The Department for Work and Pensions has issued an urgent notice to councils after Job Seeker’s Allowance claimants reportedly had their housing benefit payments stopped in error.
The ‘urgent’ circular, issued to housing benefit staff last week, said people whose Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) or Incapacity Benefit (IB) claims were subject to sanctions should not lose their housing benefit as a result.
According to experts and ‘customer representative groups’, some claimants’ housing benefit had been mistakenly suspended by councils when their JSA or IB claim was sanctioned, causing them to get into rent arrears.