totally baffled by benefits

dizzyblonde09

please help I am new to benefits and have looked at so many web sites my head is spinning. I posted this on another thread an have been advosed to ask it here.

Me and OH have spilt, I am trying to look at the practicalities (probably to avoid feeling devestated). Im trying to understand how much money we will have to pay the bills every month.

I have checked CSA site and it says he is due to pay £360 per month maintenance.

I have also use entitledto.com and their figures are

tax credits 90.58
jsa/IS 72.28
maint 90.00
total 252.86 pw

can people please confirm or not that my figures are correct?

I have a couple more questions

1 - Am I entitled to IS even when I will get 90pw maint?

2 - I have read on here someone who's ex pays the mortgage direct so it isnt classed as income and therefore her benefits are more. Is this true?

3 - mortgage is in my sole name so would this affect any payments ref Question2?

4 - My ex has a loan of 400pm to pay from his account, would this be taken into account when calculating his maintenance payments and would he pay reduced payments because of this? I read this on the CSA website somewhere.

5 - can we do this without involving CSA (have a private arrangement) even though I will have to claim some benefits (dont want to antagonise him cos he'll then get difficult:o ).

Just wanted to add that I am not trying to avoid their father paying but just want to try and sort things while still amicable to avoid conflict. I am so confused with what I've read.

any advice is much appreciated

Thanks

tamsin1982

dizzyblonde09 wrote: »

please help I am new to benefits and have looked at so many web sites my head is spinning. I posted this on another thread an have been advosed to ask it here.

Me and OH have spilt, I am trying to look at the practicalities (probably to avoid feeling devestated). Im trying to understand how much money we will have to pay the bills every month.

I have checked CSA site and it says he is due to pay £360 per month maintenance.

I have also use entitledto.com and their figures are

tax credits 90.58
jsa/IS 72.28
maint 90.00
total 252.86 pw

can people please confirm or not that my figures are correct?

I have a couple more questions

1 - Am I entitled to IS even when I will get 90pw maint? no as you can onlh have £20 extra per week from maintainence

2 - I have read on here someone who's ex pays the mortgage direct so it isnt classed as income and therefore her benefits are more. Is this true?

3 - mortgage is in my sole name so would this affect any payments ref Question2?

4 - My ex has a loan of 400pm to pay from his account, would this be taken into account when calculating his maintenance payments and would he pay reduced payments because of this? I read this on the CSA website somewhere. depends what the loan was taken for

5 - can we do this without involving CSA (have a private arrangement) even though I will have to claim some benefits (dont want to antagonise him cos he'll then get difficult:o ). yes you can have a private arrangement but will only be able to benefit by £20 per week, anything more will be deducted from your benefit.

Just wanted to add that I am not trying to avoid their father paying but just want to try and sort things while still amicable to avoid conflict. I am so confused with what I've read.

any advice is much appreciated

Thanks

sorry cant help with any of your other questions

dizzyblonde09

Thanks for that

Ok I understand now that I only am allowed 20 of maintenance if I claim IS. So if I dont claim IS will it affect Ch tax credits? Will I lose that too?

Will I get any help with council tax etc?

Also I have just found out that as my youngest is 12 ina few days then things are different again.

How do I stand then and what would people recommend as the best route to go through.

As I said beforethis is like wading through treacle for me lol

ps the loan was for home improvements and to pay off an old loan in my name if this makes a difference.

thanks

alwaysonthego_2

You will not be able to claim IS if your children are over 12 years old, you will have to claim IBJSA.

kelloggs36

Maintenance is not counted for tax credit purposes, so you keep it all. In the near future, I understand that all monies paid via maintenance will be able to be retained even if on benefits, and all benefits also retained - not a good idea for scrupulous PWCs though!!!

DeeDee74

well i claim IS and since it has been changed that csa pay the parent direct thay look at what money u are payed. every week.
csa pay...
eg... £40 from absent parent...

Income Support...
DONT COUNT THE FIRST £20.
so thay look at it you get £20 per week this is then topped up to the normal weekly IS payment..
so income support would pay £50 odd pounds.

csa then pay u what thay collect every month.




dee x

dizzyblonde09

Thanks for the information.

SO it looks like if I was to claim it would be JSA & Tax credits.

The money they would take of JSA would cancel out maint payments of 90pw so there is little point really. Can I still claim Tax credits if Im not claiming JSA? Would I still get help with council tax?

God I hope I get a job soon lol

DeeDee74

i'd say if you got 90 of nrp you wouldnt get jsa but im sure you would still get help with council tax or rent if u didnt have enough income.
id go see them at job centre anyway as thay can hurry along tc which u would get weather you claim jsa or not.
good luck dee x

mitchaa

Will he be getting the kids at the weekends? Does he have any other children?

If so, you will not get the full 20% entitlement. I take it his monthly take home after taxation and pension contributions is £1800pm for you to claim £360 of it?

I would personally steer clear of the CSA and try a private arrangement.