I client has been referred to our service who is currently in receipt of a disability benefit from Holland (Not sure the name of benefit as entitlement letter in Dutch). He has been living with friends in Britain for a year but has recently become homeless and will be housed in one of our hostels. Brent Council has informed one of the Project Workers that they will not accept a benefit from abroad as proof of income for HB/CTB proposes. To complicate matters (possibly) the client was a refugee who was given refugee status in Holland.

Are Brent Council correct in refusing to accept his Dutch benefit as income? If so could he stop his Dutch Benefit and claim IS instead then HB?

Not sure I understand. Are you saying the Council won't accept the letter as proof (because it's in Dutch)? Or are you saying they won't accept that the Dutch benefit is income?

If he is claiming HB then the LA is duty bound to decide his claim on the income as it is, not as they would wish it to be!

On the issue of proof, presumably the letter is in Dutch because it's a Dutch benefit. Seems to me that the Council is going to have to bite the bullet and get it translated. They could demand that he gets it translated but aside from the question of reasonableness of making him incur the expense, it would not seem to be particularly effective verification to allow the claimant to tell them what the letter means in English! I do not see how the LA can reasonably refuse a letter from the benefit-paying agency as proof of a benefit!

On the issue of whether he should stop claiming his Dutch benefit in favour of IS, I would not like to comment, as I do not know what the implications of doing that would be.