The end of Council Tax Benefit!

seven-day-weekend

fatbelly wrote: »

But if the rent becomes subject to a top-up and the council tax support only covers 75%, something has to give.

So do you not pay the rent, or not pay the council tax, or not put money in the electricity meter? Or not eat every day?

We have actually had to make that choice when we were younger.

We paid the mortgage, paid the equivalent of Council Tax, ate lentils and mince and sat in the dark and lit candles if necessary (we had a pre-payment meter). It was not necessary very often. We did not have a car or a telephone.

We later got a lodger to help with the bills.

Priority bills first. Keep the roof over your head.

Irn-Bru-Kid

suburbanwifey wrote: »

T and if I had no money and had the choice of food or council tax, the council tax could whistle and I'd happily take a jail sentence where they fed me, housed me, let me earn 10 pounds a week, buy treats and buy a playstation 3 (which happens in our prisons)



Its a very easy thing to say when by the sounds of things you have most probably never struggled in your life and you will never end up in that situation.

Its most definitely not right that people have to choose between eating and paying council tax. But that's the way it is. Councils want the money and we have to pay.

Irn-Bru-Kid

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

We have actually had to make that choice when we were younger.

We paid the mortgage, paid the equivalent of Council Tax, ate lentils and mince and sat in the dark and lit candles if necessary (we had a pre-payment meter). It was not necessary very often. We did not have a car or a telephone.

We later got a lodger to help with the bills.

Priority bills first. Keep the roof over your head.

Lentils and mince? Not a good combination near a naked flame!!!

Irn-Bru-Kid

Murphymycat wrote: »

Wouldn't someone on the minimum wage also be entitled to benefits?

People keep forgetting that a lot of people getting CTB and/or HB are actually working

My friend works 40 hours a week minimum wage. I think she earns just over £13k a year and she does not get a penny in help. No benefits and no tax credits. She gets a reduction on her council tax because she lives alone.

She pays £500 per month in rent and council tax. Half her wage has gone in keeping a roof above her head. I think she lives on approx £90-100.00 per week.

So, she works 40 hours a week and is about £20-30 per week better off than someone who doesn't work and claims JSA, housing and council tax benefit.

Its just not right.

seven-day-weekend

Irn-Bru-Kid wrote: »

My friend works 40 hours a week minimum wage. I think she earns just over £13k a year and she does not get a penny in help. No benefits and no tax credits. She gets a reduction on her council tax because she lives alone.

She pays £500 per month in rent and council tax. Half her wage has gone in keeping a roof above her head. I think she lives on approx £90-100.00 per week.

So, she works 40 hours a week and is about £20-30 per week better off than someone who doesn't work and claims JSA, housing and council tax benefit.

Its just not right.

No it most certainly isn't. Minimum wage should be higher.

themull1

annie1975 wrote: »

We dont get housing benefit of any kind, but I think its unfair to expect people to pay something out of £71 a week. On the other hand if you are a family,or someone with children and getting quite a bit then yes you should cough up a bit.
A man I know lost his job,split from his partner,found rented accomodation,(cheapest he could )..rent is £450 a month and HB pay something like £350-£375 towards the rent.he has to put the rest to it himself out of his JSA.They said he should have got a 1 bed flat while hes on his own (Though the rent on that could have been more).But he has his children stay over at weekends and sometimes in the week so needed extra bedrooms.
Makes you wonder what this government will think up next to make peoples lives worse than they already are.

He could have had a sofa bed if the kids didnt stay all the time, kids have his bedroom, he has sofa bed.

Irn-Bru-Kid

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

No it most certainly isn't. Minimum wage should be higher.

We have her over 2-3 nights a week for dinner and she stays with us most Saturday nights. This takes the pressure off her a little with buying food, utilities etc.

We help where we can.

suburbanwifey

Irn-Bru-Kid wrote: »

suburbanwifey wrote: »

T and if I had no money and had the choice of food or council tax, the council tax could whistle and I'd happily take a jail sentence where they fed me, housed me, let me earn 10 pounds a week, buy treats and buy a playstation 3 (which happens in our prisons)



Its a very easy thing to say when by the sounds of things you have most probably never struggled in your life and you will never end up in that situation.

Its most definitely not right that people have to choose between eating and paying council tax. But that's the way it is. Councils want the money and we have to pay.

Its always a mistake to make rash judgments about someone who you don't know, because to be quite frank you are wrong. Many years ago, me and my OH ate porridge for our Christmas dinner one year, we were more broke than anyone on this forum because back then (the early 90's) there were NO benefits for couples with no kids, below the poverty line I would say, for 6 months!

But you know, someone once said to me 'the harder you work, the luckier you become' and I listened. We both worked hard, 25 years later we are wealthy yes, but we earned every penny and got no help from no one, no family, no govt. When we needed help, we got told to get lost! have you ever just had a bowl of porridge for your Christmas dinner? I doubt it, benefits today may not be much but I tell you, you all on here lived better than we did back then.

I have experienced many things in my life, which is why I can often give advice about so much, you don't get to mid 40's without learning a thing or two and I try to use my experiences and wisdom on this forum at times to help others, even though when we needed help no one was there.

So, be careful before you make rash statements like the one you made, you were wrong.

suburbanwifey

Irn-Bru-Kid wrote: »

suburbanwifey wrote: »

T and if I had no money and had the choice of food or council tax, the council tax could whistle and I'd happily take a jail sentence where they fed me, housed me, let me earn 10 pounds a week, buy treats and buy a playstation 3 (which happens in our prisons)



Its a very easy thing to say when by the sounds of things you have most probably never struggled in your life and you will never end up in that situation.

Its most definitely not right that people have to choose between eating and paying council tax. But that's the way it is. Councils want the money and we have to pay.

No, it is not the way it is. Councils may want their money but no way on this earth would I starve to pay council tax, and in my opinion anyone who does is foolish. You have one life, in my life I have always prioritised the IMPORTANT things and me eating would always be more important than a stupid bill that in my opinion is charged to excess, to people who already pay enough out of their wages, whatever they earn.

You would really starve and go without food to pay council tax? I admire your loyalty to your council and in your opinion 'doing the right thing' to me, doing the 'right thing' would be feeding me and my family, my cats would come before the council, they are my responsibility to look after and feed, the council could and would whistle. I feel sad that people in this country feel as you do, so terrified of the consequences of not paying council tax that they would starve themselves and their family.

I actually nowadays pay 2 lots of council tax on two properties that are both my home, if I had a mortgage I would pay that mortgage above council tax. I would not lose my home nor starve to pay any council tax. My priorities would be mortgage/rent first, to keep a roof over head etc. I get NO benefit from council tax. I have no kids, do not use the library (get my books for kindle or physical books from Amazon) I do not use schools etc.

When we couldn't eat, I paid essential bills only, as outlined above. Council tax, trust me, could and would whistle!

Irn-Bru-Kid

suburbanwifey wrote: »

Irn-Bru-Kid wrote: »

Its always a mistake to make rash judgments about someone who you don't know, because to be quite frank you are wrong. Many years ago, me and my OH ate porridge for our Christmas dinner one year, we were more broke than anyone on this forum because back then (the early 90's) there were NO benefits for couples with no kids, below the poverty line I would say, for 6 months!

But you know, someone once said to me 'the harder you work, the luckier you become' and I listened. We both worked hard, 25 years later we are wealthy yes, but we earned every penny and got no help from no one, no family, no govt. When we needed help, we got told to get lost! have you ever just had a bowl of porridge for your Christmas dinner? I doubt it, benefits today may not be much but I tell you, you all on here lived better than we did back then.

I have experienced many things in my life, which is why I can often give advice about so much, you don't get to mid 40's without learning a thing or two and I try to use my experiences and wisdom on this forum at times to help others, even though when we needed help no one was there.

So, be careful before you make rash statements like the one you made, you were wrong.

Oh please, we all have our sad stories. Struggled for six months over 20 years ago, poor you.