Working person tax credits query

rich11

Hi all a bloke I loosely know is in a bit of a pickle.I will try to provide as much details as I can

He is in his 50's but has a mental age of perhaps a 12 year old.He is a genuinly nice bloke but not very savvy.He has a job washing dishes in a hotel kitchen.He is contracted to work 35 hours but sadly doesnt always get the 35 hours.

He lodges with another bloke and pays approx £100 for lodgings and bills but not food.Due to him not always getting the 35 hours it has come to my attention that the poor bloke doesnt eat in the last week before pay day.He is a proud man and doesnt ask for help in any means or form but every time I see him he seems to be wasting away

I have looked into working persons tax credits and it seems he would be able to claim(the not always getting 35 hours work could possibly be a sticking point I suspect)

Now I havent claimed any sort of benefits for many many years so how would he go about submitting a claim? I really am clueless when it comes to things like this but from googling WPTC he could maybe claim an extra £40 a week which would most certainly help him out

Thanks for reading I hope somebody may be able to help

BigAunty

You could also check on the Turn2us online benefit calculator if he is due any housing benefit or council tax. If he's in private accommodation, there will be a maximum LHA rate for a room in a shared property which you can enter into the calculator and it will take into account his income and show if he is due any or not.

I know it's a last resort, but many areas have food banks for those who cannot afford groceries, they will issue a bag of staples for those on tough times. See if there are any near you.

Also, help him keep an eye on the WTC payments as it's a lot trickier for someone on variable income to keep on top of informing the HMRC and they can end up with big overpayments to pay back if they aren't careful.

I'm sure other members can help you with your specific queries on the application process.

rich11

Thanks for the speedy reply I will look into that

rich11

As I suspected Turn2us say he is entitled to around £30.00 a week.What a great website this is

kingfisherblue

If he is contracteed to work 35 hours a week, doesn't this mean that he has to be paid 35 hours even if he is told not to work the full amount? It might be worth looking at his contract and getting some advice on that as well.

Icequeen99

If he doesn't work 35 hours every week, you may have a problem for tax credits and down the line if his claim is investigated a substantial overpayment that he would find hard to deal with.

You need to work out exactly how many weeks he doesn't work 35. There are no averaging rules as such, but if it is the odd week now and again I think you would be ok saying his usual hours are 35. if it is say every three weeks, i think you might have more of a problem unless there is an established cycle when HMRC would accept averaging. (Although there is unlikely to be an established cycle in this sort of job).

IQ