I do not qualify for Income Support yet according to their website I do!!

martinb10

Just had a very frustrating phone call with the Income Support department. I am currently on a low income (self employed <3000 a year) and after checking the DirectGov website (Cannot post link as I am a new user but do have a screen dump) happy to see I qualified for Income Support. I downloaded the forms, spent hours filling them in and duly sent them off.

After not hearing anything for 2 weeks I decided to give them a call just to make sure they had received the forms and they told me that a letter had been sent out informing me I did not qualify for income support as I was not a lone parent, on parental or paternity leave, a carer or a refugee learning English who arrived less than a year ago.

I explained to them that their website stated the conditions and that I ticked all the boxes and the guy turned around and said "We are not responsible for what is on that website". I was so shocked to hear such a ridiculous statement, it's not a price that has been misquoted on a website IT'S A GOVERMENT website. Had it stated I needed to have one of those 4 conditions I would NOT HAVE SPENT HOURS FILLING IN THE FORMS.

I really need some advice as to what to do next and if there is anyone I can contact, I don't want anyone else going through this and speaking to people at Income Support who quite frankly didn't care.

nannytone_2

youre not entitled to income support as youre not a single parent or disabled. try working tax credit, seems like you could be eligable for that.

martinb10

nannytone wrote: »

youre not entitled to income support as youre not a single parent or disabled. try working tax credit, seems like you could be eligable for that.

Hi, I understand that but it wasn't my issue, the DirectGov website stated the conditions needed to qualify for Income Support which I did but their attitude of "we aren't responsible for what is on that website" attitude stinks.

nannytone_2

well there you go! lol
if you know what your entitlement is and youre not directly asking a benefits related question, you should post on discussion time.

DX2

Do you have a partner who works?
How many hours per week do you work?

martinb10

Don't have a partner

Usually less than 16 but that could change soon so hopefully can apply for tax credits

Robbie64

If you work under 16 hours then the correct benefit to claim is Jobseekers Allowance.

To qualify for tax credits as a single person you have to be working for an average of 30 hours per week and be aged 25 or over unless you fall into one of the categories where you need to work 16 hours (eg lone parent, disabled).

DX2

martinb10 wrote: »

Don't have a partner

Usually less than 16 but that could change soon so hopefully can apply for tax credits

Can I ask is there a reason as to why you work so little hours?

martinb10

It's a long story but will try and keep it short. Spent 8 years on incapacity benefit but the last few years were spent working from home on low level permitted working. The last year was spent on high level permitted working and at the end of that year I had to make a choice of either coming off IB, continue the permitted work with support or going back to the low level permitted working. As I was earning over the low level threshold I had to sign off. I still work a few hours per week from home and will try to increase that as time goes on. It would seem the only choice is Jobseekers allowance and as I have decided self employment is the only way forward I am unsure how that will work.

alwaysonthego_2

If you are claiming DLA you could claim WTC and work 16 hours.

martinb10

At the moment I am not claiming anything. What happens if you are working over 16 hours a week as JSA states you must be working less than 16 hours.