Refused free school dinners

OrkneyStar

welshmoneylover wrote: »

If you claim wtc you cannot claim free school meals however low your income is.

There was a thread a while back with a pilot scheme in some areas of Scotland...where I was informed you can get WTC and free dinners in certain areas! Will find the linky! Here it is! Likely won't help OP but makes the situation even more confusing imho!

simonrudd wrote: »

sadly i've been doing this for a few years now but still am not earning a lot of money - i write and do art for books and magazines but its a hard business to break into.

Is there any help- eg with business plans, new ideas etc that you could look into ? Otherwise I really think you need to get some extra work as well, as the business is not making enough for you to live is it ?

simonrudd

no i whole heartedly agree - trouble is work is hard to find - i spent 4 years on the dole after the last company i worked for went belly up. Self employment was the best way out of that situation - even though you get less benefits than you do being unemployed eg free school dinners.

DX2

simonrudd wrote: »

its really not fair - the woman next door earns a hell of a lot more than me and gets free school dinners. i was told i had to work more than 30 hours a week to qualify for tax credits. i'd be a lot better of just signing on - not that i ever want to do that again.

Simon you need to apply for tax credits asap whoever told you about the 30 hour rule was a muppet, you have a child it's 16 hours per week.

OrkneyStar

simonrudd wrote: »

no i whole heartedly agree - trouble is work is hard to find - i spent 4 years on the dole after the last company i worked for went belly up. Self employment was the best way out of that situation - even though you get less benefits than you do being unemployed eg free school dinners.

Stacking shelves etc in Asda ? Serving burgers in McD's ?

welshmoneylover

Even Asda are cutting back on staff as sales are down at the moment.

simonrudd

DX2 wrote: »

Simon you need to apply for tax credits asap whoever told you about the 30 hour rule was a muppet, you have a child it's 16 hours per week.

hiya, i do get both working and child tax credits

OrkneyStar - been there tried that. I some times think i should just go back into IT.

OrkneyStar

simonrudd wrote: »

hiya, i do get both working and child tax credits

OrkneyStar - been there tried that. I some times think i should just go back into IT.

Perhaps you should if you could get even part time work ? Still keep the business idea going though, don't kill your ambition, just let it simmer instead of boil for now ?

simonrudd

i think i need to be more pushy and try and sell more stuff, trouble is i worked very hard to get my degree just to find there were no jobs which sucks!

just found out my neighbour who works for an employer who gets both working and child tax credits gets free school dinners

daska

Do you actually work 16 hours or more?

If you worked less than 16 hours you'd no longer get WTC. How much would you lose in WTC and how much would you gain in other benefits?

simonrudd

i'm always working (writing tutorials / digital art / painting ) i just don't sell a lot. without WTC i'd be down about £80 a week.