Will JSA and other Benefits be stpped?

Dawn248 · 26 September 2016 at 7:20PM

I would be really grateful fro some non judge-mental advice please.
In Feb this year I had to leave my abusive narcissitic husband after he was arrested for ABH towards my eldest daughter. With my two daughters aged 19 (with depression/self harm/suicidal impulses) and 12 (with Tourettes/Ocd/anxiety) I eventually found a private rental which the council agreed to pay housing benefit for because we were fleeing abuse. As long as the family home, which I jointly own (with abusive ex still in it) was put up for sale, they said I would get Housing Benefit. We were thankful for a repreive and somewhere calm and safe to live in, albeit a teeny flat above a shop next to a noisy pub!! We were so grateful.
We are divorcing and the house has a buyer. I have been in receipt of JSA and CTC since April and HB since June.
I have been told by the council that they can disregard the proceeds from the sale so I have time to look for a property for me and my girls. However this all depends on whether the DWP still allow me to claim JSA. My JSA is income related so I think this is unlikely to go in my favour. I was lucky enough to get some casual work in the summer and the DWP made a complete hash of things and stopped my money for weeks, so I can't see this going well.
They seem to find the simplest thing impossible to understand so this is going to be a huge issue.
I am extremely worried they will stop the JSA and Child tax Credits that we need to live, as soon as the house sale goes through. I'm aware I will have money in the bank but every penny will be needed to get us somewhere to live. It will barely cover a 2 bed flat in my area, a room for each girl and me on the sofa, as I am now.
Obviously I am flat out looking for work so we are not reliant on benefits but if I am doing my best, will they really stop my money? I've just read on here that you can only get 6 months JSA-mine is up in October! I am dreading us having zero money in the run up to Christmas, looking to buy a flat with the house proceeds but with no money even for food or bills. If I have to use the proceeds for daily expenses we'll be screwed.
We've been through a hell of a year already. Both daughters are suffering from various conditions of their own and I really don't think we are capable of taking another knock.
Does anyone have experience of this situation? Is there any advice you can offer?
Thank you for reading, if you got to the end. If you are about to attack me for sponging benefits, please don't. We have had no choice and I literally could not feel worse about myself already.

jack84 · 26 September 2016 at 7:47PM

Don’t worry, Im sure nobody is going to start accusing you of sponging you sound genuinely in a pickle through no fault of your own.

Right, If you are on income based jobceeekers allowance, that continues indefinitely - i.e it will not stop in October. If you are on contribution based jsa, It will end after 6 months - but if the house is not sold by then - you can switch to Income based jsa - as long as your income is nil / low and your assets, savings are below 6k.

Im afraid when the house sells, you will then own half of what it sells for ( I stand to be corrected ) and that means, no entitlement to jsa unless your still within the 6 months of contribution jsa - income based will not be an option when the house sells as far as I know.

So your going to have to act fast, Keep looking for a home to buy asap, and have some places in the pipeline ready to buy as soon as you can - as your money will be used up fast by the cost of living - but make sure you have some spare cash because you will run out of time on jsa and it will stop.

I cannot say about child tax credits and whether you still get them as a home owner I do not know that I am sorry - Hopefully somebody will chime in with that info.

If you buy a home, there will not be rent, but there is still bills and council tax to pay - I suppose a small part time job would suffice as a short time cure to make ends meet - but what if you got unlucky and no job was offered and you run out of cash?? you would be forced to sell your home.

Probably the less risky way, would be to keep the money from the house sale, as your money to live off / pay rent until you find a job. and after you find a job and have worked 3 years, or perhaps sooner - put the leftover money towards a mortgage with a big deposit that you can pay within 5 years, so Youll still own your own home - but will need to pay some towards it.

If you are willing to relocate, there are some very cheap properties to buy these days in norfolk and other parts of the UK - But the chances are you will not be able to uproot as youve got the children - all the best.

w06 · 26 September 2016 at 8:51PM

There's a six month period where the money from the sale is disregarded if it is to be used to buy another home

page 15 of this link https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473373/admh2.pdf

Amount to be used to purchase premises
H2119 Where a person has received an amount within the past 6 months which is to be
used to purchase premises that the person intend to occupy as their home, that
amount can be disregarded from the calculation of that person’s capital where it
1. is attributable to the proceeds of the sale of premises formerly occupied as
their home or
2. has been deposited with a housing association (see H2045) or
3. is a grant made to the person for the sole purpose of purchasing a home1
.
1 UC Regs, Sch 10, para 13

Alice_Holt · 26 September 2016 at 9:03PM

Re: HB this can still be paid for a period after the house sale see:
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500180/housing_benefit/4265/how_savings_investments_and_property_affect_your_housing_benefit_and_council_tax_support/4

Child Tax Credits will continue to be paid as this is calculated on income not capital.
See: http://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-do-tax-credits-work/what-is-income/

You can receive HB without a JSa claim. You would need to complete a "nil income form" at your local council.

But your Income-based JSa may not stop because you will have more than £16k in capital as I think there is the same capital disregard for JSa as for HB. BUT check this with your local CAB as I'm not entirely certain.

It may be worth checking if you could get any grants - Turn2us has some info on this. This may be worth looking at before the house proceeds are received.

So in summary CTC would continue, HB can continue for 6 months, JSa may continue for 6 months.
For more info your CAB would be able to advise.

Hope this is useful. Good Luck.

Dawn248 · 27 September 2016 at 1:43AM

Thanks so much for all your replies.
I'm hoping the last one by Alice is nearest to the scenario we'll have. I have read tonight that as all of the equity will be needed for a home, I should (hopefully) still be able to claim JSA-in the same way someone who owned their home would be eligible. The capital won't be available for us to use and will be tied up in the property so should be disregarded. Just need to explain this to DWP now...scary stuff! Thanks again. x

pmlindyloo · 27 September 2016 at 9:50AM

Here is what it says about JSA and the disregard for 26 weeks or longer.

Money from the sale of premises which were lived in as
the home
The law
29535 Money from the sale of premises which were lived in as the home is disregarded to
give a person time to buy other premises if the person is going to
1. use the money to buy premises and
2. live in those premises as the home.
The period of disregard is 26 weeks or longer if it is reasonable from the date of
sale
.
1 JSA Regs, Sch 8, para 3; IS (Gen) Regs, Sch 10, para 3

Dawn248 · 27 September 2016 at 2:05PM

That's great, thanks again. X

Will JSA and other Benefits be stpped?

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