What you'll learn:
- By the end of the course, delegates will be able to:
- Describe how and where customers can claim Housing Benefit
- Explain when HB can be paid on two homes and where the claimant is temporarily absent from their home.
- Clarify how to work out the ‘date of claim’ and the date that entitlement should start
- Explain how to work out the eligible rent and the maximum rent for HB purposes
- State how to work out if a household is ‘under-occupying’ the dwelling and how to reduce their HB entitlement
- Describe how to calculate the claimant’s capital and income that should be used in the assessment
- Explain how and when to apply a non-dependant deduction
- Explain how to work out a claimant’s applicable amount
- Manually calculate Rent Rebate, Rent Allowance, Local Housing Allowance and Council Tax Support entitlement.
- State the difference between a ‘revision’ and a ‘supersession’
- Explain the significance of correctly classifying HB overpayments
- List at least 2 indicators of possible fraudulent activity in a claim
Who's it for?
There are no formal pre-requisites for this course; the course is equally suited to new staff as an induction and to more experienced staff who need to update their skills:
- New assessment staff
- Experienced assessment staff
- Team Leaders and Managers
How it's delivered:
This course is delivered ‘live on-line’ with a trainer and can be accessed via a PC, Mac or Tablet. With live online, you can interact, ask questions and practice new skills – all without leaving your desk! Perfect for dispersed teams working from home.
Pricing:
The cost of this 5-day scheduled course is £750 plus VAT per delegate.
Please get in touch for a quote if you'd like to book this as a private course for people in your organisation.
Content:
Day One:
Data Protection
- The principles of Data Protection (GDPR compliance)
- Disclosure of data
State Benefits
- Overview of state benefits scheme
- Means tested/non-means tested benefits
- Basic rules for claiming Universal Credit
- Total Benefit Cap
- Help and advice for claimants
- Sources of information
Making a claim
- The application form
- When and where claims may be made
- Pensioner claims
- Date of claim
- Standard claims
- Passport claims
- New liability
- Entitlement date
- Backdating
Day two:
Occupation and Liability
- Liability to pay rent
- Persons treated as not liable to pay
- Occupation as a home
- Benefits on two homes
- Absence from home
- Contrived rent liabilities and non-commercial agreements
Rent
- Housing Benefit or Local Housing Allowance?
- Liability to pay rent
- Eligible / ineligible services
- Maximum rent
- Rent Restrictions
- Size criteria
- Broad rental market areas
- Applying the LHA
- Payment on Account
Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy
- Under occupation
- Percentage reductions
- Foster carers
- Temporary absence from home i.e. students / armed forces
- Protection from the reduction / DHP
Day three
- Capital
- What is capital?
- Tariff income
- Valuation of capital
- Pensioners
Income
- Unearned income
- Pension Credit
- Earnings and disregards
- Childcare costs
- Household and applicable amounts
- Household composition
- Civil partnerships
- Applicable amounts
- Non-dependants and deductions
Day four
- Evidence and supporting information
- Interventions
- Identity and NI number
- Evidence of income, rent, changes of circumstance, etc.
- How evidence is requested
- Final calculation of benefits
- Payment of HB / LHA
- How and who we pay
- 8 weeks arrears and disputes
- Advance or arrears payments
- Safeguards for LHA claimants
- Deductions from payments
- Shortfall of benefit
- Discretionary housing payments
Day five
Suspending Payments
- Suspension and stopping payments
Change in circumstances
- Revision/Supersession
- Change of address / liability frequency / rental amount
- Death of claimant
- tarting work and extended payments
- Non-dependents
- LHA changes
- Pensioner rules
Overpayments of benefit
- Period and calculation of overpayment
- Classifying the overpayment
- Underlying entitlement and offsetting
- Recoverability and choosing from whom to recover
- How to recover overpayments
Decisions, notifications and appeals
- Disputes and reconsiderations
- Appeals
Fraud
- Types of fraud / indicators
