Better off on benefits

Fay_elizabeth

Hi everyone,

I just thought I'd share this, I've just sat down and completely worked through my finances as they are now with a job and then again how they would be if I claimed JSA, Housing benefit and Council tax benefit.

At the moment my monthly money looks like this:

Ingoings:
Salary: £700.00 monthly on average
Housing benefit: £28.00 monthly

Total = £728.00

Outgoings:
Rent and bills: £365.00
Council tax: £60.00
Food: £80.00
Phone: £50.00
Credit card repayments: £120.00
Loan repayments: £50.00

Total = £731.00

As you can see, I barely get by. My hours at work have been cut because I suffer from depression and anxiety and struggle with fatigue but when I'm not at work I tend to spend a lot of time building my illustration portfolio, hoping to get some freelance work soon. Any how this is how my monthly finances would look if I was on benefits:

Ingoings:
Housing benefit: £504.79
Council tax benefit: £46.32
JSA: £307.00

Total = £856.00

Obviously outgoings would be the same as above. I am really tempted to somehow get sacked from work and go down this route just because I will have a better quality of life. Is this a terrible thing for someone to do?

nannytone_2

if you pay £385 rent now and get £28 a month housing benefit .... why would you get £504.79 housing benefit if you were on JSA?

and why do you think you will get 3307 jsa, WHEN THE WEEKLY AMOUNT IS £71?

Fay_elizabeth

Because if I wasn't working I would get £116.48 housing benefit a week. As it stands I get £28.

I would get £71 of JSA a week, which is £307.00 a month...

kingfisherblue

If your rent and bills are £365 a month, why would you get £504 housing benefit? Surely your housing benefit would be no more than the cost of your rent alone?

Also, are you aware that if you give up your job, you could be sancttioned for up to six months?

scootw1

Firstly, you may well get sanctioned depending on the reason you were sacked. Secondly don't you think it's immoral anyway? If only we could all do that. I would love to get everything paid for and have all week free to do as I please but the fact is people have to work to supply the country with money

princessdon

nannytone wrote: »

if you pay £385 rent now and get £28 a month housing benefit .... why would you get £504.79 housing benefit if you were on JSA?

and why do you think you will get 3307 jsa, WHEN THE WEEKLY AMOUNT IS £71?

i guess because their rent is £365 + the £28 (still doesn't work out though)

and because £71 * 52 / 12 is £307?


Op but nannytone is correct on one thing - have you checked to see if you will get ALL your housing allowance paid?

also if you are working for yourself via self employment - then please look into this and how it will affect your benefits. People often complain that irregular income "messes" their benefits around.

Consider Tax Credits (if you are over 25). Add your SE to your regular hours (you can claim against your taxes) and get WTC if your SE and PAYE takes you over the 30 hours a week and may make working more beneficial

tomtom256

Or you can take pride in the fact that you work and pay your way and then live by what you earn like thousands of other people who choose work over benefits!

But you do what gives you the better lifestyle!

Fay_elizabeth

Of course I think its immoral, but as it is I barely get by. Excuse me for trying to improve my quality of life.

I didn't know you could be sanctioned for being sacked, surely if the company just didn't renew my contract that would be allowed?

Fay_elizabeth

kingfisherblue wrote: »

If your rent and bills are £365 a month, why would you get £504 housing benefit? Surely your housing benefit would be no more than the cost of your rent alone?

Also, are you aware that if you give up your job, you could be sancttioned for up to six months?

I live with my partner, our entire rent is £650 (bills not inc.) He is also on a low wage. I checked the lambeth council website for all of these figures.

Alleycat

You wouldn't get £504.79 or even £365 Housing Benefit as you would only get up to the maximum of your rent (assuming it is less than the capped rate for your area and bedroom need) minus any bill payments.

So dependent on how much the bills included in the rent work out to be, you would likely be more like £100 worse off not better.

BigAunty

By those crude and basic figures you might be £130 a month better off, perhaps more if you haven't already already factored in any savings in transport to work, so that's about £30 a week.

But you only work part time at the moment, so that's why there's so little difference. If you worked full time, might your disposable income be around a third more or double, perhaps?

It is possible to be self-employed (30 hours per week if single) and claim working tax credits. Use the Turn2us online benefit calculator to see if this leaves you better off than now. However, you need to really understand how WTC works and have a valid business proposition (see the business link website) because if you don't plan for business success, your self employment will end in failure - how easy is it to earn a living as a self employed illustrator?

At the moment, you pay £170 per month to service debts - that's around a quarter of your net income, a huge dent to your disposable income. See the Direct Gov website and post a SOA on the MSE debt free wanabee board to find out how to deal with your debts more effectively.

You are mainly struggling because of your large debts and part time income.

Perhaps your employer decides to make you redundant - at the moment the grass is greener. However, it is easy to fall into an unstructured, chaotic, isolated existence without the structure of employment. It will be much harder for you to find a new position after a period of unemployment.

Might be better to tackle debts and sort out your health issues while in employment rather than see unemployment as a rest period - many long term unemployed, or those on sickness benefits under Incapacity Benefit (now being transferred to ESA which is harder to get and easier to be turfed off), never get back into employment.

Also, remember your partner's income is taken into account for benefits. You would only get contributions based JSA for 6 months if you've paid enough contributions over the last 2 tax years, then it switches to income based and his income will invariably wipe it out - are you aware of this?