Up to 40,000 people will receive a refund thanks to an east London “hero” after he discovered that the government have wrongly assessed who is liable for the bedroom tax.
A conservative estimate puts the cost to the government at £26million.
Peter Barker, a freelance benefits specialist, of Hillfoot Avenue, discovered the loophole in December but last week the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed his analysis.
It has also been reported that the suicide of the woman from Solihull who, in a note, blamed her death on the financial strains aggravated by the bedroom tax would have been exempt and, if she was still alive, eligible for a refund.
Mr Barker, 53, spotted the oversight made by the DWP in legislation they drafted in 1996. Housing benefit regulations from 1996 were not updated when the coalition created the bedroom tax.
Read more here —> http://www.london24.com/news/east_lo..._tax_1_3211700
A conservative estimate puts the cost to the government at £26million.
Peter Barker, a freelance benefits specialist, of Hillfoot Avenue, discovered the loophole in December but last week the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed his analysis.
It has also been reported that the suicide of the woman from Solihull who, in a note, blamed her death on the financial strains aggravated by the bedroom tax would have been exempt and, if she was still alive, eligible for a refund.
Mr Barker, 53, spotted the oversight made by the DWP in legislation they drafted in 1996. Housing benefit regulations from 1996 were not updated when the coalition created the bedroom tax.
Read more here —> http://www.london24.com/news/east_lo..._tax_1_3211700
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