Does anyone know an idiot proof benifits advise site??

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Does anyone know an idiot proof benifits advise site??
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Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:01 am Post subject: Does anyone know an idiot proof benifits advise site??

The short version is
My wife has been on incapacity benifit following surgery and this has now been stopped as we expected however she has been told she is not entitled to anything now while she looks for the non existant work as we are married and I earn to much, now Im well below national average let alone London average and have a morgage to pay as well as all the usual insurance, utilities and living costs.
She has been told she cannot get contribution based job seekers as she hasnt paid in the last 2 years and I earn to much for incom based, I cant get working tax credit as they have dropped the earnings limit aparently.
The problem is I have never looked at the benifit system and have no idea where to start looking for any assistance we might be entitled to.
Im not looking for hand outs but I have worked continuiously for the last 20 years ad to be told suddenly we are going to be losing 25% of our income with no help on the morgage and bills is worrying.
As a guide after morgage, utilitys and bills I will be left with about £20 a week for food, diesel, clothes and anything else the 2 of us need.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:05 am Post subject:
https://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/index.htm Good luck! ETA - if you click through the beginners guide, it will give you a link to the benefits calculator. Also check the housing benefit link.

Jo S

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 5174
Location: Somerset

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:14 am Post subject:
Make an appointment with your local CAB office. They were fantastic with me.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:17 am Post subject:
thanks Penny, looks like the limit for working Tax credit is £18,100 , thats is supposed to be enough for a married couple to live in London and pay all the bills so it looks like we are going on Diets lol

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:20 am Post subject:

Jo S wrote:

Make an appointment with your local CAB office. They were fantastic with me.

The OH has for her but looking at the site Penny linked to says I might be entitled to Working tax credit or council tak benifit, thats it and I earn to much for either of them, how ever if we were to have a child I could earn £50k a year rather than £20k and still get benifits, I know kids are expensive but do they really cost £2500 a month???

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:27 am Post subject:
If you sold the house and rented, you'd probably be eligible for help. I suppose it's looked at that you have an asset in the house, and until you don't have that, then you don't get help.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:36 am Post subject:

I know, it just sucks though, many of my friends who have council houses and dont work actually get more income than I do, they just dont count it.
they say stuff like 'I only get £70 job seekers a week' when I point out they get £150 housing benifit, £25 council tax benifit, free prescriptions, dental and eye care and so on they just say that they dont get the money, they just cant get there heads round that I have to pay all that from my salary.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:37 am Post subject:
https://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:38 am Post subject:
anyway thats enough self pity, if I cant get help I will just have to get EHO approval on my new kitchen and work more thanks for the link, at least I managed to find out the limit for the benifits.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:46 am Post subject:
Also have a look at the MSE forum https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/ for advice about reducing your outgoings (the benefits board does tend to attract unpleasant comments, but other boards have loads of advice about reducing various expenses)

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 1:41 pm Post subject:

Penny wrote:

If you sold the house and rented, you'd probably be eligible for help.

Might even work if you moved out and rented your house to someone else... provided you don't make too much profit from the rent.

I have heard that a workaround is to set up a housing cooperative. Sell your house to the coop then rent it back off them. Think you need more than just yourself in the coop though.

Have you tried claiming council tax benefit?
If you're on a low income, you should get some.

lettucewoman

Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 7834
Location: Tiptoe in the Forest!!

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 3:05 pm Post subject:
I don't think the limit is 18,000...I just did a calcluation on the HMRC site for 30,000 and it said we would be entitled to wtc...we dont earn that but I just put it in as a trial. I know that people i know get wtc earn more than 25,000. Is your local tax office friindly? We ring ours up on a regular basis and they are great...otherwise CAB would be good.

john of wessex

Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 2130

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 8:33 pm Post subject:
Go to CAB, the medicals for Benefits are poor to say the least & get your appeal in.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 8:56 pm Post subject:

lettucewoman wrote:

I don't think the limit is 18,000...I just did a calcluation on the HMRC site for 30,000 and it said we would be entitled to wtc...we dont earn that but I just put it in as a trial. I know that people i know get wtc earn more than 25,000.

Is your local tax office friindly? We ring ours up on a regular basis and they are great...otherwise CAB would be good.

Have you got a link to the site?
I have done the questions on a couple of sites and they told me I could be entitled to WTC but when I put in the figures it says I am entitled to claim £0.00, not much point really.

ETA, just gone to the HMRC site, did the questions again and told I can claim £0.00

Tay

Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 2811
Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 10 11:22 pm Post subject:
Link to HMRC tax credit calculator: https://taxcredits.hmrc.gov.uk/Qualify/DIQHousehold.aspx. And just in case you weren't aware of it, the NHS run the Help with Health Costs Low Income Scheme https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/792.aspx; you may find you can get full or partial help with costs towards dental treatment, sight tests/lenses, prescriptions etc.

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