I have been denied Housing Benefit backpay.

MamaMoo_2

samwich1979 wrote: »

All creditors i owe money to have been offered £1 a month but only DWP will accept it so im still trying to sort it all out with CAB.
Barclays are just a nightmare and Scottish Power................well they are just something else!

Not thought of different formula, we use Aptamil for my son which is great but they dont do 6 month+ milk just 1 year+, so dont know if changing brand would upset his stomach?

I get a good deal at Lidl on the nappies, £15 a month we spend on 3 huge bags and they normally go over a month tbh.

A £35 shop normally lasts us a week and a bit, so not bad but we dont eat as much as we probably should.

Really unsure as to why some get more HB than others considering their income, again it may be down to individual councils and there rules?

There's not really any difference between different formulas, you could try buying 3/4 ready mix cartons of 6m+ SMA and see if that works.
Nappy wise, Boots and Asda often have some great multibuys on.
Not sure if you've tried online shopping, but I've recently started shopping with Sainsbury's. I got £10 off my first order, then they sent me 3 more £10 off vouchers, plus I collect Nectar points, which build up quickly. I tend not to over shop too, as I'm not wombling around the aisles going "ooh, I fancy that!"
Also, now you're probably weaning the little one, places like home bargains etc have some good offers on baby food, but I found the cheapest thing to do was whack a bit of whatever I was eating in the blender and give that to DS. once he was eating solids, he was drinking more water/squash too, so that saved money on formula

samwich1979

I have given out information as above because if i dont explain these things people will just think bad of me!

Like all debts are self inflicted, that is not something you can just say to anyone.
Like me, some have a run of bad luck which forces them into debt and hardship and i just wish we were not all tarred with the same brush as those who choose to spend, spend, spend and not give a monkies about the consequences!

Cornish_piskie

samwich1979 wrote: »

My debts are due to being the sole earner and not being able to cover what i could when my husband was working.

I have defaulted on my loan because i couldnt afford the payments anymore due to maternity pay and losing £300 a month.

This snowballed as my DD'S on my current account bounced then ive has silly charges which made me go over my overdraft, hence more charges. This account has now defaulted and closed.

I have an old Scottish Power bill from when i was on pre-pay meters at my old address, its charges which built up somehow over a very cold winter.

And a £70 crisis loan from DWP from May when i had no money left for formula or nappies for my son and had 2 weeks until i got paid. I couldnt pay this back in full as they wanted a week later as i obviously had no money and i had all of the above to deal with too.

So not really self inflicted.

When I say I presumed self-inflicted, I meant that I presumed you weren't left with debts, say, from an ex-partner doing a runner on shared debts.

So, yes, your debts are self-inflicted in that they are money that you have had as loans (personal and DWP) or for services (Scottish Power) that you have used. The winter was cold for everyone and you are not alone in having a much higher bill :rotfl:Your debts don't make you any more entitled to anything than someone without debt.

I'm sure things will get better once OH has a job and you can clear your debts.

TrixieB

http://www.aptamil.co.uk/products/article/aptamil-follow-on-milk?tr=carousel

samwich1979

MamaMoo wrote: »

There's not really any difference between different formulas, you could try buying 3/4 ready mix cartons of 6m+ SMA and see if that works.
Nappy wise, Boots and Asda often have some great multibuys on.
Not sure if you've tried online shopping, but I've recently started shopping with Sainsbury's. I got £10 off my first order, then they sent me 3 more £10 off vouchers, plus I collect Nectar points, which build up quickly. I tend not to over shop too, as I'm not wombling around the aisles going "ooh, I fancy that!"
Also, now you're probably weaning the little one, places like home bargains etc have some good offers on baby food, but I found the cheapest thing to do was whack a bit of whatever I was eating in the blender and give that to DS. once he was eating solids, he was drinking more water/squash too, so that saved money on formula

I have shopped online in the past with both Asda and Tesco which was fine back then but i find it too expensive at the moment.
We use a nectar card for our British Gas bills, you get points added every quarter but hubby deals with this so not sure how it works!
I usually shop with a list of things i need so i dont go mad and keep an eye out for bargains.

Like you have said weaning will save us money soon too, i intend to just blend what we have for tea for our son when hes at that stage, none of these expensive pre-made jars.

fluffymovie

To look at the calculation... it seems odd to me that you are getting HB I must admit.

Applicable amount - what the Govt says you need to live on

Couple - £105.95
Child - £62.33
Family premium - £17.40
Total = £185.68

Income of £26,000 pa = £500 per week.
If you work over 30hrs and as a part of a couple we would make certain disregards so this would give income of £472.90

Take app amount away from income leaves an excess of £287.22

You have to pay 65% of this towards rent before HB payable so 65% of £287.22 = 186.70.

Your rent is £495 pm so 114.23 per week.

From my calculations, you shouldn't be getting HB as you would need to pay £186 towards it and it is £114.

Of course, it is likely that £1055.60 of this annual income is Child Benefit which is disregarded but I am still not sure that your award is correct.

Can any other benefit professionals see something I have missed?

samwich1979

Cornish_piskie wrote: »

When I say I presumed self-inflicted, I meant that I presumed you weren't left with debts, say, from an ex-partner doing a runner on shared debts.

So, yes, your debts are self-inflicted in that they are money that you have had as loans (personal and DWP) or for services (Scottish Power) that you have used. The winter was cold for everyone and you are not alone in having a much higher bill :rotfl:Your debts don't make you any more entitled to anything than someone without debt.

I'm sure things will get better once OH has a job and you can clear your debts.

I cannot wait for my husband to get a job and neither can he, for his mental wellbeing as well as for financial reasons.

It will mean we wont need help in the way of HB and can get on and sort the debt and start living a life with not so much worry.

This is all we both want.

samwich1979

fluffymovie wrote: »

To look at the calculation... it seems odd to me that you are getting HB I must admit.

Applicable amount - what the Govt says you need to live on

Couple - £105.95
Child - £62.33
Family premium - £17.40
Total = £185.68

Income of £26,000 pa = £500 per week.
If you work over 30hrs and as a part of a couple we would make certain disregards so this would give income of £472.90

Take app amount away from income leaves an excess of £287.22

You have to pay 65% of this towards rent before HB payable so 65% of £287.22 = 186.70.

Your rent is £495 pm so 114.23 per week.

From my calculations, you shouldn't be getting HB as you would need to pay £186 towards it and it is £114.

Of course, it is likely that £1055.60 of this annual income is Child Benefit which is disregarded but I am still not sure that your award is correct.

Can any other benefit professionals see something I have missed?

I have been £300 down a month atm due to materniy leave does this make a difference?
Plus my husband doesnt work and gets no benefit.

Obviously im ging back to work 33hrs a week in a weeks time so i will get HB re-evaluated.

shellsuit

£26K income with 1 child and entitled to almost £50 a week HB???

My husband earns not far off that figure (I'm a SAHM), we have 3 children and we get no help with HB. Not that we need it as we cope just fine.

I've just checked on entitled2 to check, and it says Zilch, Nada, Zero help (which I knew anyway).

Either the figures you have given in are wrong, or you're winding everyone up.

samwich1979

shellsuit wrote: »

£26K income with 1 child and entitled to almost £50 a week HB???

My husband earns not far off that figure (I'm a SAHM), we have 3 children and we get no help with HB. Not that we need it as we cope just fine.

I've just checked on entitled2 to check, and it says Zilch, Nada, Zero help (which I knew anyway).

Either the figures you have given in are wrong, or you're winding everyone up.

OMG how many times do i have to say im NOT winding anyone up! :mad:

I told HB advisors everything about me and this was their decision...............what can i do?!