advice on entitlements for an under 25 and unwaged partner

smunchkinp

Just after some general info for a friend,

She and her bf moved in together last year, since then he's been made redundant and used his redundancy pay to continue paying the rent. (thats now gone)

He's had his 6 months contribution related jobseekers, and is no longer entitled to income related jobseekers as she's working.

She's on minimum wage and contracted to 30 hours a week, cant claim WTC as she's under the age of 25.
Housing benefit has been applied for but they're only giving £50 a month out of the £450.

Is there any more help either he or she can apply for to keep their heads above water until he finds a job?

kingfisherblue

Have they applied for council tax benefit? Can she increase her hours at work?

smunchkinp

CT benefit was initially turned down, but paperwork has gone in again since he lost his contribution based jobseekers.

As for work, no chance, she's asked numerous times for an increase in hours, but always gets declined

princessdon

I don't think there is anything else they can claim

Unless you have disabililites or children options are pretty limited when it comes to benefits. Income based JSA isn't an option, too young for WTC (I think that is silly BTW and all should be entitled), they have applied for CTB and HB.

sniggings

after rent is paid they are left with about £82, or they sure they can also get £50 HB?

They would be better off on benefits!

and people wonder why some say why bother working.

skintandscared_2

sniggings wrote: »

after rent is paid they are left with about £82, or they sure they can also get £50 HB?

They would be better off on benefits!

and people wonder why some say why bother working.

Only one of them IS working. The point is, they can't GET the benefits. Did you read the OP?

missapril75

Minimum wage on 30 hours is about £170 net.

Assuming maximum HB/LHA would cover rent, on JSA they'd be left with £111 (personal allowance)

There's a £5 disregard so the net wage is about £54 above personal allowance. The HB assessment would say they could afford to pay £35 and HB would pay for the rest.

£35 out of £170 leaves £135. Not much of a gain but better than £111 depending on any costs of working.

If HB/LHA isn't making up the difference between £35 and the full rent, then either they are applying a restriction or maybe they are still assessing on JSA(C) being in payment.

missapril75

skintandscared wrote: »

Only one of them IS working. The point is, they can't GET the benefits. Did you read the OP?

I think his/her point was JSA (income based) for both would be more than her wage. That is sometimes the case, depending on costs to get to work.

smunchkinp

I really feel for them at the moment, as the system seems to working against them.

have to await the decision on HB and CT benefits see if they're entitled to a higher award.
In the meantime, i'll continue helping where i can. doesnt seem like much else can be done.

as for work costs, they dont factor in as she walks/cycles to work as she cant afford the bus fare. Good job she only lives 3 miles away

BigAunty

How much is the rent compared to the 1 bedroom rate of LHA anyway?

Lots of tenants inadvertently sign tenancies for places far higher than what they could achieve in HB if they lost their jobs. Obviously, though, the main factor that is causing them little HB is that one is in employment.

BigAunty

smunchkinp wrote: »

I really feel for them at the moment, as the system seems to working against them.

have to await the decision on HB and CT benefits see if they're entitled to a higher award.
In the meantime, i'll continue helping where i can. doesnt seem like much else can be done.

..

It's not clear to me what their disposable income is after rent/CT - what is it? Do they have debts?

They can double check their entitlements on the Turn2us online benefit checker which will tell them the LHA (housing benefit) and CT benefits due.

Another option is to download the MSE budget planner.