What am i entitled to?

melonpips

Hello

I am actually posting on behalf of a member of my family as i could not believe the lack of help he was getting based on his situation.

there are two parents and two children, one pre school and one at school. Only one parent is working on a very low wage and the other is not working, but attending a college course. They are in council accomodation paying £350 per month and get tax credits each month (not sure of the amount). They have been told that the (1 parent) income is £5 over the limit of being able to claim housing benefit, and the one at college has been told that if he claims JSA or such like he will lose his funding for his college course.

They are approx £400 short each month of their outsgoings and are continually borrowing money from family just to make ends meet.

Surely there must be some help out there somehwere. Apparently they are being threatened with eviction as they owe the council £300 from 1 missed rent payment from years ago but have continued to make the monthly payments each month apart from that.

Any help/advice gratefully received

suelees1

Claiming JSA and losing funding for the course sounds very odd.
You wouldn't normally be entitled to JSA for those on a full time course (albeit with some exceptions). In any case this person would only get JSA if they were entitled to contribution based benefit. Income related JSA would be a no no because the partners wage would mean they have excess income for JSA. I'd get the student partner to go into the student welfare dept and ask them to look at it to see if they might be entitled to anything else. Alternatively go into the local advice centre and ask them.

dmg24

We can't help unless you can give us details of their income.

Jowo_2

As they are not entitled to any extra benefit, then encourage them to post an SOA on the Debt Free Wanabee board and they'll receive advice for how to deal with this and cut household expenses. Do get them to double check their entitlements on the Turn2us online benefit calculator. They should negotiate the repayment of their rent arrears with the council to make it more manageable.

Since you haven't provided details of their overall income from employment, student funding, tax credits and child benefit, the forum members here may not be able to help very much with such vague information.

If they can't increase their income through benefits, then the alternative is to reduce expenses. Get them to download the budget planner spreadsheet on the free tools section of this website and work through the site to find ways to reduce their outgoings, not just the forums but the general website too. For example, one of the MSE members has created a recipe planner, approved by a nutritionist, to feed a family of 4 for £100 per month.

A low paid job, topped up with tax credits and child benefit should not leave them struggling when they have fairly low rent to pay. Do they have any other debts? Can the student get a student loan and if so have they taken it out? Does their college run a hardship fund (many do)?

EDIT: I'm not sure that the Turn2us benefit calculator is very good for calculating household benefits if someone is in education. Perhaps they can visit their local Citizens Advice Bureau and get someone to double check?

bunny999

melonpips wrote: »

Hello

I am actually posting on behalf of a member of my family as i could not believe the lack of help he was getting based on his situation.

there are two parents and two children, one pre school and one at school. Only one parent is working on a very low wage and the other is not working, but attending a college course. They are in council accomodation paying £350 per month and get tax credits each month (not sure of the amount). They have been told that the (1 parent) income is £5 over the limit of being able to claim housing benefit, and the one at college has been told that if he claims JSA or such like he will lose his funding for his college course.

They are approx £400 short each month of their outsgoings and are continually borrowing money from family just to make ends meet.

Surely there must be some help out there somehwere. Apparently they are being threatened with eviction as they owe the council £300 from 1 missed rent payment from years ago but have continued to make the monthly payments each month apart from that.

Any help/advice gratefully received

So they live in a council house they get child benefit, tax credits and funding for a College course. Yet you think they don't get enough help, where the hell do expect all this money to come from? Maybe if the state didn't reward people for having kids they can't/ won't support people wouldn't be so keen to breed.

MrsManda

Is the person working working full time?

How old are the parents?

What level is the college course? is it full time?

Oldernotwiser

Most adults who go back into education are doing some part time work as well. This, coupled with keeping their costs down, would seem the best way out of their problems.