entiltled to anything or not please help......

poppyscorner

Hi All,

I am seeking some advice on any benefits financial help we may be entitled to our situation is this I am 24years old and my hubby is 31yrs old we have a son aged 4yrs and also a baby boy aged 2 weeks I normally work full time 37.5hrs for the NHS as an assistant manager my annual wage before having maternity leave was 16400 pa and about 1100after tax every month my hubby had to give up his full time work in July 2005 to take over our childcare as we could never afford to pay for childcare and as you can imagine we struggled he then decided in October 05 to go into partnership with his father and became self employed he works part time and slots in around my working hours his wages were 3329 for the business that year it doesnt pay great but it is something we dont claim tax credits and havent done since last April as they have like many other families plunged us into debt by making overpayments and we are now being pursued by them for this. Iswore I would never claim them again but we find now that we have no choice as our finances are getting worse our income has dropped quite a bit now we get no benefits or financial help from any source at present other than my wage and child benefit for our first son.

My wage is £893 per month now OH has not had any work in for past 4 weeks and things are becoming tight he has been seeking work but nothing happening at present mentioned it to our health visitor this morning who suggested we may be entitled to a maternity grant I have made enquiries about this today jobcentre plus were useless they claimed to have none of the forms in the office and have had to phone to request them to be posted after conversation with the telephone adviser she told me I have to be in receipt of tax credits to be entitled to this but it also has to be in excess of the family element dont know what this means.

Also as this means I am now forced into a corner where I am going to have to claim the tax credits as we need them and am going to have to take the chance of overpayments happening I plan to go back to work but part ime so my wage annually will be two thirds of what it was previously and I know tax credits work on the year previously which obviously will look like we have more income than we actually do now I need our income to be right as if we are entitled to this grant we have to claim within 3 months we are now just so confused and I hope someone can help on here I just seem to be chasing my tail with everyone else.

One last point is the tax credits online application no longer seems to be available so how long will that take to sort out by post any advice is gratefully received thanks for taking the time to read if anyone else can recommend anything else we may be entitled to please let me know Thanks again Amanda x

amani_2

hi AMANDA, Have you been on the website entitledto.co.uk? its very good, you just put in your information and it will tell you all the benefits you are entitled to.

Hope this helps.

Also I know what you mean about the tax credit it happened to us too. We are now in the proccess of appling for WTC again as we have no choice, but I am very reluctant.

Amani

poppyscorner

hi amani thanks for replying I did check entitledto.co.uk first but it only gives you the tax credit award andany HB CTB we may be entitled to was just wondering about other entitlements thanks again Amanda

msmicawber

Hi Amanda,

You may be eligible for housing benefit. Have you looked on your local council's web site for a benefit calculator (a lot have them now)? If not, use this as a general guide.

http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/ccm/content/finance/how-much-may-i-be-entitled-to.en

I understand why you don't want to claim tax credits again as I feel the same about housing benefit having got into an overpayment situation with the council, but these are all safety nets for when you need them. You may find it helpful to speak to someone at the CAB about what you're entitled to, and ensuring that you don't get into an overpayment situation again.

As for the salary on which your tax credits would be based if you apply again, you just need to make sure in the forms that you set out your current income and let them know if things change during the tax year. The rules aren't so tight about changes during the year now, so your income can rise up to £25,000 in a tax year without it changing the current award. Any changes are calculated on the new salary for the next tax year.

With housing benefit, however, changes in income affect benefit immediately, so you have to be very diligent about notifying the council of all and any changes as quickly as possible.

I hope that helps a little and wish you the best of luck.