A CLEAR HEAD needed from an expert on here...calculators give 2 different ammounts??!

DEBTMONKEY1A

Hello all,

Wonder if you can advise. I've tried the Kirklees Housing/Council Tax Benefit calculator & the 'entitled to' calculator-both giving different figures??

My partner is getting really stressed about it all as we need to know what will be coming in (she has had mental health issues).

She starts work next week (she works for the local Education authority-contract runs September-End May-no income in the summer).

At the moment we get Income Support & Housing/Council Tax benefit-calling them when she starts work midweek next week.

Partner gets DLA middle rate care/lower rate mobility. We live together & the rent is in both our names.

Our details (FROM MIDWEEK next week)

Me-not working-in receipt of full Carers Allowence (£53-90/wc)
Partner-Starting work next wk-14 hours a week (which I know rules out any WTC)-take home pay £621 calender month.

Rent-£320 a month.
Council Tax-£975 a year.
Local Housing Allowence-£86.00 a week.

Using the above figures (& I realise they may be out by a couple of quid) the 'entitled to' gives £86-30 a week housing benefit PLUS 99% of all Council Tax paid in benefit but the Kirklees calculator gives approx £34 a week housing benefit & £2-70 a week Council Tax benefit.

Am I missing something here??? How can 2 calculators be so different? Any help would be great!!! Also can we apply for any 'run-on' for the Housing/Coucil tax benefit (don't know what this is as such but I have heard it can be claimed in some circumstances).

Any advide would be a great help!

welshmoneylover

DEBTMONKEY1A wrote: »

Hello all,

Wonder if you can advise. I've tried the Kirklees Housing/Council Tax Benefit calculator & the 'entitled to' calculator-both giving different figures??

My partner is getting really stressed about it all as we need to know what will be coming in (she has had mental health issues).

She starts work next week (she works for the local Education authority-contract runs September-End May-no income in the summer).

At the moment we get Income Support & Housing/Council Tax benefit-calling them when she starts work midweek next week.

Partner gets DLA middle rate care/lower rate mobility. We live together & the rent is in both our names.

Our details (FROM MIDWEEK next week)

Me-not working-in receipt of full Carers Allowence (£53-90/wc)
Partner-Starting work next wk-14 hours a week (which I know rules out any WTC)-take home pay £621 calender month.

Rent-£320 a month.
Council Tax-£975 a year.
Local Housing Allowence-£86.00 a week.

Using the above figures (& I realise they may be out by a couple of quid) the 'entitled to' gives £86-30 a week housing benefit PLUS 99% of all Council Tax paid in benefit but the Kirklees calculator gives approx £34 a week housing benefit & £2-70 a week Council Tax benefit.

Am I missing something here??? How can 2 calculators be so different? Any help would be great!!! Also can we apply for any 'run-on' for the Housing/Coucil tax benefit (don't know what this is as such but I have heard it can be claimed in some circumstances).

Any advide would be a great help!

I remember your original posts about your partner.

I'm glad she is well enough to return to work albeit part time. No doubt you'll be keen to return to work too so you can get your lives back in order

Hammyman

DEBTMONKEY1A wrote: »

Hello all,

Wonder if you can advise. I've tried the Kirklees Housing/Council Tax Benefit calculator & the 'entitled to' calculator-both giving different figures??

Because the "entitled to" one is barely fit for purpose in respect to HB/CTB. My brother spends a great deal of his time having to explain to claimants why te Entitledto.com one isn't right when they apply and are told they're ineligible. The Kirklees one will be more accurate.

DEBTMONKEY1A

Thanks for the thoughts-Welshmoneylover! She's off the anti-psychotics now & to be honest her work have been fantastic & have been instrumental in helping her. No diagnosis of anything ongoing either...she's still seeing her regular nurse (who is great) & she's off the pills. There are still anxiety issues however & me being around does help. I'm looking but have only had one interview (didn't get it...arghh!) but may well do some voluntary work with the c.a.b.-to get some free training on money advice-something I'd like to do.

Hammyman-thanks for that.....on thinking about the housing benefit she got (a very small ammount) when we DID get WTC & subtracting the WTC off, etc the £34 a week Kirklees figure seems not far off-allowing for her drop in income with the lowered hours...

Assuming with her income & my carers that I wouldn't be eligable for any income support?

dmg24

I trust you have notified DLA of the improvement in her condition?

welshmoneylover

DEBTMONKEY1A wrote: »

Assuming with her income & my carers that I wouldn't be eligable for any income support?

Look upon it as a blessing, with the changes coming in with regards benefit payments, I'm assuming it's the last place you'd want to be anyway.

Far better to be strong and independent than be weak and relying on welfare, great morale booster :j

healy

DEBTMONKEY1A wrote: »

Thanks for the thoughts-Welshmoneylover! She's off the anti-psychotics now & to be honest her work have been fantastic & have been instrumental in helping her. No diagnosis of anything ongoing either...she's still seeing her regular nurse (who is great) & she's off the pills. There are still anxiety issues however & me being around does help. I'm looking but have only had one interview (didn't get it...arghh!) but may well do some voluntary work with the c.a.b.-to get some free training on money advice-something I'd like to do.

Hammyman-thanks for that.....on thinking about the housing benefit she got (a very small ammount) when we DID get WTC & subtracting the WTC off, etc the £34 a week Kirklees figure seems not far off-allowing for her drop in income with the lowered hours...

Assuming with her income & my carers that I wouldn't be eligable for any income support?

No you will not get Income Support, the money coming in is much too high.

DEBTMONKEY1A

DMG24...thanks for your concern. The nature of her illness is there can be well periods between episodes. This has been made very clear on the DLA form when we applied. She still receives regular visits from her nurse. Once the professionals have told her shes better & she no longer needs crisis teams, nurses etc we will of course inform the DLA. Again,Thank you for your concern.

bigbill

I'm with entitledto as I think they will be a lot nearer to the correct amount due.

Ignored:

Couple £142.60
Carer £ 30.05
Earnings disregard £ 20.00

Total £192.65

Income:

Carers £ 53.90
Earnings £143.30

Total £197.20

Excess £ 4.55

Based on the above you would pay only a very small amount of rent and council tax weekly with HB & CTB paying the remainder

DEBTMONKEY1A

Thanks bigbill....a mystery or what! Will call them on Monday....if you get a bored 5 minutes (!) google 'kirklees benefit calculator'.....some of the questions-especially those relating to DLA are not clear at all.

Bigbill-would the fact that she'll now be doing 14 (instead of the 18 last year)hours affect the housing/council tax benefit??

bigbill

An extra £17.10 weekly would have been ignored if she was doing over 16 hours, but the extra earnings from the 4 hours would count as extra income so not a lot of difference.

If she claimed working tax credits while she was doing 16+ hours that would make a big difference to the calculation and result in you paying a lot more towards your rent and council tax due to the extra WTC income.