Help Please?

frooglefraggle

Hi all,

I was wondering if there is still any help i can receive benefits wise.

I am a single mother, i work 10 hours per week. I have two children who are 5 & 2. I currently get Child Benefit, Child Tax Credits, Income support based on wages (as i only work 10 hours). and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and free school meals for my DD.

My circumstances are about to change considerably as due to not being able to cope alone with my health issues (type one Diabetes) and my DD (5) has Brittle Asthma, which means i am forever cleaning and tending to her through the night. My parents have offered to have us move in with them. I will have to pay 200.00 a month to them to cover costs such as gas electric water and so on (which i feel is fair) and cover the costs of cleaning products, loo roll (they are in the process of converting the garage for an extra sitting room) for us to have our own space.

They have said they are not prepared to support us understandably. They are on a good combined wage of 48k

My question is 1) is there any help i can get when i move into they're house? can i still claim child tax credits and child benefit? 2) will there income affect these? and is there any other help i can get as i only earn £245 a month which will be swallowed by my rent and not cover my food?

Thank you in advance for any help i may receive. (i also plan to go back to work next year Jan time when my son is in full time education for at least 20 hours)

mikey_bach

If you move into your parents home, you will keep your Income Support, CTC and CHB.
You will still be classed as a single parent who lives with her parents.
Their income will not effect your benefits.
You will not be able to claim housing benefit as you will be living in their household as part of it

BigAunty

A lone parent can work 16 hours per week to qualify for working tax credits so this is something you may be able to get when you increase your hours to that rate.

You can model the impact of your proposed change, and how much/if you are better off working extra hours, by entering the info on the Turn2us online benefit calculator.

You could visit the disability and dosh forum to identify if you could qualify for Disability Living allowance for your daughter or not, plus whether this could lead to carers allowance for you, and also DLA for you. See the Direct Gov website for basic info on DLA and CA.

If the posters think you might qualify for you or your daughter, do get expert advice on how to fill in the forms as many claimants fill them in poorly and get rejected.

Consider contacting the CSA to gain child maintenance for your children if you can't reach a private agreement with the father of your children - non-resident parents are expected to pay a percentage of their gross wages to the parent with care (is it 15% for 2 kids?) and this won't affect your benefits.

kingfisherblue

CSA is 20% of net pay for two children.

OP, regarding your daughter's brittle asthma, can I suggest that you keep a diary for a month to show what additional care/mobility needs you child has, above the usual needs of a child the same age. This can help to determine whether you are likely to get DLA for your child, and can also act as evidence to be enclosed with any DLA application.

frooglefraggle

Thank you very much for your help! I have not looked into any form of disability or carers allowance as she is only 5 and i didn't think i would qualify as she is my child? but it may be something to look into.

I cannot claim Child support as the children's father walked out, he hasn't bothered with the children even when my son was born. Every time the CSA get anywhere near getting money out of him he get's sacked and the process starts all over again he currently is in arrears by a couple of thousand. I was told in Feb that he was in employment again and still waiting for an order on his wages... although it is dreaming as it would be the first amount since Feb 2009. My son's 3rd Birthday is next month and not expecting anything.

I was hoping that i could still claim the child benefit and child tax credits as it means that i can support myself and the children on that if i can still claim the income support that would be highly beneficial at the moment!

Thank you for your help and not being judgmental.

princessdon

I don't think anyone would ever be judgemental to someone like yourself.

a) you don't have to work at all (until your children are school age). You do! -
b) You have an ill child (yet still work)
c) you are looking to reduce the amount of benefits now (by moving in with parents) and also in the future by working

There really isn't much not to like with your post - you sound like a really decent person and role model.

That's my two pennies anyway

kingfisherblue

OP, you can claim DLA for your child if she has care and/or mobility needs above those that are usual for a child of the same age. If she gets middle or high rate, you can claim carer's allowance if you meet the qualifying conditions - you can't earn more than £100 a week (after specific deductions), cannot be a full time student, must care for at least 35 hours a week, etc.

I have a severely disabled child and he has received DLA at the high rate since he was three months old, and mobility (high rate) since he was three years old. To claim DLA, you (or in this case your daughter) must have needed the care for at least three months and be expected to need it for a further six months minimum.