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anyone here apart from james_ work with Housing Benefit claimants?
james_, your input is also welcomed.
I'm very, very annoyed. I was in the bath and when I got downstairs my mother was close to tears, having just got off the phone to the council.
Here's what went on: I go to Cambridge, and we have unusually short terms of 8 weeks, compared to every other uni in the country. My mother is trying to claim that the house she rents near York is my primary address, in order to get the amount of Housing Benefit she is entitled to, for 2 persons. Because of the 8 week terms I am at home for more weeks than I'm not, so her claim is correct.
The council disbelieve her and keep asking for evidence, proof that I'm studying there and so on. We've sent in countless letters, forms etc. Our usual guy who handles our claim is pleasant but a bit of a jobsworth. This time he was not in the office so she got a different woman.
The woman questioned the validity of a letter we had sent in. The letter was from my tutor and read:
'To whom it may concern
This is to confirm that Harry Wright [me] is studying English at [name of college removed] and will proceed to Honours in 2014.
[name of tutor]'
the woman asked what 'proceed to honours' meant and branded it 'pretentious'. She said that she should have got a letter from the central university, not 'some college'. My mother explained the collegiate system to her and she said 'well it's not like that at Durham. My children have been to university too you know'.
She then proceeded to undermine my mother and told her that her claim was incorrect, actively untrue and lots of other things. She accused her of lying about me having 8 week terms. My mother eventually put the phone down on her.
I want to give someone a good piece of my mind. This has been going on since October and in the meantime my mother lives on £30 a week and loses money by going to work.
I dont know what to do and I'd appreciate some input from people on here who might. Sorry this is so disjointed, but I'm really angry and confused.
I'd finally like to extend a warm welcome to whichever person is planning on saying 'thinly veiled I go to Cambridge thread'. Fuck off you spiteful twat.