Gutted - Confusing and unfair benefit system for self-employed:-(

judywoody

Ok I don't want to whine too much about our situation but I am seriously confused...
I am not the sort who takes the benefit system for granted but I appreciate it as a lifeline.

When I moved to get married to my husband I had to give up my job. Up north I was only able to find some work from home as a telemarketer. But it was a freelance position. It wasn't really my choice to be a freelancer but I thought it's better than nothing. I had enough work for 1.5 years as a contractor but then the projects dropped in August without any explanation (only recently I found out that they lost the contract and didn't bother to tell us)

I found a few jobs on people per hour and whenever I could, I would work. I applied for housing benefits just in case. Most of the time I was able to get a project short noticed so I obviously chose to work. So I wasn't entitled. But since the beginning of the year my work load has really gone down. So I started looking for employed work again. I found a job but won't start until mid June.

However, we were really struggling with our money. Sometimes I got small jobs, earning about 300 £ a month but most of the time it was less than 100£. My husband is also self-employed but only earns 630£ - he works 20 hours. He was thinking about taking on another job but his work hours are so odd that he couldn't really fit anything else in. Apart from the fact that he isn't too well - that's why he chose to reduce his hours. He is not unwell enough for any benefits though.

In one month we only earned 700£ together. So I turned to the council again because they still had my claim on file, waiting for my monthly income results. Today they told me that self-employed people are being assessed on a 13-week basis (as opposed to employed people) - so 1 month we earned just enough to cover our rent, council tax and utility bills but not enough for food. And the next month I fortunately got a project which pushed us over the average earning limit because of this 13 week rule - the extra money we needed to pay off the debt of the previous month though, so not enough for food again. Now being a contractor doesn't always make it easy to get a job. It also made me very ill so I found it hard to look for other self-employed jobs - I actually ended up on antidepressants and CBT. But I guess that's not enough to go on the sick or get DLA.

The lady at the council also told me that as a couple out earning threshold is 105£ a week. That doesn't even cover our rent let alone council tax or utility bills. How on earth could a couple live on that? I couldn't claim JSA because I was self-employed and didn't pay NIC 1..I didn't even realize that my NI contributions (NI 2 and 4) don't cover JSA in case the business goes down the drain? We both just worked self-employed to live, not to get rich. So we always just had enough. And anything saved went on the bills when I lost the projects.

It's not just about me - We are getting by on credit cards at the moment..and now I found a job anyway I hope we'll be ok and can pay off the debt. I will never go self-employed again! Only as a sideline maybe.

But I was thinking about other couples in a similar situation? Because we are renting privately (housing cap is 90£) there is no chance we can get a council house. Also, I hope this is just a short term situation. Our rent is relatively cheap (450 £) for private renting. It's a 1-bedroom flat. But if all we are allowed to earn is 105£ and the fact that we can't claim JSA, how on earth is a couple supposed to survive?

What confuses me even more: On their system it says that together we earned 230£ per week (in this 13-week period). At that time we were ok. But afterwards I earned about 40£ for 3 months. But even that was too much. Now when I type these figures in to https://www.entitledto.co.uk
(based on the fact that we are self-employed) it came up with completely different figures. In fact, if only my husband was earning the 230£ we would be entitled to 38.70£ a week - But because this is divided between us, we are entitled to nothing (I guess this is because of the tax he would have to pay, if we earned 115 each, we wouldn't have to pay tax) - Now he's got business expenses as well, but I am surprised they are not being taken into consideration, I thought they are (they even ask for that on the form at the council).

Then again, I typed in the figures based on what she told me: 105£ a week is the max we can earn as a couple. But the website said on these figures we would be entitled to 109£ weekly!! So where on earth did she get her information from?

Obviously we are too rich for benefits..But I am seriously surprised why couples without children are expected to survive on that amount while they can't provide any affordable housing for people. Sorry, just had to write that down, was a bit peeved...I am glad to have a job now anyway but we ended up with quite a bit of debt...grr

judywoody

Oh goodness me! Didn't realize it was so long..sorry :-(

DannyboyMidlands

Me too. I can't read all that.

katie1968

Surely you would be entitled to working tax credits?

Dunroamin

It's not clear from your post - have you actually claimed LHA?

judywoody

@katie: nope, one of us must work at least 30 hours.

@Dunroamin: Yes, but it was rejected


Just looke into the paperwork again and their calculations show me that they typed in the wrong figures...duh!!

earthbound_misfit

Your husband MAY be entitled to working tax credits via the disability element - for which he only needs to work 16 hrs a week. Have a look at the criteria to see if you qualify.
Also, the earning threshold for a couple of £105 a week must be the amount at which they start tapering benefits, not the overall income you're expected to live on. The couple rate of JSA is about the same, and if you were both unemployed you'd get housing and council tax benefits on top of that. So you should be able to get these benefits in part at least on top of your wages.