21518

DWP guidance suggests that you pay to the end of tyhe week regardless of when liability ends.

First thing I would do, is try to find out where your claimant has moved to.

[Anonymous]

I would have said go to the end of the week, because the rent is not charged by the day.

Reg 79(8) says HB ends from the following Monday unless para (9) applies (not relevant here) or unless the claimant’s rent payments “fall due on a daily basis”. The claimant’s rent does not falkl due on a daily basis in this case, it is due monthly.

As for the amount of eligible rent in the final week, Reg 80(2) says the eligible rent is M x 12 /52 except where para (3) applies. Para (3) applies to:

(a) first week in a “week one yes” case
(b) mid-week change of circs under Reg 79, including the end of [b:bc5c42389e]daily[/b:bc5c42389e] rent liability
(c) change of address with no overlap

I would say none of those is relevant here, so my view is the claimant is entitled to one full normal week of HB for the week in which he moved out.

[Kevin D]

I’ve changed my mind. There was a missing “link” in my analysis which PB has inadvertently seared into place. A classic case of not seeing the wood for the trees on my part.

In short, I agree with Peter. Once all the options have been considered and then discarded, the end of the week is the only option left (on the basis of the liability being monthly and the facts stated).

[Anonymous]

If you guys agree, I agree 8)

Why is it that what should be the simplest elements of HB administration always turn out to be the most complicated? I’ve tried explaining to a ‘civilian’ how convoluted the legislation relating to start and end dates can be and the response was something like “why not just pay them for the dates they have to pay rent?”.

[Author]

Posts