Benefits check up guide and tool discussion

[MSE Wendy]

This thread is to discuss the

5 Minute Benefits check up guide and tool

please reply to ask a question and discuss.

[Gerryc47]

Very useful tool but results page a little confusing. It looks as if I could get help with council tax because our non-dependant daughter living with us is on low income. However, there is a qualification that to get this benefit I must be in receipt of the guaranteed pension credit element. In that section it states that I am not eligible, which I accept, but surely the checker should then have negated the possible council tax benefit! Am I missing anything?

[Janine-Ruby]

The calculator has calc'd a weekly income from my savings of almost 20% so says I am not entitled to any benefits. I'm actually getting an income of less than 2%??

[21Twinkle]

This calculator is a waste of time
It appears to be under the dillusion that 17% interest is available on savings
Also - it doesn't appear to cope with "contribution based" ESA !!

[AngelBadger]

Very misleading calculator. It doesn't show age related Incapacity Benefit, and when I put all my details in, it told me that I was entitled much more than I actually am. Any income above £65 (ish) means that you get less housing and council tax benefits but it doesn't seem to take that into account. I'm not sure what use it is.

[savvysaver1]

Hi, the jobseekers allowance of £67.00 - is this meant to cover food, clothing, gas and electric?..seems impossible

[bluehair]

It is straight forward for me: my husband is on £25,000/year salary, I am off work since Jan/2010. Already claimed JSA contributions based (helped on food bill, already stopped), no prospects to find another job, no children, a 10 year old car, all possible CDs, old records, clothes sold, debts of £5,000 = NO BENEFITS entitlement whatsoever!!!

[KimYeovil]

Originally Posted by savvysaver1

Hi, the jobseekers allowance of £67.00 - is this meant to cover food, clothing, gas and electric?..seems impossible

and water.

Why is that impossible? Exclude clothing - existing wardrobe should be adequate for a few months. Why would you need more than £280 per month for the four basic needs?

[KimYeovil]

Originally Posted by bluehair

It is straight forward for me: my husband is on £25,000/year salary, I am off work since Jan/2010. Already claimed JSA contributions based (helped on food bill, already stopped), no prospects to find another job, no children, a 10 year old car, all possible CDs, old records, clothes sold, debts of £5,000 = NO BENEFITS entitlement whatsoever!!!

Who do you think should pay more taxes to give you benefits? Those wealthy people on £27.5K?

Why are you selling records and CDs if money is tight? That is when you should be holding on to things. Strange.

[quillian]

Please advise why / how this otherwise useful tool suggests I receive a weekly income of 380 pound on capital of 200,000 pounds i.e. almost 20% or ten times the best available through UK banks after the GFC ruined us all.

Can anyone tell me where to get 20% interest?

If not this tool needs to be overhauled and corrected; please do so.

[quillian]

Regret typos but concern is valid; the tool is dangerously inaccurate in miscalculating interest on capital. It over-estimates by a factor of 10plus, thus putting many out of reach of benefits.

Please do check how much it suggests YOU earn on capital and complain about fanciful estimates.

[lubbylou25]

hi i've done the benefit checker previously & again today & it says that we are entitled to council tax benefit , i've tried claiming council benefit twice before & both times told we weren't entitled to council tax benefit , according to the 'benefit checker ' we should only be paying around £200 per year instead of £1100 , has anyone had the same happen or any successful stories .

[KimYeovil]

Originally Posted by quillian

Please advise why / how this otherwise useful tool suggests I receive a weekly income of 380 pound on capital of 200,000 pounds i.e. almost 20% or ten times the best available through UK banks after the GFC ruined us all.

Can anyone tell me where to get 20% interest?

If not this tool needs to be overhauled and corrected; please do so.

Where does it suggest that? I doubt that it does. (That is, it does not suggest that you can receive 20% interest.)

[tori.k]

The calc didn't work for me, as it didn't even remove the correct figures for income tax and NI, then told me i should be entitled to £70 pw working tax, we get £2.36 pw which by my workings as well as tax office is correct, i think you should remove the calc as a few people have come unstuck using the entitled to on-line calc as the figure's are so way off (may as well be in narnia) and many have ended up in debt thinking they would get somewhere in the region of the figures it spits out, when reality bites that their intitled to very little or sod all

[PollyArthur]

My husband and I are already on Pension Credit but when using the the 5 mins benefit checker it says that we should be receiving approx £50 a week more than we are getting and that we should not have to pay council tax and we do albeit reduced. Could Works and Pension have got it that wrong?

Polly

[David Mee]

Hi, with all the recent !!!!!!ing around with benefits etc my daughter (a single parent) is worse off and is now needing to check ways of increasing her income. Shes worried though that increased wages would then stop benfits all together. Is there any simple way of finding the ceilings up to which she can earn and not worsen her situation?

[misssmcc]

i just put my new income in for the job i start on monday, it told me i should get FULL rent and council tax benefits (minus water) after starting work, infact i will be getting £11.98 HB and £0.63 CTB lol, i dont think it works very well.

[mgsandi]

I'd love to know where i should invest my savings so that I could get 426 pound a week income from them please because that would put an end to my worries ....please do tell!

[dseventy]

The biggest problem benefits claimants have is overpayments. This is usually because their circumstances change and "forget" or don't think to inform the DWP/JC/whatever.

The tool makes no reference to this (or its not obvious).

Can I suggest this is added/made more apparant?

D70

[DX2]

Originally Posted by dseventy

The biggest problem benefits claimants have is overpayments. This is usually because their circumstances change and "forget" or don't think to inform the DWP/JC/whatever.

The tool makes no reference to this (or its not obvious).

Can I suggest this is added/made more apparant?

D70

I doubt anything can be added as it's just the entitledto calculator.