Some advice appreciated

CodeineCowBoy

Hi guys i was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions so i can get an idea of what to expect before i press ahead.

Currently i live with my father, but I want to move over with my current girlfriend/child, At the moment she is on benefits for my 3 year old son and receives nothing from me, as I spend on him when I have him. She currently lives in a council house and is now desperately looking for work

Firstly:
At the moment I'm currently unemployed and on signed off by the doctors. When I declare that I'm living with my girlfriend, how will that affect us money wise?

Also how does it work if your singed off sick? (I cant see that being no longer than another month at most, before im fit to look for work again).


To throw the spanner in the works, when im fit enough to return to work, I want to go self employed with a business idea that I have. But i cant see it making a livable wage within the first year, so how can I make it workout and go solo?

If anyone could shed some light i would be appreciated

benefitbaby

I will have a go!

I assume at the moment your girlfriend is a lone parent in receipt of Income support (IS) child benefit (CB) and child tax credit (CTC) as well as housing benefit (HB) and council tax benefit (CTB).

You are currently receiving employment & support allowance (ESA)? Hopefully so far so good if I have summarised correctly the following will be what happens...

If you move in you will go from 2 single people to 1 couple so this will impact all the benefits except CB which will stay in your girlfriends name.

You will need to close your girlfriend's single claims and instead make joint claims for CTC, HB and CTB. These are means-tested so if you have low income/savings it is likely you will qualify for the full rates.

As a couple your girlfriend will no longer be a lone parent so she will not be able to claim income support.

Your ESA is currently being paid to you as a single person so you would have to make a joint claim and your girlfriend would be exempt from the ESA work-capability assessment as she is the primary carer of a young child.

When you are no longer signed off from work you will need to close the ESA claim and instead make a claim for jobseekers allowance (JSA) your girlfriend will not be required to look for work because again she is the primary carer of a young child.

Whilst you are claiming JSA you should talk to your employment adviser about any schemes they may have for you to set up as self-employed and you may also want to contact Business Link as they offer free advice on this subject.

If/when you start to work as a self-employed person you work for more than 24 hours your JSA claim would need to be closed and instead you and your gilfriend would need to claim working tax credits.

The other key thing to remember with self-emplyment is to keep good records, initially you may be putting in lots of hours for little return (eg delivering leaflets, putting up posters) however it is the hours you do this that is key for working tax credits as you have to be doing things that will generate an income in the not-to-distant future - they call this 'in expectation of payment'.

You and your girlfiriend may want to try out the benefit calculator on the entitledto website.

CodeineCowBoy

Thanks very much, you've nailed it

If im not earning a decent wage when im self employed, will I get more working tax credits?

benefitbaby

CodeineCowBoy wrote: »

Thanks very much, you've nailed it

If im not earning a decent wage when im self employed, will I get more working tax credits?

Glad to help,
Tax credit entitlement is calculated based on previous years earnings/income so when you move in with g/f tax credits will look at your joint income for the period April 2011 to April 2012 (her IS, CB, CTC, HB and CTB are disregarded) and then calculate how much you qualify for.

HMRC have a pretty good 'tax credit calculator' so you can have a look and see an approximation of entitlement.

susannthe3cs

Just a quick warning try and have some savings when you move in together as Tax credits will end her claim altogether, then reissue a form then work out the payments then issue them, Even if the amount will probably stay the same as your both currently unemployed it still stops.
When I had to go through the above process after reconciling with my partner it took 9 weeks!!! it wasn't pretty but we managed.
Good Luck on moving in together

CodeineCowBoy

Sorry to bump an old thread, but just wanted to re-ask the question, since I think I've been signed off sick for the next 3 months (im in the support group, so wont have to attend work focused interviews).

How will it affect us when we move in together while I'm on the sick?

Thanks guys, most helpfull!

CodeineCowBoy

quick bump

BigAunty

You can model the impact of this by putting in the scenario into the Turn2us online benefit calculator.

benefitbaby has provided sound info, AFAIK.

CodeineCowBoy

Tried that but couldnt get a clear idea how the claim will be worked out with me on the sick

BigAunty

CodeineCowBoy wrote: »

Tried that but couldnt get a clear idea how the claim will be worked out with me on the sick

Because on page 2 of the wizard, you get to complete a field to say you claim ESA...

benefitbaby

You would need to notify JCP of the moving in with your partner, this will not change the support group allocation however you will change over to a joint claim (with your g/f exempt from the WCA) at the joint rate and her IS will cease.