Benefits for family - child off to uni

calleyw

So are not getting any help with rent or council tax?

As well as free prescriptions for being on such a low income?

You say you get DLA but you do know that you can work and get DLA.

Why if you husband can't work is he not claiming DLA?

The government belives that after rent and council tax has been paid that the couple should be able to live on a £102 ish week. And you have £684 a month which I assume is after rent and council.

Your son is going to have to contribute to household. Why don't you think he should. And I know no matter how I say this it is going to sound rude. Why did not plan ahead for this day. You must have know that you would loose CB and CTC once he went to uni.

Sorry for so many questions and you don't have to answer them. But it would help to know.

Also you don't say if you have debts. if you do get over to the debt free board and do statement of affairs (SOA) and they can really help see the wood from the trees. Even if you don't have debts still pop over and do a SOA. They can still help.

Yours


Calley

bestpud

silverchair wrote: »

I'd look at the board about "up your income". Maybe you can do surveys, sell things on ebay. Im not sure of your circumstance, but can you get a saturday job or something with a few hours a week (cleaning early morning so you have the resy of the day free). What about growing your own veg. Look at your shopping is there anything that you can cut out or buy basic range? Are you bulk cooking?

I dont want to sound mean, but not all students have an easy time. Depending on the degree some are 9-5, with regular assignments/essays/lab reports set. If he's doing one of these degrees its going to be really stressful anyway without having to worry about enough money to buy books & then the hours spent on paid work.

I worked throughout uni, summer hols, weekends, evenings etc (& doing the heavy degree 9-5 course) as I knew my mum couldnt help me out moneywise. However, thinking back on it I really wish I hadnt had to have an extra job as I think it did probably affect my grades.

If you are able to earn any extra money without putting any extra pressure on him I'd suggest doing that.

Please tell me you are joking?

You think the parent should go out to work (whether they should be anyway is another debate entirely) while the son lives rent free with £100 a week in his pocket?

How about the son pay them money towards his keep as he'd be forced to pay rent etc from that money if he wasn't at home?

Let's face it, if he's working that hard, he won't be spending it on nights out will he?

7roland8

Thanks for your replies.

Firstly - son missed four yrs of school through illness - so while he is now able to study, working would be too much - and we understand this and are delighted he has made the recovery he has..

Secondly he does know the situations and is willing to contribute to food etc - it just seems unfair if this money which is designed for his books transport etc is perhaps going to be used by the benefit offices as 'family income'.

My husband had to retire early through ill heath caused by an accident at work and I've been ill for yrs - so unfortunately neither of us in position to work

To the other comment that we should have planned - suppose we should - but before leaving home we had helped eldest son through uni - plus we have to have cars as we live out in country with no transport - not always keeping within budget with repairs etc so unfortunately no savings. Even 'earning' families find this time difficult, and we had eldest training till he was about 23, and while he also racked up loans - mum and dad also helped where we could.

We do get some assistance with council tax and I'm getting back to them now with additional info to see what happens.

Regarding what son is getting - there is a student loan of £3000 something to cover tuition fees (to eventually be repaid) - and then this £5000. I was just worried if they count this somehow as household income we might lose even more than the £300 a week, and be much worse off.

Duncombe

It won't be a £5000 grant as you mentioned - part of it will be a grant, and the other part a loan.

£5000 is a ridiculous amount of money to give to a student who will be living at home anyway. Charge him rent - there is no way he could possibly spend £5k in a year on books and/or travel. Seriously, he will be a very rich student.

Charge him rent to cover your loss. After all - you're not doing him any favours by letting him live rent free. I presume he has never lived away from home before, so when he does eventually move out he will get a shock if you dont ease him into the 'real world'!

MrsManda

7roland8 wrote: »

it just seems unfair if this money which is designed for his books transport etc

Your son is getting a tuition fee loan PLUS maintanence grant/loans. This money isn't just for books and transport, it's for all living costs - food, rent, books, anything else he chooses to have.
It is shouldn't be counted as household income in terms of your benefits.

In terms of losing Child Tax credits and Child benefit surely you'd be losing these now whether he was going to university or not as your son is 20 years old?
The suggestions of looking at the debt-free wannabe and uping your income boards are good ones. It sounds like you seriously need to sit down with the figures about your income and expenditure and put together a budget which allows you to cope.

Oldernotwiser

Your son's loan/grant income won't affect your benefits but you really need to get over your idea that this money is his to pay just for books, spending and travel. It's main purpose is to pay for rent, food and bills and, although you may not want to charge him rent as such, you really need to be taking at least £60 per week from him for his food and utilities. To put that in perspective, most students pay £80/100 pw in hall fees or rent, as well as buying food on top, so you can see that he'll be getting a very good deal from living at home and have far more money than other students who don't work.

You have also underestimated the amount of funding he will receive which should total at least £5,600, made up of the maintenance loan, maintenance grant and minimum university bursary and, although he may not be able to cope with working during term times, he'll be able to work for the 4/5 months per year vacation periods.

Duncombe

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

It's main purpose is to pay for rent, food and bills and, although you may not want to charge him rent as such, you really need to be taking at least £60 per week from him for his food and utilities. To put that in perspective, most students pay £80/100 pw in hall fees or rent, as well as buying food on top, so you can see that he'll be getting a very good deal from living at home and have far more money than other students who don't work.

Not just students who dont work. £5000 is ALOT more than alot of students get...and they have to fork out for rent (as ONW said, you're looking at a approx £100 a week figure - location dependent obviously), bills and food as well as books, travel and 'fun'.

missbunbury

My rent was £85 a week when I was at uni, and that was seven years ago, and the loan I got was definitely intended to cover that. And whilst I appreciate he has had bad health, once your son leaves uni he is going to have to work a forty hour week same as the rest of us, so assuming his contact hours at uni are around fifteen a week, he could surely work another fifteen hours on top of that, especially in the first year when frankly it's quite an easy ride.

Penny-Pincher!!

Basically you have 2 choices:-

(1)Increase your income
(2)Reduce outgoings

It equates to roughly £75pw that you need to make up which is quite do-able! You are allowed to earn I think £20pw on benefits, so could you not take in a bit of ironing and do it sitting down etc, then charge your son the difference of £50pw keep????

Being ill doesnt mean you cant work. There is always something you can do to bring in a little extra each week.

You also mention "cars"...does that mean plural?.....surely you can get by with one car....wouldnt that cover the loss pretty much??

PP
xx

calleyw

7roland8 wrote: »

My husband had to retire early through ill heath caused by an accident at work and I've been ill for yrs - so unfortunately neither of us in position to work

I know that I am going to sound like a broken a record. Is there a reason why your husband does not claim DLA for himself. If he got middle rate care you might be able to claim carers. Does he not have any care or mobility needs?

Also when everyone is moved over to ESA from IB it is going to be about what you can do rather than what you can't do?

I am not going to ask what your illness are but you can use a computer. So could you not do an small ebay business selling items. Or some sort of basic admin role. Because if you claim DLA and work 16 hours a week you may be able to claim working tax credits.

7roland8 wrote: »

To the other comment that we should have planned - suppose we should - but before leaving home we had helped eldest son through uni - plus we have to have cars as we live out in country with no transport - not always keeping within budget with repairs etc so unfortunately no savings. Even 'earning' families find this time difficult, and we had eldest training till he was about 23, and while he also racked up loans - mum and dad also helped where we could.

I know you wanted to do the right thing. But you can't afford to be that generous on such a low income.

7roland8 wrote: »

We do get some assistance with council tax and I'm getting back to them now with additional info to see what happens.

Do you not pay any rent?

I know you think I am being a bit hard. But I understand what is like to have a disabled person in the house. My husband became disabled after a stroke 4 years ago. And our income more than halved over night. I do a job that is not very stable due to the needs of my husbands and his appointments.

And my husband is desperate to get back to work and that is with non-functioning left hand a chunk the size of a tennis ball dead in his head.

All the best.

Yours

Calley