working/child Tax Credits, and C/B stopped

13

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  • UKSBD
    UKSBD Posts: 795
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    Caz3121 wrote: »
    That is the problem with child related benefits, people get used to having them and budget accordingly but when the child is no longer a child they need to adjust


    You would think there is a big enough clue in the names;


    Child Benefits
    Child Tax Credits


    My daughter is in the same situation, has just finished her Level 3 and starts Level 4/5 equivalent in September.


    The last 2 years we have paid everything for her; transport costs, trips, meals out, stuff needed for courses etc.


    Next year she will be paying all that herself out of her £5k maintenance loan.


    I suggest the OP read Martin's articles about student loans and they may change their mindset about them - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/repay-post-2012-student-loan
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    Unless the arthritis is extremely bad, then the chances of getting PIP are quite low so I wouldn't depend on it. I have just finally got it - I have severe arthritis, both hips, ankles, spine and shoulders, plus severe tibial tendonopathy in one ankle. I haven't been able to walk more than ten feet in eighteen months. And I had to fight tooth and nail for PIP. PIP isn't a replacement benefit - it is designed for people who have disabilities that seriously impact on their lives to help them with the additional expenses that disability leads to.

    I agree with others here. I appreciate that you want to help your son, but if you cannot afford to, then benefits are not there to enable you to. If he needs a loan to pay his own way, then that is what it takes. At this stage, he is an adult - adults have to pay their own way. I'm all for getting a good education, and personally I would restore grants - but what I think isn't relevant. This is where you are, and if he wants an education, there is a price to pay for it. If he doesn't want that, then there are jobs. But expecting benefits to pay for him when others must get a loan isn't fairer, it's just what you want.
  • Darksparkle
    Darksparkle Posts: 5,465 Forumite
    Level 4: 1st year of a Bachelor's Degree
    Level 5: 2nd year
    Level 6: 3rd year.

    Time to bite the bullet and tell your son that he needs to do the same as thousands of other students in his situation, and get a p/t job to pay for his living cost at home.

    OP said he already has a part time job.
  • TheGardener
    TheGardener Posts: 3,302
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    18 is not a child - so its not really about you 'letting' him get a student loan - its about him deciding if he wants or needs one.

    The reason the benefits stop is because he's now and adult and expected to use the student loan system and work to support himself.

    Read the MSE article on student loans - you may be misunderstanding how they work.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 17,817
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    When my daughter started Uni/college last year when she was 19, i'll admit i was terrified for her because i knew she would be applying for a student loan. The thought of her starting off her adult life with this huge debt hanging over her was awful. Then she explained it all to me and i was very surprised by what she told me. It may not be as bad as you think. OP like some others have said he's now 18 and an adult therefore he must make up his own mind on whether or not he wants this student loan. It's not about you deciding for him. As much as most of us mother's hate to let go, i'm afraid we really have no choice. Grow up they must and live their own life. Even if we'll never stop worrying about them!
  • UKSBD
    UKSBD Posts: 795
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    I could be wrong but the OP gives the impression the son isn't getting a student loan at all, let alone the maintenance loan.


    If that is the case who's paying for the course?
  • What were your plans for increasing your income when your son turned 18 and all the money stopped?
    Overactively underachieving for almost half a century
  • Icequeen99
    Icequeen99 Posts: 3,775 Forumite
    The only way to avoid transferring to UC is to increase your hours to 30 before CTC stops for your son. That way you will continue to get WTC and so there won't be any move to UC - unless you claim it (if you do that you will be out of tax credits if you live in a full service UC area).

    The other way to avoid it is to get PIP, but unlikely that will happen before 31 August.

    It isn't the UC that is causing all of this fall - it would happen anyway because you are losing working tax credit - before UC was introduced you would have lost your WTC and CTC fully anyway.

    IQ
  • heken123
    heken123 Posts: 29 Forumite
    Caz3121 wrote: »
    I would not discount this totally. I was fortunate to get through 3 years study with no loans but to do this I worked full time as well as studying full time (worked shifts around classes and weekends) I had a mortgage to pay and child to support (child benefit only as before the days of tax credits)
    That is the problem with child related benefits, people get used to having them and budget accordingly but when the child is no longer a child they need to adjust

    Yes my son would rather do that, than get into debt
  • heken123
    heken123 Posts: 29 Forumite
    Icequeen99 wrote: »
    The only way to avoid transferring to UC is to increase your hours to 30 before CTC stops for your son. That way you will continue to get WTC and so there won't be any move to UC - unless you claim it (if you do that you will be out of tax credits if you live in a full service UC area).

    The other way to avoid it is to get PIP, but unlikely that will happen before 31 August.

    It isn't the UC that is causing all of this fall - it would happen anyway because you are losing working tax credit - before UC was introduced you would have lost your WTC and CTC fully anyway.

    IQ
    I hadn't realised his course was higher education and thought I would be getting the benefits while he was still in education until he was 19.
    I also hadn't realised tax credits stopped as well.
    I was hoping I would be fit to do more hours at that time, as it is now just a couple of months since I had my second op.
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