General benefits advice sought..

kinny999

First of all, Cracking forum here and some fantastically helpful folks who seem to know everything, kudos all round.

So, onto my problem/question... (i'll try and keep it succinct but i fear i may fail so apologies in advance)

Me and my partner are about to move in together.

She has a 10 yr old boy who is mildly autistic,
she lives in a privately rented 3 bedroom house,
she is in part time work until the end of the month
(around when ill be moving in) and currently receives housing benefit of around 75% of the monthly cost, child support of around £350 per month and then an extra payment to help with his autism of around £200 per month. (rough figures but i can provide exact if needed)

I earn £1150 per month after tax and receive no benefits and with her employment ending as i move in, this will be the only paid income into the house.

I realise that obviously her/our change in circumstance will mean less benefit entitlement but i was deary hoping that someone could maybe advise me of roughly how much this may change things?

I'm not after living for free by any stretch but i'm more than a little concerned that because our soon to be joint income will be substantially more once i move in - even though she will no longer be working at all for the near future that the effect will be to financially cripple us so were literally covering costs if not worse?

I've tried to check using all manner of calculators but they all seem to say "you might get this amount" but... until you actually go through with it we can't say for sure.

Would she be entitled to any different benefits such as carers allowance with her being out of work, even if it is temporarily?, or would it just be a case that they see my wage and say you're entitled to !!!!!! all apart from the autism based benefit?

I realise this post is asking an awful lot but it'd clear my mind alot to know that we'd at least get a little help and by me moving in i'll not be setting us up for financial turmoil.

If there's any other details i can provide that would help then please let me know but other than that all i can say is thank you in advance for even the smallest amount of help anyone can provide.

kinny:D

cosmic-dust

kinny999 wrote: »

Would she be entitled to any different benefits such as carers allowance with her being out of work, even if it is temporarily?, or would it just be a case that they see my wage and say you're entitled to !!!!!! all apart from the autism based benefit?

She would get CA if the child gets DLA at middle/high rate care.
A tiny thing that was niggling me though, why does she live in a 3 bed place? If there is only her and her son?

kingfisherblue

The extra payment that she receives to help with her child's autism is presumably DLA - this will continue until the award runs out. Once this happens, she can apply for renewal, but it all dependes on the child's care and/or mobility needs. DLA is made up of two components - care and mobility. Whether she can receive CA depends on what rate of care her son receives - DLA care has low, middle and high rates. He would have to receive the middle or high rate to be able to apply for CA. If your partner returns to work but earns less than £100 a week, she can claim CA on top, providing she fulfills the other criteria.

Child maintenance should continue.

She should close down her current child tax credit claim as it will be for a single person, and make a joint claim. She should make sure that she lets the tax credit people know that she has a child who receives DLA, as this increases the amount of CTC paid.

She should also inform the council that you arte moving in, as she will currently receive a single person's discount before any council tax benefit is applied.

I don't know about HB as I have no experience of this.

Altogether, you should have your wage, child benefit, child tax credits, child maintenance and the child's DLA. Possibly CA whilst she is not working.

You might be able to claim some council tax credit or HB, but I really don't know. I would imagine your income would be too high, especially once she returns to work.

Okydoky25

Sorry I can't help re benefits but does she get no maintenance at all from the child's Father?

mikey_bach

What hours do you work as well, you may be able to claim working tax credits you will find this out when you make your new joint claim to HMRC for Child tax credits

And again
Keep the DLA

If your partners son has middle rate care amd as you say its £200 per month there is a good chance, then she can claim carers allowance.

Keep the Maintenance
Keep the Child Benefit
and may be entitled to Income Based Housing Benefit

But moving together shouldnt be about the money but I understand what you mean
but am sure you will be fine

kingfisherblue

Okydoky25 wrote: »

Sorry I can't help re benefits but does she get no maintenance at all from the child's Father?

OP states child support of around £350 a month.

[Deleted User]

OP remember you will only be running one household when you move in,so big savings to be made there as well

kinny999

Cheers for the replies guys i'll try and respond to all that's been raised.

@cosmic-dust More situation than planning, the house was rented when the child was born at which time the pare room was in use and then again over the years to a lodger i believe. Not ideal but compared to rental prices for a 2 bed house locally, no real difference give the age of the tenancy agreement.

@kingfisherblue, yes it is DLA, at the middle band i believe.

@all it's not maintenance she receives it's child benefit, or whatever the new name for that is? child tax credits? She has never, or never will get any from the child's father as he's never really held down a job unfortunately.

@mikeybach Yeah i agree totally, im happy to take on the financial responsibility as long as it's doable, im not out for any gain i just don't want my moving in to effect my partner and more importantly her little lads standard of living negatively. I work full time but i have a fear my income will mean most benefits will be unavailable?

Cheers for the replies so far guys


cheers for the answers so far

kingfisherblue

Even if the father of the child is not working, your partner can open a case against him with the CSA. If he is claiming benefits, he will have to pay £5 a week, soon to rise to £10.

Regarding the DLA - has your partner informed child tax credits that her son receives this? There is a disability premium which is added on to CTC, but you do need to inform them - don't assume that the CTC office will know. Because it is middle rate, your partner will be able to claim carer's allowance if her earnings are under £100 a week.

kinny999

Even if the father of the child is not working, your partner can open a case against him with the CSA. If he is claiming benefits, he will have to pay £5 a week, soon to rise to £10.

Regarding the DLA - has your partner informed child tax credits that her son receives this? There is a disability premium which is added on to CTC, but you do need to inform them - don't assume that the CTC office will know. Because it is middle rate, your partner will be able to claim carer's allowance if her earnings are under £100 a week.

cheers again, while im pretty sure she's aware of the CSA issue, for the sake of getting that money it wouldn't be worth the fallout, sounds silly maybe but the guy is never in a job for long so unless it came out of his JSA (which he never bothers to claim anyway between jobs) im not sure how they'd actually get it? Having seen how he reacts, childish and stubbornly at the best of times, i'd rather scour the streets for coppers to make up the £5-10 a week than give him another reason to be the pain he can be.


Regarding the DLA, Im not sure she has no?
I think as i would have done, she assumes they'd know, i'll make a note to ask her to mention it when she does the change upon my moving in though.

Thanks for the advice, again, massively appreciated.