5 minute benefit check up Article Discussion Area

tjdj

this is my first time so hi to everyone
i have been on the benefit check up and it says i would be entitled to school
meals i have four children 3 at school 1 at collage he gets EMA.
i get working tax credit my wife works part time and gets child tax credit
i rang to enquire about free school meals but they say you can only be on child tax credits only NOT child and working tax credit.
why is this, our income is only about £12000 joint thats including credits
i have to pay full council tax and my mortgage.
thanks
TJ

bizzi

Am fast losing faith in the whole ctc/wtc chaos. Because I am told I only gave an estimated income for 2004/2005 (though I completed correctly online AND confirmed by phone) they overpaid my husband & I by over £700! Within a month of this bombshell another dropped through the door informing me that because my husband failed to give them his P60 details for the 2005/2006 period (we separated) we now have to pay back a further £1000+!! & if he won't pay, I am liable!! A week ago I asked for a form to contest this,it has not yet arrived. I am actually too afraid to apply for either of these benefits again. I'm only earning £12500 pa & don't know how I'm going to repay this. It's scandalous. Is it legal? The banks have done it, the council have done it, are the tax office doing it to us too?

Happy_Bunny_6

debbycatz wrote:

It seems that in my circumstances (working full-time and earning 12,000 a year with one 'child' of 17 who is not working or in education (a whole other story) I am entitled to £0 but if I had no child and earnt £11,500 I would get £225 a month in working tax credit.

It is indeed crazy !

You have my sympathy for what it is worth, I am in exactly the same boat.

Six months ago I had a joint income of £33,000 and received

Child Benefit

Childrens Tax credit

Now, I have a Gross income of £12.500 and my daughter has left school, but isn't working

I can't claim anything, there doesn't seem much sense in it

jowmonty

Hi wonder if anyone can help me. I've just done the benefits calculator and it tells me I'm not entitled to anything. I don't pay mortgage or rent but this will all change as I'm going through a divorce at the moment to sort out what I am going to pay. At the moment I get 290 CTC (4 Weekly) 116.60 CB (4 Weekly) 48 weekly wage and 300 a month maintenance. I get Council Tax Benefit. I have 3 dependants, the problem I have is with the oldest who is 17 and who has Aspergers, he is looking for work with the disabilities team at the jobcentre but has no money coming in to support him (no CTC for him or CB). At the moment all he gets is Mobility at 16.50 a week we are still waiting for claim on Incapacity and Income support. So is it right that we are entitled to nothing and the calculator worked out that my yearly income was £7,938.94 and that the 4 of us can live on £152.25 a week to cover everything??? I don't drink or smoke or have sky or go out what else can I cut back on to pay for essentials they need (shoes and clothes)? Any advice welcome.

sarahe

Hello
I must say well done to the entitled website people - it is really simple and easy to use - I just wish ctc people could work things out as simply as this. Our ctc were so messed up a financial ombudsman had to sort it out. There was a glitch on our file apparently and although ours was a simple and straightforward case - it ended up generating hundreds of forms eventhough we only altered our figures a couple of times. Anway they ended up overpaying us and for the last 2 years we have had nothing. We still owe nearly £2000. We couldn't tell if it's right or wrong as everything is so confusing.
So entitledto people how accurate are your figures? Because our overpayment was apparently nearly £4000 and according to your site this year we should have got over that.
I rarely check the bits of paper now - as ,it's sad I know but, the whole thing made me very ill - as they seemed to imply it was our fault. The letter fromthe director apologising didn't make me feel better either - neither did the £120 compensation!

Wicked_witch

If you have any comments on the calculator we would really like to hear from you. Please email us or leave a posting.

The only problem I had was that I couldn't find anywhere to put the figure for my student loan/grant. I know some of it is discounted by housing benefit but not how much. I ended up putting the amount into the 'other income' field for me and saying that we are supporting a student with LA grant, but i don't know if that would give a correct final figure.

woolysheep

Hi, my partner retired , aged 65 in February, He has a pension of £98,89
p.w. and I earn £14,843 p.a. Our rent is £68.98 p.w. we have no dependants
(except the 2 cats) and no other income. I am 57 am I entitled to an over 50 tax credits.
Entitledto was very good and quick but is it accurate when it says we're entitled to £13.37
pw

WOOLY:

woolysheep

HI, Anyone out there can give poor wooly an answer. Is the calculator exact?

lisaconor

entitledto wrote: »

If you have any comments on the calculator we would really like to hear from you. Please email us or leave a posting.

Hi,can anyone explain to me why single mums get a really rough time benifit wise,when most of the time they dont choose to be single mums and how come my friend who earns just £150 less than me a month but lives with her parents so no rent or council tax to pay,gets £150 a WEEK more than myself and she has just one child extra to me.

shameless-about-money

woolysheep wrote: »

Hi, my partner retired , aged 65 in February, He has a pension of £98,89
p.w. and I earn £14,843 p.a. Our rent is £68.98 p.w. we have no dependants
(except the 2 cats) and no other income. I am 57 am I entitled to an over 50 tax credits.
Entitledto was very good and quick but is it accurate when it says we're entitled to £13.37
pw

WOOLY:

When entitledto.co.uk told me I was due WTC I applied and got the WTC allowance to the penny! So, for me it was very accurate - hope it is for you too.