How will I survive on £52 per week?

Oldernotwiser

rover1975 wrote: »

I think Nannytone if you cant have a little bit of humility then perhaps you should not respond to what is for someone a grave situation, your remarks whilst true are not helping.

Not really a good idea to start stirring with your first ever post!

jr1985

nannytone wrote: »

if you are not working 30+ hours a week then youre not entitled to working tax credit anyway!
unless you can prove that you have been working these hours, they will be likely to want the money back.
stop being self employed!
if you are not fit for work, put in a claim for ESA.
if you are fit for work, claim JSA and after 13 weeks you will be eligable to get a % of your mortgage interest paid.
also, if you havent done it already, contact your lender to ask about going on an 'interest only' option.

Um, while I'm sure your advice is sound, if someone started their post off like that with me, when I was in a particularly vulnerable state, it would likely make me panic and trigger a depressive episode. Please try to be careful what you say to people, especially when someone is ill/disabled and we don't have all of the information. Of course, your post may not have phased her, but best to err on the side of caution.

nannytone_2

surely the OP would be more likely to be depressed
and panic if they found out in some point in the future that they were claiming benefit that they shouldnt have?

if that was the case ( and i'm not saying for one second that it is) do you think the WTC compliance team would waste time with niceties or would they just want the money back?

i don't mean to offend, but it's my nature to deal with problems head on, and that reflects in the advice i give. i don't advocate that everyone should think the same way as i do. the major difference is i don't criticise them for the way they choose to do things.

i, like many other people, have had trauma in my life, including severe disabilty and the death of a child.
i wouldnt come to a public forum for comfort, but for practical advice.
i don't see that ensuring the OP was aware of the rules of their claim, would be a negative thing, in fact it would have been irresponsible not to do so as the OP had pointed out that they were working very few hours.

DemiDee

Thank you ALL for your time and consideration in posting and giving invaluable advice. I should just clarify a few things. I am not on any disability allowance, but was on ESA in the previous two years and also had counselling from various organisations, including CRUSE. It was probably not wise to have brought up the reasons for my sickness on here, since those are indeed personal matters unrelated to the seeking of practical help and advice, but I did so because I felt it might put things into perspective a little (having been sick for near on two years, I felt that an explanation as to the background was necessary). Nevertheless, many thanks to Mojisola for the link to that particular organisation. I had never heard of this and will definitely make contact.

Before going onto WTC, I got a lot of help and advice from the jobcentre as to whether it would be appropriate for my situation. Although I was advised that launching back into full time work was not really advisable, I was told that WTC are indeed payable if someone is self employed and either working OR seeking work for 30 hours or more. Many who are self employed invest a great deal of hours in gaining work in the first place, which is all figured into 'hours worked'. This is why you will find that a lot of self employed people are working below the minimum wage, because work is often scarce and sporadic. If I am wrong in this, I would like to know, because I sought so much advise from the right people before putting in the claim. I would also like to clarify that the £52pw would be interspersed with money from work, on the rare occasion it comes my way. So, it is not strictly £52pw for the entire year, but rather, for those (many) weeks in which no work is forthcoming. I hope that makes more sense, and apologies for bringing any personal issues to what is essentially a forum for financial advice. That wasn't my intention. Thank you again, to all who posted.

DX2

DemiDee wrote: »

I was told that WTC are indeed payable if someone is self employed and either working OR seeking work for 30 hours or more. Many who are self employed invest a great deal of hours in gaining work in the first place, which is all figured into 'hours worked'. This is why you will find that a lot of self employed people are working below the minimum wage, because work is often scarce and sporadic.

If you're self-employed

Put down the number of hours you normally spend working in your business, either on work billed to the client or its related activity, for example:

• trips to wholesalers and retailers
• visits to potential clients
• time spent on advertising
• cleaning the business premises
• cleaning a vehicle used as part of the business, for example a taxi
• book-keeping
• research work

If you work from home, include time spent travelling to see customers.
If you have only just become self-employed, use the number of hours you normally expect to work in a week.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/start/claiming/income-hours/work-out-hours.htm