My savings (balanced by 0% CCdebts) and partner's benefits...

absfabs

mcc28_x wrote: »

If you don't have kids need to be doing minimum of 30hrs per week to claim.

Close. Contracted to do 28 but often do 30. Can't physically do more than 30. If I aim for the 30 hours, is there a ceiling income wise? I.e. if I earn over a certain amount, is it pointless to try?

Do they go by current hours and income or previous tax year?

I assume I would claim this, not partner?

Thanks for your help!

cw18

they normally base it on last years, and then when you supply this years data after the end of the year they work out what you should have had. but you can give them estimates of this years data any time you like, and they will then calculate based on that rather than last years.

yes there is a 'ceiling' at which point you wouldn't qualify for anything, but don't know what that is.

But I suspect (would recommend you phone to check) that they'll work on contracted hours

absfabs

Last year was fewer hours, 24 only. So no hope for now, worth keeping in mind for April, though.

Don't want to increase contract hours as it would be too much of a struggle permanently, had hoped to decrease my hours again next year.

Will keep all this in mind for when I can think straight again. Thank you.

calleyw

cw18 wrote: »

t

yes there is a 'ceiling' at which point you wouldn't qualify for anything, but don't know what that is.

For a couple with no children the limit for WTC is £17200


Yours

Calley

mcc28_x

absfabs wrote: »

Close. Contracted to do 28 but often do 30. Can't physically do more than 30. If I aim for the 30 hours, is there a ceiling income wise? I.e. if I earn over a certain amount, is it pointless to try?

Do they go by current hours and income or previous tax year?

I assume I would claim this, not partner?

Thanks for your help!

They will go on the number of hours you tell them you work. So if your current average is 30 tell them 30. If it consistently drops below this tell them so, You would need to ask for WTC to be based on Current Years Earnings, but remember we are 6 months in so between yourself and partner you may have exceeded the threshold.

If you do apply and do not qualify they will at least review your claim every year.

Mark

~Chameleon~

Just a thought, but wouldn't a couple on means tested benefits be allowed to have savings of £6K EACH before deductions were made?

~Chameleon~

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

The benefit system was never designed so that people could borrow money and then save it.

That's discrimination!

cw18

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Just a thought, but wouldn't a couple on means tested benefits be allowed to have savings of £6K EACH before deductions were made?

nope! that £6k is already the higher couples rate......

tightperson

I found myself in a similar position 9 months ago. Due to health problems I suddenly found myself unable to work, my wife can't work due to a disability. I tried to claim IS etc and like you I've been a CC tart for a long time. My circumstances were Curr Acc minus £4000 overdrawn, savings £0, borrowed credit card money £10,000 in a high interest account. Therefore my overall debt was £14,000. IS said overdrawn amounts don't count, they took it as a zero balance, the borrowed money of £10,000 they took as savings or capital available to us so for every £250 from £6,000 to £10,000 they added tarriff income and we didn't qualify by 79p. I paid one card off and explained in a letter at length that it was borrowed money not savings and re-aplied. The result was I had deprived us of capital we could have used to live on and still ddn't qualify. They said they would only allow us to pay off the credit cards off at the minimum monthly payment unless we had a red letter from a CC company or someone else with a formal demand for full or part payment.

I then ended up going down the WTC route as I was employed but sick and managed to claim that until my 28 weeks SSP ran out in Sept.

I took IS to tribunal about their decision. I went down three avenues,
1) borrowed money was not savings. I lost, they said still money available to us & can't deprive ourselves.
2) They hadn't taken my pension payments into consideration, 50% should be offset aganst income, I won that.
3) Each child is allowed to have up to £3000 of savings which can't be taken into account. I said some of the money was my childrens, I won that.

Now my WTC has come to an end, we have had to claim IS again, we still have £8000 of CC borrowed money. We now qauilfy for IS but if I pay either CC off IS will still count us as having £8000. We can only reduce this amount by sensible living eating it away and by making the CC minimum monthly payments.

Being a credit card tart has screwed us up big time as far as claiming benefits goes. If I had known I was going to be unable to work due to illness I would have paid them off 1st, I expected IS to take all the +'s and -'s to come up with our overall financial position. I showed them my huge overdraft and both CC statements but it made no difference.

9 months on we are just getting in more & more debt. The only thing I have been able to do is pretend I'm still working get another 0% card for another 12 months to pay one of the others off as that ends shortly. IS told me that the only way I could pay my debts off was to refinance them, ie get another CC to pay another off as long as the money went straight from their account to the other CC account without me actually receiving it. If I receive it even for a day they would then class us as having extra capital available. They also said if I re-mortgaged the house to pay off debts we have, any money would have to go directly from the lender to our debtors and not come via us first otherwise again they would class us as having additional income.

I am still unable to work and were it will all end for us I don't know. Like another said the benefits system was not designed to allow for CC tarts.

healy

I am not having a go but I hope you realise that getting a card by pretending you are still working could be classed as fraud and deception.