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Hello all
I'm trying to help someone who's got a strip of land in Martinique. He paid about £500 for it in the 1990s, before he set off to the UK in search of his fortune. Sadly, he's still trying to find his fortune, and he's currently on JSA (CB).
We've managed to get Housing Benefit sorted out on a guesstimate valuation, but now we're nearing the time when his 6 months are up and he will need to satisfy the local JSA Decision Maker of the value before he can switch over to JSA (IB).
I've had a word, and they tell me they've got a form for people with land, and if a trusty valuation isn't forthcoming they'll send this off to some unit somewhere, who finally decide what value to put on it.
I'm concerned that this will delay the switch to JSA (IB), and he'll have nothing to live on.
Now then, I'm aware of R(JSA)1/02 which seems to ensure the DWP play their part in reaching a valuation - but that may not help him in the short term.
He's been trying to get a valuation by e-mail/phone - but this could cost a lot to sort out/pay for, and he's not making any progress at present.
I've done my bit - I've searched the internet and found :
http://www.martinique.org/
- which has got a great video, and shows how happy the people in Martinique are to be living there (they dance and smile a lot, it seems). It doesn't tell me anything useful about land valuations, however.
After all that, I guess my questions are :
1) Any ideas how to get a valuation sorted out?
2) Any experience of how long it takes the DWP to reach a decision when they need to put a value on land?
I'm hoping he'll get so stressed with the prospect of having no money to live on he'll be able to claim IB, but any help much appreciated.
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