free xtra benefits???

bridtown

Hi all

Sorry if this is in the wrong place

I was wondering if any i know about some benefits that are there for single perents but the goverment don't tell ya about

I was told there is something out there to help perents get help with school cloaths i am going to get stuck this year as both of mine go to school full time

I was told there is something that can be claimed that will pay our gas and eletric off and also water bills off

Can some 1 help with this please been looking every where and not getting anywhere

Thanks

Chris

Kimitatsu

There used to be a school uniform grant available from your local council, but many councils have stopped these now. If you call your local education department they will be able to tell you if it is still available in your are and send you out the forms if appropriate.

You can make a trust fund application to one of the charitable trusts run by Anglian Water, Severn Trent water and I think British Gas do one too. It has to be done by a nominated representative who can show that you are in debt and that you are taking steps to ensure that you will not repeat the debt you are in. This is only applicable if you have bills and debts that you have had for some time and cannot pay. You can access this through your local CAB money management team.

However a trust fund application is a one off payment so will not pay off all of your bills all of the time.

HTH

bridtown

Thanks for ya swift reply i will have to nip down to cab and see what they can do for me

mspig

British Gas also have a fund that will pay for people in very bad debt and can't get out to go bankrupt.

Not that i'm advising going bankrupt but it may help someone out there.

mitchaa

Is child benefit not supposed to cover costs of school clothes? If not, what is the child benefit spent on?

As a single parent that i presume is on income support, you already get a whole lot of generous benefits, why the need for more??

Everyone is feeling the credit crunch but im shocked that people require more help than they are already generously given in my opinion.

I say generously as i would presume you live rent and council tax free and get a whole lot of child related income, prescriptions, free school meals and you even get some income for yourself (to pay the bills) as in income support.

Some people just want so much

Sorry to sound negative, but surely better management of your finances would help as many other single mums on IS manage, so the question is, why can't you?

Titch89

mitchaa wrote: »

Is child benefit not supposed to cover costs of school clothes? If not, what is the child benefit spent on?

£19 (or whatever it is now) doesn't go that far on school clothes.:rolleyes:

Is there any reason to be so rude, mtchaa?

SuziQ

I have had a big shock to go from a salary (well 2 salaries-my marriage broke up at the same time) to benefits but I have to agree with mtchaa-I do feel the benefit is so much more generous these days-when my first husband was ill and couldn't work many years ago there was virtually no help back then. The only reason I struggle is due to paying off debt-much of left by my ex,that's a different story! (I know the debt is my responsibility and shouldn't be covered by the benefit system)I have always ensured I saved child benefit for the kids school clothes and particularly the school shoes. As for uniform it can generally be purchased so cheaply these days. I always look out for the 3 for 2 offers that many of the stores do,in fact I got 9 school shirts for my youngest for £6 recently from Tesco-they washed nicely,can be tumble dried (although I tend not to due to cost) I need so many for him as he regulalrly dirties them before we even leave the house in the morning! If you get in early you can generally get a reduction on blazers as well.I only buy 1 of the badged shirts and sweatshirts for my little one-for school photos and special days,the school are fine about that as they appreciate many people don't have the money to pay £9 for a single polo shirt let alone 4-5! It really isn't so bad-cheaper I feel than buying a load of ordinary clothes for daily wear.If the school are really fussy about the uniform then do ask your local authority education dept -where I live you have to be on full CTC and HB ,IS to recieve uniform help,but also priority if on DLA (which I find odd, my youngest has just recieved this and I feel it's a lot of money which should cover extra things like this.)
It is also so much easier once the children are older,in that they are not looking for big name clothes and trainers to keep up with fads-now you are really talking BIG money once they get to that age! I have always had to say to my kids that we only have x amount to spend on trainers or whatever so you have to pick in that price range!

mitchaa

Titch89 wrote: »

£19 (or whatever it is now) doesn't go that far on school clothes.:rolleyes:

Is there any reason to be so rude, mtchaa?

£18.80pw
£12.55pw

£125.40 paid every 4 weeks.

This money is supposed to be used on the child for things such as school uniforms. You can easily get 2 school uniforms for under £125 and this is only 4 weeks sacrafice. CB is still paid for the remainder 48wks of the year on top.

Im not being rude, im just stating what CB is for. Yes its for food and heating etc aswell but wise budgeting as in the 48wks remainder of CB + income from CTC is more than enough.

If some (most) single mothers can budget and do this then i would say the same for the O.P.

I dont think its being rude at all.

SuziQ

Titch89 wrote: »

£19 (or whatever it is now) doesn't go that far on school clothes.:rolleyes:

Is there any reason to be so rude, mtchaa?

When you times it by 4 weeks and more than 1 child it is a very useful amount of money to save for school clothes-they don't need new every month!

sorry I didn't see someone had already addressed this.

[Deleted User]

mitchaa wrote: »

Is child benefit not supposed to cover costs of school clothes? If not, what is the child benefit spent on?

As a single parent that i presume is on income support, you already get a whole lot of generous benefits, why the need for more??

Everyone is feeling the credit crunch but im shocked that people require more help than they are already generously given in my opinion.

I say generously as i would presume you live rent and council tax free and get a whole lot of child related income, prescriptions, free school meals and you even get some income for yourself (to pay the bills) as in income support.

Some people just want so much

Sorry to sound negative, but surely better management of your finances would help as many other single mums on IS manage, so the question is, why can't you?

The OP is looking to find out if she is entitled to anything else. Without having a lot more information there could be bills, debts etc that are crippling her finances.
Again the OP's are not getting a reply based on their request for advice, instead being preached to regarding how to control their finances and how generous the bemefits system is.

Yes we have a generous benefits system that can provide a comfortable level of living, but what if you have existing debts - possibly due to an ex-partner or being daft enough to get in to a load of debt at christmas to buy nice presents for the kids or one of many other reasons?

OP, go to your local CAB for some advice or come back on a bit later today as there are one or two CAB advisers who come on to the board after work.

mspig

We don't have benefits and hubby works but were struggling to pay for sons new high school things, his compulsory P.E kit with rugby shirt, football shirt, shorts with school logo, socks with school logo, polo neck p.e top with school logo, and black tracksuit with logo is costing us £130.00. Then we have the football and rugby boots he has to have aswell as the trainers with none marking soles, as well as all the uniform which all has to have the logo when i added it all up it will cost us just over £370.00 including bag etc.

Then when he starts school he has to take £15.00 for a locker, then £50.00 for a deposit for a school trip(letter states money has to be in on the first day of school, and £30.00 for the school fund.

So i'm not sure even if a single parent was brilliant at their finances that they could find that sort of money, school uniform isn't cheap not at high school level, primary schools not that bad.

Also just because some people are on benefits there is no need to talk down to them, everyone is human no matter of their financial status.