Ok my mom needs help desperately....

CDaniels1987

she's had a lot of problem in the last 5 years after she split with my dad, she lost tons of confidence, didn't have a job and had to go into a hostel, she now has a council flat, and has a job, but her hours have now been knocked down to 16 hours a week for the time being, she says she went down to the CAB who said she'd still have to pay £45 a week rent (her full rent is £60) and £35 a month Council tax, the council tax sounds right but i think she may have heard wrong with the rent, i think it might be a month not a week, because when she first moved in here i was moving in with her and worked 24 hours a week and was told id have to pay £60ish a month.

am i right that its more than likely £45 a month not a week? because if its a week she'll only have £10 a week spare which doesn't even cover her bus fare to get to work, she's getting really down about it and even considering giving her job up.

thanks in advance.

LindsayO

sorry I don't have any direct answers for you and your mum, but you might get more helps if you post on the benefits board

T800

Welcome to the harsh reality of working part time. It is correct that she will be better off by £10. Im guessing this is because she is a lone parent. It is called an "income disregard".

What happens is that you are allowed to keep the first £10 of money that she earns with an employer. The rest is taken into account for council tax and housing benefit.

november

There isn't enough information to answer the question. Plus I'm not sure if you mean she will only have £10 a week literally (for bills, food etc) or that she will have £10 a week 'leftover' for fares.

Try a housing benefit calculator for an estimate of how much housing benefit she will be paying. Here's Gloucester city council's http://www.gloucester.gov.uk/externalapps/benefitscalculator/spring10/wbc-xpSp10.htm

november

There isn't enough information to answer the question. Plus I'm not sure if you mean she will only have £10 a week literally (for bills, food etc) or that she will have £10 a week 'leftover' for fares.

Try a housing benefit calculator for an estimate of how much housing benefit she will be paying. Here's Gloucester city council's http://www.gloucester.gov.uk/externalapps/benefitscalculator/spring10/wbc-xpSp10.htm