Benefits for family - child off to uni

7roland8

Thanks Calley - have been ready some of them - could be on all day!
Anyhow have been streamlining - went through stuff today and combined house and contents insurance - now saving £13 a month with Tesco - should have done it ages ago but you all know how it is!

Regards

Jules

Using the figures you have given I did some quick calculations. I have presumed that you are in receipt of high rate mobility DLA only from the figure given, please advise if this is not the case.

Your husband could make a claim for Income Support as he is on Incapacity Benefit. Income support includes a disability premium (unlike ESA) and there is a small entilement to IS as a result. If however the figures given are different, again advise and I'll recalc.

He should make a claim for DLA. As he is unwell he may be entitled to this additional benefit, which can be claimed whether working or not.

I know the rules have changed but from what I have read as your husband is an exisiting IB claimaint then the Income Support route is still open to him - see dot 3 below:

Income Support (IS) and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA)

Note - from October 2008 Income Support for new claims on incapacity grounds was replaced by Employment and Support Allowance. Claims for IS on incapacity grounds made after 27 October 2008 can only be made in certain circumstances:

• linking rules apply (same as for Incapacity Benefit, see above); or
• as a top up to Statutory Sick Pay; or
• where a person was entitled to Incapacity Benefit before 27/10/08 and become entitled to IS after that date.

HTH
J

7roland8

Thanks Jules - will look into that.
As you can see althoguh we've been on benefits a few yrs are still 'novices'! I was ages before I thoguht of trying for DLA.

Hammyman

Seriously charge your child some board. Not only will it help you out but it'll go towards teaching them that living as an adult costs money. £40 or £50 a week is not unreasonable and far far cheaper than if they were living away from home.

JC9297

As far as the state is concerned you no longer have any dependants,so you don't need extra money for them. If your son was going away to university your outgoings would be reduced and your son would pay his rent etc. out of his grant (and would be left with very little to play with). He is choosing to live in your house so the money he gets to cover his rent etc. needs to be paid to you. Your financial situation (like that of many others) means that he can't live with his parents for free, you all need to accept this. After all it is only because of his parents' low income that he will receive such a large amount because it is accepted that they are not able to support him. Lots of young people end up being worse off than your son because they have parents on higher incomes so they don't receive the grants and then the parents don't make up the difference.

Oldernotwiser

Quite honestly, if the OP wants to live in poverty whilst her son lives the life of riley with £100 per week pocket money, I can only say, more fool her!

7roland8

Seemed to have touched a raw nerve here!
I never said we wouldn't be charging him keep - he knows he'll be contributing towards food etc.
I just wanted to get the position straight in my own mind.
As I said - although we've been on benefits a while I've never been that clued up on them!

Also as son missed all secondary school and any sort of social life I suppose we are just happy for him to be able to go out and do things like others now - though not forcing him to take on work or do more than he feels able. So our position is a bit different to what it might have been.

We were just delighted he caught up at college - got awarded AS level prize at local cathedral and now had A and A* A levels - and no amount of money (or lack of it) really matters compared to that.