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Mr W’s complaint about Jobcentre Plus
In Mr W’s case, Jobcentre Plus failed to provide a significant piece of information when he enquired
about his benefit entitlement, giving him the impression that he would receive more help with his
mortgage interest payments than he was actually entitled to receive.
Background to the complaint
Following Mr W’s divorce, he gained custody
of his two children. In June 2005 he went to his
local Jobcentre Plus office to ask which benefits
he would be entitled to if he gave up work to
look after his children. He also asked what help
he would receive with his mortgage. He said he
was told that he would be entitled to income
support and child tax credit, and that his mortgage
interest would be paid after a qualifying period
of 39 weeks. Mr W was surprised that his interest
payments would be paid in full, and he returned on
two further occasions to check that what he had
been told was correct. He said he was given exactly
the same information, which he then took to be
correct. On the basis of the advice he was given,
Mr W gave up work and claimed income support
from August.
Approximately four weeks before Mr W expected
his first mortgage interest payment, he telephoned
Jobcentre Plus. During this conversation, Jobcentre
Plus told Mr W that there is a statutory limit (the
cap) of £100,000 on the amount of eligible loans
on which interest payments are met by income
support. The cap meant that not all of Mr W’s
mortgage interest payments were covered each
month (the monthly shortfall was £269). Mr W
subsequently contacted his mortgage lender to try
to resolve the situation. He described this as being
a ‘nightmare’; his doctor prescribed medication
for stress after his mortgage lender told him that
his house might be repossessed if he did not
meet his payments in full. Mr W subsequently
made an arrangement with the mortgage lender,
whereby they met the shortfall and added it to his
mortgage balance. (This increased Mr W’s
mortgage by approximately £10,000 and increased
his interest liability.)
What we investigated
We received Mr W’s complaint in March 2007
and investigated whether Jobcentre Plus had
misadvised him that his mortgage interest
payments would be paid in full. Mr W said that he
had suffered significant financial loss and emotional
distress as a result of Jobcentre Plus’s actions.
In the course of our investigation we interviewed
Mr W.
What our investigation found
Jobcentre Plus did not dispute Mr W’s contention
that he was not told about the cap. In their
view, the rules surrounding the cap made it too
complicated to fall within the remit of general
advice. According to Jobcentre Plus, the correct
general advice to give potential claimants of
income support who had a mortgage, such as
Mr W, would be to merely inform them that they
may receive assistance with housing costs after
39 weeks. We considered that that advice gave
potential claimants only some of the information
they need to know: it did not include any
information about the rate of interest payable
or, crucially, that there is a limit on the assistance
available. We also noted DWP’s internal guidance
Putting things right: complaints and learning from DWP | March 2009 11