5 minute benefit check up Article Discussion Area

Former_MSE_Archna

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5 minute benefit check up Article

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entitledto

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Peter-Pan_5

well I did it we get nothing I am 61 my wife is 58 not working,I am on higher

rate IB £223 fortnightly

we pay full council tax and full rent to the council,we have

savings over £16,000.this means testing is not fair,or is there a way round

it,putting our money under the mattress?!

kfn1502

I think the ceiling for claiming child tax credits / working tax credits is £58,000 (joint income, couple with kids), not £66,000 as shown in this article. £58,000 seems to the be the figure that's used by the Inland Revenue on their website calculator. Also, if you put in an income of up to £66,000 in the entitledto.com calculator, you end up with zero in entitlements.

I know this might seem picky, but the figure doesn't seem right.

RachelD

One of the less well known bits of the DWP, Pension Service is Pensions Local Service. In some areas they are housed in DWP premises and in some they are located separately. In some counties work jointly with staff paid by the Local Authority.

They all have visiting officers whose job it is to help you claim benefits. They will visit your home and fill in forms -know about all sorts of benefits and complementary services and best of all they know the 'tricks of the trade'.
For example you might be a couple where one acts as a carer for the other who gets Attendance Allowance. You might not consider claiming Carer's Allowance as it doesn't get paid if you get State Retirement pension. But it is worth claiming CA if you also get Pension Credit as it entitles you to an additional amount of Carer's premium on the Pension Credit.

So if you know of a person over 60 who might be entitled to something and who wants someone to visit and do a full benefit check, get them to ring their local DWP office and ask for the number for the Pensions Local Service team or ring the nearest Pension Centre and ask for a referral to the Local Service 0845 6060265.

Some areas may not be able to offer an immediate appointment.

MSE_Martin

I think the ceiling for claiming child tax credits / working tax credits is £58,000 (joint income, couple with kids), not £66,000 as shown in this article. £58,000 seems to the be the figure that's used by the Inland Revenue on their website calculator. Also, if you put in an income of up to £66,000 in the entitledto.com calculator, you end up with zero in entitlements.

I know this might seem picky, but the figure doesn't seem right.

The original figure I wrote in was just that £59,000. Yet actually if you have a baby in the first year of its life, then there are benefits available up to £66,000 in certain circumstances. I took the decision that it was better to go with £66,000 so that some people would check who weren't eligible, than a few people who earned over £59k wouldn't check when they could get.

Martin

seven-day-weekend

:eek: £66000 and you can get benefits?????

I live in Spain, so I know we can't claim most things, but I did the 'entitled to' thingy on our £9400 income as if we lived in the UK and we are entitled to NOTHING!!

Children don't cost that much more.

seven-day-weekend

Just to clarify, we live on my husband's teachers pension and Incapacity Benefit.

Like poster #3 we have savings.

* making room in the mattress*

Chrysalis

so 9400 entitles to people without children to nothing and 50000 if you have children you get benefit? seems a bit whacked.

seven-day-weekend

Chrysalis wrote:

so 9400 entitles to people without children to nothing and 50000 if you have children you get benefit? seems a bit whacked.

Crazy!

seven-day-weekend

Then again, I suppose it was our choice to take early retirement (although not quite, there is no way my husband could have continued teaching).

If we were in the UK, I'd just have to go to work again.

I still don't think it costs £50k more to bring up children, sorry.