Advice on Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) please

pontdugard

Hi,

According to the "entitled to" website I should be able to claim:

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)

if I work 15 or less hours a week even if the income this generates is over £100 a week.

However the DWP appear to think that if I earn over £60.50 plus £5 disregard this disqualifies me from claiming Income Support and therefore SMI.

Who is right ?

Does anyone know what the thresholds are for SMI.

I am currently seperated from my spouse with shared childcare of a toddler and anticipate working around 12 hours a week. The mortgage is in joint names but I am receiving no contribution from the spouse towards it.

Very close to bankruptcy as things stand so ...

Any help with this would be very much appreciated.

[Deleted User]

ISMI or income support mortgage interest,will only be paid if you get income support,and only after 13 weeks on I/S (used to be 39)
If you are having problems paying your mortgage you need to contact your lender NOW and see if they will offer any help,e.g. interest only for a period

pontdugard

Thank you for the quick response.

The mortgage has is already interest only with no arrears or defaults, yet, and has come down substantially on a tracker.

I think I may be able to survive 13 weeks if I know that SMI is on its way.

Last agency job only lasted 8 weeks so there might be a slim possibility that the previous (brief) claim could be linked in which case I think I may be eligible for actual SMI within a week or two.

Need to decide very quickly on a couple of part time job possibilities to juggle round childcare etc but the decision is complicated, a lot, by the uncertainty over SMI eligibility

pontdugard

Still not been able to find any decent info on this anywhere.

The internet links to fairly recent government leaflets on SMI all seem to no longer work.

Meanwhile the DWP/ Jobcentreplus, CAB, Benefit advice centres etc also have no details.

It all seems a bit strange especially as the changes to the guidelines and eligibility criteria were supposed to have been in place for a few weeks now, since 5 January.

Has anyone here actually successfully applied for SMI recently, whilst working ?

Ocean007

Here are a few links to up-to-date info on SMI...

This is a quick guide from Shelter
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/paying_for_a_home/help_to_pay_mortgage_interest

This is a much more detailed pdf report from the DWP about SMI - what it aims to do and who is eligible.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/resourcecentre/mortgage-interest-changes.pdf

And the DWP news page with recent info in brief
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/news/

pontdugard

Many thanks.

There does seem to be a bit more info now starting to appear, mainly in the last few days.

Had not seen this one before and is pretty comprehensive if anyone else is looking for similar:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/resourcecentre...st-changes.pdf

karen1030

I was claiming smi before my husband came home after being seperated can someone tell me he has come home due to ill health, so has had to sign on to esa i have had to go on his claim due to my lone income support ending does this mean he will be entiled to the new rate of 200 grand on a mortage has they have paid it from febuary from his esa.Hope someone can advise who already nows because we are at risk of repossseion in a few weeks and need serious help.

[Deleted User]

karen1030 wrote: »

I was claiming smi before my husband came home after being seperated can someone tell me he has come home due to ill health, so has had to sign on to esa i have had to go on his claim due to my lone income support ending does this mean he will be entiled to the new rate of 200 grand on a mortage has they have paid it from febuary from his esa.Hope someone can advise who already nows because we are at risk of repossseion in a few weeks and need serious help.

If you are so close to repossession then you need professional advice and fast,i doubt that anything ismi can do in a short period will save you from this,however there are other new schemes that might be avaliable.

99belgary

You will not be able to get a SMI mortgage on a property that you already live in. One of the clauses within the SMI criteria is that you have to be moving to a property that is more suited to your needs than your current one. You cannot buy/get an SMI mortgage for a property that you already live in.

dmg24

** Before anyone takes the time to reply to the OP - this thread is from 2009! **

I am not sure that I understand 99belgary's post?