is it possible to appeal to the council over a change of circumstances decision ?

Bogof_Babe

Should be possible to live on £2.40 a day for food and basic toiletries if you shop at Iceland, Aldi etc. and live on economy ranges and reduced items. Just don't buy clothes, newspapers, alcohol, lottery tickets or any other non-essentials. It's not forever is it so worth a try.

Goes without saying that if you can cut down on your gas and eletricity use too that will help, although please don't freeze to death trying.

uganda

I_love_Harrison wrote: »

His money would of dropped quite considerably as long term IB pay's more than he's getting for ESA £67.50 now (IB £108.05 p/w).

Yes, that's my point. His HB should not be dropping (I later edited as it should not be staying the same either).

jasonwatkins

I_love_Harrison wrote: »

His money would of dropped quite considerably as long term IB pay's more than he's getting for ESA £67.50 now (IB £108.05 p/w).

That's basically it. I was on long term IB at the rate you've stated and now i'm on the ESA rate of £67.50 a week.

I had to pay a top-up of around £18 per week when I was on IB and now, apparently, a top up of £10.40 a week on ESA.

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Should be possible to live on £2.40 a day for food and basic toiletries if you shop at Iceland, Aldi etc. and live on economy ranges and reduced items

I always shop in the cheapest places I can find and look for value ranges and reduced items.

I still don't know how i'm going to do it because that £2.40 will have to cover everything. If I have to get some milk, for example, I can get that for £1 out of Lidls.

That leaves me £1.40 to get breakfast, lunch and dinner. If I needed to get any cleaning items or toiletries as well, that goes down even further.

drc wrote: »

Get rid of Sky for a start and get Freeview. Not as many channels as Sky but it is free (tv permitting).

I do understand where you're coming from but I'd really rather not default on any of my commitments if humanly possible. I accept I may well ultimately not have a choice, but if there's a way to make it work i'd certainly like to find it.

uganda

jasonwatkins wrote: »

That's basically it. I was on long term IB at the rate you've stated and now i'm on the ESA rate of £67.50 a week.

I had to pay a top-up of around £18 per week when I was on IB and now, apparently, a top up of £10.40 a week on ESA.

Right, then I would expect you to pay £7.60pw towards your rent if you were on long-term IB, and nothing towards it if you are on ESA of £67.50pw. Since £7.60pw happens to be the difference between what you pay now and what you paid before, my guess is that you are on local housing allowance (that's why I asked if you were renting privately before) and the rate is £10.40pw less that your rent.

So what the government is effectively telling you is that you need to move somewhere slightly cheaper, not that you have any excess income.

jasonwatkins

thanks for that. i only moved in april, after 5 years of sheer hell living underneath a 'neighbour from hell'. the place i'm in now is wonderful compared to that.

if there's nothing i can do to overturn the decision then i guess i'll have to lump it. sky will be the first in line to cancel as the minimum period is up early next year.

it just frustrates me that i'm committed to £30 quid a month to Orange for 800 minutes, unlimited texts and 500mb of data and for £17.50 at Tesco mobile I could get 1,500 minutes, 5000 texts and 1gb of data.

Also that the council have steadfastly refused me permission to install a water meter. i'm applied for a survey to see if one can be installed off the property in the street, but if that can't happen then i'm stuck paying £40 quid a month for water rates for 1 person in a 1 bedroom flat.

uganda

jasonwatkins wrote: »

if there's nothing i can do to overturn the decision then i guess i'll have to lump it.

Well, I'm trying to get the bottom of what the decision was. Was my guess correct that it is actually a shortfall in the local housing allowance? If so, then you have nothing to appeal against, but you could ask for a discretionary housing payment form - the worst that can happen is you are turned down.

If my guess is wrong and it is because they have miscalculated your income in some way, then of course you must appeal.

Careful_with_that_Axe

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Should be possible to live on £2.40 a day for food and basic toiletries if you shop at Iceland, Aldi etc. and live on economy ranges and reduced items. Just don't buy clothes, newspapers, alcohol, lottery tickets or any other non-essentials. It's not forever is it so worth a try.

Goes without saying that if you can cut down on your gas and eletricity use too that will help, although please don't freeze to death trying.

Really? Including winter costs of gas, electricity and water rates, achieve a healthy diet and covering the costs of applying for jobs, travel etc?

Bogof_Babe

Careful_with_that_Axe wrote: »

Really? Including winter costs of gas, electricity and water rates, achieve a healthy diet and covering the costs of applying for jobs, travel etc?

The OP said that £2.40 a day was what he has left AFTER all other essential bills were covered.

So that leaves me £46.78 a week. If i do it one way, and prioritise gas, electric and my 3 contractual commitments (sky, mobile, landline), then it leaves me £2.40 a day to live on, to cover food & any household expenses.

If he's on ESA, even if awaiting appeal, presumably he isn't expected to look for a job? (I might be wrong there, don't know how ESA works).

jasonwatkins

uganda wrote: »

Was my guess correct that it is actually a shortfall in the local housing allowance?

The form says "Reason for calculation : Change of liability"

Weekly benefit award is £64.41, Rent is £74.81. Amount payable by me: £10.40.

So I guess what you've said is correct.

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

The OP said that £2.40 a day was what he has left AFTER all other essential bills were covered

That's right. I am actually attempting a diet as well, so that's going to make things even more tricky on that amount of money because healthy, or relatively healthy, food isn't cheap.

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

If he's on ESA, even if awaiting appeal, presumably he isn't expected to look for a job? (I might be wrong there, don't know how ESA works).

I worked in I.T. originally, before I stopped and went on to IB. The main issue with I.T., even now, is that you're only as good as your last job and considering my last I.T. job was about 11 years ago i've got little chance of getting back into that industry.

Even if i did have to look for work I honestly wouldn't have the faintest idea of what to do. I've only ever done I.T.

And I make no apologies for taking out Sky and a mobile contract either. I could afford them both at the time.

uganda

jasonwatkins wrote: »

The form says "Reason for calculation : Change of liability"

Weekly benefit award is £64.41, Rent is £74.81. Amount payable by me: £10.40.

So I guess what you've said is correct.

But it's not a change of liability as I understand it, it's a change of income.

Your rent looks like a housing association or local authority rent to me, am I right about that? In which case my guess wasn't correct. Perhaps the £10.40pw is for ineligible services contained within the rental figure.

Sorry to keep on at you, but it will be a lot easier for me to help fully if you answer all my questions!