Mature student and housing benefit - help

lil_umka

thanks for your replies.

my salary was more than what I get from SFC, but not much so. I was surprised that with the reduction of income, my husband's benefit was cut completely.

I have found info on HB and it says that he can try to claim on my behalf, but students are generally excluded.

As I understand it, please correct me if I'm wrong, I receive money only for my side of family expences, not for my husband's as well. When I was working we were not expected to survive on one wage, what has changed now?

On a rethoric note, thousands of punds I'm getting now are repayable in 3 years time.

Oldernotwiser

lil_umka wrote: »

thanks for your replies.

my salary was more than what I get from SFC, but not much so. I was surprised that with the reduction of income, my husband's benefit was cut completely.

I have found info on HB and it says that he can try to claim on my behalf, but students are generally excluded.

As I understand it, please correct me if I'm wrong, I receive money only for my side of family expences, not for my husband's as well. When I was working we were not expected to survive on one wage, what has changed now?

On a rethoric note, thousands of punds I'm getting now are repayable in 3 years time.

Did your husband declare your income when you were working and "he" claimed HB?

The fact that loans are used to assess benefits is irrelevant, the money is available to you and may well not need to be repaid after you finish, sometimes not at all.

ETA. As you're saying that you weren't earning much more than you get in student finance when you were working, I wonder if you've taken into account that your salary was gross income and your student funding is net? You may find that, when you adjust one of them to compare with the other, you actually get more now than when you were working.

Indie_Kid

lil_umka wrote: »

As I understand it, please correct me if I'm wrong, I receive money only for my side of family expences, not for my husband's as well. When I was working we were not expected to survive on one wage, what has changed now?

Do couples not share money any more?

Oldernotwiser

lil_umka wrote: »

As I understand it, please correct me if I'm wrong, I receive money only for my side of family expences, not for my husband's as well. When I was working we were not expected to survive on one wage, what has changed now?

.

If only one partner is working then then the other's means tested benefits will always be assessed on those of the worker. That person's income is expected to cover all the couple's outgoings. This applies not only to married couples but also to people who are in living together in a much more informal fashion.

lil_umka

Ok I take your point, HB was claiming by my husband on my behalf then?

I notified council when uni place was confirmed, they took copy of the letter and knew that I'll be claiming full student loan and grant.

I'm very worried how to deal with this situation, hate being in such a big debt, especially out of the blue like this.

PS DH and I never shared money, when he was working or when he finished, we both don't like telling each other how it should be spent.

dmg24

lil_umka wrote: »

Ok I take your point, HB was claiming by my husband on my behalf then?

I notified council when uni place was confirmed, they took copy of the letter and knew that I'll be claiming full student loan and grant.

I'm very worried how to deal with this situation, hate being in such a big debt, especially out of the blue like this.

PS DH and I never shared money, when he was working or when he finished, we both don't like telling each other how it should be spent.

So your income has been taken into account in the past when your household benefit claims have been assessed?

lil_umka

As far as I can remember it was.

GotToChange

Blunt reply alert.

Husband - wife. That is very very relevant.

In one of your posts above, you say something about "not being expected to survive on one wage..." or something. The thing is, the only expectations in this matter should be (both) yours, there is no invisible body out there who will decree what is fair or not (apart from the minimum living amount which I think is c. £65.00 - equivalent to JSA) or how you divide or combine you respective or joint income(s).

If this isn't already, you need to be realistic about what is possible, both financially and in every other regard.

lil_umka

thanks for your reply GotToChange, 'fraid can't quiet understand your question. comment is relevant though, my expectations never were about having to 'get by'. But going through a rough period as we are, I'm having to cut my DH a lot of slack.

tbh I haven't a clue about benefit's system, being always working and never encountered it until child benefit. DH sorted his finances himself, including benefits, occasionally asking for proof of my income and so on. Looking after a newborn is time consuming so I trusted him to be on top of things. Obviously we both made mistakes and are paying for it. I'm just trying to sort this out with minimum stress.

Got a bit defensive there, rumble over.

divastrop

melroccan wrote: »

Itis because full-time students are not able to claim any benefits unless disabled themselves, obviously council tax should be unaffected as students don't have to pay that.

That's a bit wrong actually, it all depends on total income (including student finance) and whether you have children etc. Student finance is nowhere near enough for me to cover rent as well as everything else!

Please be aware, OP, that from a HB point of view student finance is calculated over a 43 week period even in your first/second year. So if you are not entitled to anything in term time, you may be over the 9 week summer period.
Also, do you get child tax credit for your little one?