benefits to tide us over

50Twuncle

I have not claimed any ESA for two years - having worked on 2 different employers on the same job - but now - due to something beyond my control - my new employer has told me that I will not get any pay until the end of September......
(We do have considerable savings - but they are tied up and inaccessible)
Is there any facility for benefits to be paid temporarily ?

BigAunty

How are you savings tied up and how much are they?

Capital over 6k starts to reduce means tested benefits and over 16k rules them out. Many investment vehicles are regarded as capital whereas something like a formal pension pot is not.

What is your joint household income?

Dekota

Afraid not, the taxpayer isn't as generous as he used to be.

50Twuncle

BigAunty wrote: »

How are you savings tied up and how much are they?

Capital over 6k starts to reduce means tested benefits and over 16k rules them out. Many investment vehicles are regarded as capital whereas something like a formal pension pot is not.

What is your joint household income?

Our savings are over £16k mostly in ISA form
Does ESA(C) not have any savings limit ?
My (ill health) pension is only £7500 pa
My wife earns £50 per week (part time)
My (part time) job will pay me £80 per week but only if I can wait until the end of September.

emsywoo123

What are you saving for? A rainy day? That day has come!

Notmyrealname

Are you working even though not currently being paid? If so you can't claim ESA.

Pollycat

21Twinkle wrote: »

my new employer has told me that I will not get any pay until the end of September......
(We do have considerable savings - but they are tied up and inaccessible)

21Twinkle wrote: »

Our savings are over £16k mostly in ISA form

Are you saying that, despite having savings of over £16K, you have absolutely no spare cash that you can use for an emergency such as this?

It won't help you over this month-long hiccup but I would recommend that when your fixed term ISA (I assume that's where your money is) ends you put what you consider a reasonable amount aside in a instant access account for what you refer to in your first post as "something beyond your control".

You're talking 5 weeks at £80 per week so you're missing £400 - not that much of an emergency fund really.

What would you do if your boiler broke?

pickpocketlocket

21Twinkle wrote: »

Our savings are over £16k mostly in ISA form
Does ESA(C) not have any savings limit ?
My (ill health) pension is only £7500 pa
My wife earns £50 per week (part time)
My (part time) job will pay me £80 per week but only if I can wait until the end of September.

An ISA is accessible, it is just that you will pay a penalty if you withdraw your savings before a specified length of time. The DWP would expect you to do this.

Plus, if you are fit for work, why would you even consider claiming ESA?

BigAunty

Is there anyway your wife can up her hours? If she's paid the NMW, it looks like she is only working about 8 hours per week, for example.

Are you actually working at the moment and just expecting your wages in 5 weeks time?

ISAs are considered capital that affects means (i.e. income) based benefits so you would not qualify for housing benefit (if a tenant) or council tax benefit, for example. I don't know if they affect contributions based ESA or not, to be honest, but you can't work and claim ESA at the same time unless it is permitted work.

You could enter your information into the Turn2us online benefit calculator to see if you qualify for anything else.

For working tax credits, a couple with children must work 24 hours per week between them, for those without dependents, the claimant is expected to work 30 hours and there are different thresholds for those with disabilities.

I believe that as a general principle, a couple without dependents is expected by the govt to live on around £111 a week as a minimum. Yours is closer to £200 a week from your pension and your wife's income alone, excluding any additional ESA and any employment income. However, that's just a guide - some households get more than this minimum subsistence amount.

50Twuncle

pickpocketlocket wrote: »

An ISA is accessible, it is just that you will pay a penalty if you withdraw your savings before a specified length of time. The DWP would expect you to do this.

Plus, if you are fit for work, why would you even consider claiming ESA?

ESA(C) is not savings related - it is contribution related
Someone could have £100million in the bank and still be entitled to claim it !!
And as for fitness for work - if someone is on "permitted work" as I was last year - they still make up your wages ..... they take off 50% of income above £90 per week and pay the difference (that is badly worded but true)

50Twuncle

BigAunty wrote: »

Is there anyway your wife can up her hours? If she's paid the NMW, it looks like she is only working about 8 hours per week, for example.

Are you actually working at the moment and just expecting your wages in 5 weeks time?

ISAs are considered capital that affects means (i.e. income) based benefits so you would not qualify for housing benefit (if a tenant) or council tax benefit, for example. I don't know if they affect contributions based ESA or not, to be honest, but you can't work and claim ESA at the same time unless it is permitted work.

You could enter your information into the Turn2us online benefit calculator to see if you qualify for anything else.

For working tax credits, a couple with children must work 24 hours per week between them, for those without dependents, the claimant is expected to work 30 hours and there are different thresholds for those with disabilities.

I believe that as a general principle, a couple without dependents is expected by the govt to live on around £111 a week as a minimum. Yours is closer to £200 a week from your pension and your wife's income alone, excluding any additional ESA and any employment income. However, that's just a guide - some households get more than this minimum subsistence amount.

WTC require disabled to work 16 hours - but since they are currently trying to claw back £1800 that they claim to have overpaid me by (in 6 months) - 2 years ago - I am steering clear of WTC !
We do have a mortgage and council tax to pay as well as gas/electricity/home insurance/car insurance/road tax/petrol etc - so how can anyone be expected to survive on £111 per week ?
I do get mid range DLA (care component)
My wife works 7 hours per week and has tried to get more hours without sucess - she used to claim carers allowance too - but since we both found "jobs" - we cancelled the claim - it didn't seem right, both working and claiming CA
I have not claimed 1p ESA / JS for 2 years