help/advice desperately needed (income support)

Deepmistrust

mummyof5 wrote: »

thankyou , i feel that people are going to judge me as exactly that , a huge reason why i continue getting in debt to get to work each day . stupid i know , but i am such a proud person and have worked hard to get into work in the first place .
thanks for your encouraging words ,it means so much xx

Pride sucks, and it comes before a fall

Who cares what some stuck up folk think, you know who matters to you, and it ain't them.

[Deleted User]

thanks everyone you've all been really helpful (and kind )

i'm going to try and get some sleep and will pop back tomorrow after work x

lilypea

Hi

It sounds like you might get Income Support, but the best thing to do would be to call your local job centre/Job Centre Plus and ask them the question. They could also advise you if you are entitled to any other benefits. They also have Lone Parent Advisors who can calculate if you will be financially better off working or not taking into account various different entitlements and childcare costs etc. If you are internet savvy there are some links and calculators on the Money, Tax and Benefits section of the Direct.gov website which may give you an idea of what you are entitled to.

You didn't mention if you are claiming/receiving Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. As you are working at least 16hours per week you should be entitled to something. Obviously I don't know your exact circumstances but I suspect financially you may still be better off working and getting Tax Credits than stoppng and going onto Income Support. However, if you just feel its all too much to juggle for the moment and Income Support is an option, then for the sake of your own health and wellbeing, maybe taking a year out until your youngest child is seven may be what you need to do just now. It really doesn't matter what others think, they aren't in your shoes.

Jowo_2

What's the difference between the rent on the property and the LHA you receive - i.e. how much of a top up is required from your benefits if the rent is higher than the LHA rate?

bestpud

Have you considered childminding?

divastrop

I don't know if this is useful or not but my local council have a discretionary housing payments scheme whereby you can claim help with your rent if it isn't covered by LHA. It could be worth looking into whether yours does similar, just while you are deciding what to do for the best. I also want to say well done for working so hard for your family and getting out of an abusive relationship, I know how difficult it is. I have 5 children as well and my son who is almost 7 has ADHD.

dktreesea

If your son is entitled to DLA, then why shouldn't you claim it? It may improve your WTC claim, to have a disabled child whom you care for. When you work and pay tax, then a "benefit" is a tax break. I don't see the point of depriving yourself of something that you could be entitled to and help you clearly need.

There's people in Britain who earn £90K a year and still claim child benefit. They view it as a tax break, and rightly so, imho. The question about policy that rears its head now and then, as to whether people should receive tax breaks just because they elect to have children, is a different matter. There is probably a myriad of people out there without children, who object to people with children getting tax breaks. But the law is what it is. Why not claim what you are entitled to and make life a bit easier for yourself?

lovetowinacar

mummyof5 wrote: »

sorry to clarify , i meant that although my son has ADHD and causes me a lot extra work , i didn't think it was bad enough to claim dla , which is after all DISABILITY living allowance .
i'm not being a martyr , i just assumed it didn't apply to us x

The DLA is based on his extra care needs (and if he has them extra mobility needs) than children of the same age. Does he need help washing for example, or help with other tasks that other children of the same age don't? ADHA is a spectrum and some are mildly affected and others more severely affected it depends on your son's level of care needs:)

sp1987

If you feel your child could qualify for DLA put an application in. Just because other individuals may have more needs than he does it does not mean he should not claim, otherwise only the most disabled would claim and there would not need to be a lower-higher scale.

The thing is, to you your child is just "David" (I didn't want to just say x, lol) but to other people, "David" may have quite complex needs which make him more difficult to care for and thus require more care than say, a brother did at the same age.

I'm sure you have a hard enough task already with all those pattering feet without not applying for extra things designed to make life a little easier for you and him. You should not feel guilty as you would be claiming it for him, not you. As his mother you just get to choose what the money is best spent on until he is old enough to do that for himself.

As someone above said, I would always claim child benefit as I am entitled to as a parent. I would not ''leave it in the pot'' for someone worse off, as nobody gets an extra £20 if I don't claim my son's. If I don't use it for him, he can have it saved up in an account for use later.

I cannot imagine the difficulties that you get being a single parent of one, let alone 4, let alone when one has extra needs. I literally take my hat off to you as it is beyond comprehension to me!

[Deleted User]

Jowo wrote: »

What's the difference between the rent on the property and the LHA you receive - i.e. how much of a top up is required from your benefits if the rent is higher than the LHA rate?

i think i pay about £154 a month myself or thereabouts