Help very much needed!!

karmak

ok, here goes, Im a sigle working mum, living with my mum who is on housing benefit. who we have informed, they sent a letter to us saying the non dependent deductions i have to pay but have stated in the letter that i earn between £319-£393 per week when i dont!!!! my take home is £172 per week (gross £182) and i get £120 per week child/tax credits. so i fall below that band and should be paying 59.05 instead of the £67.25 they have said. Now am i right in thinking that child benefit gets disregarded as its not counted as a means tested benefit??? please could some one advise before i challenge them. xx

missapril75

Found this

if the non-dependant works more than 16 hours then you should calculate their gross income and select the appropriate band. For non-dependant deductions gross income includes the gross (before tax and national insurance) amount the non-dependant earns each week, plus any other income including tax credits and benefit income (except income from Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance

Looks like child benefit doesn't get disregarded.

bubbles200957

Child benefit does get included when applying for housing benefit, it is counted as income. Child maintenance doesnt and according to someone i spoke to at the housing benefit office a few years ago a parent can pay upto £400 child maintenance before housing benefit will count it......shame my kids father doesnt pay more than £5 per week for his children....but then he cant even manage a phonecall, birthday card, christmas card or visit in the last 5 years!

karmak

Thanks for replys guys, im so confused!!...I found this on gov website tho....
Does Child Benefit affect your other benefits?

Child Benefit doesn't count as income for other benefits.

If you're claiming Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit

If you're getting Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit your Child Benefit will not be taken into account as income. But the office dealing with these benefits needs to know about your Child Benefit, so they can work out how much to give you.

missapril75

@karmak

It's not you that's claiming the 'other' or housing benefit though, it's your mum.

They are assessing her housing benefit and then making a reduction based on your income.

They are saying that you can make a contribution to the rent based on your income, however it is made up.

Morlock

bubbles200957 wrote: »

Child maintenance doesnt and according to someone i spoke to at the housing benefit office a few years ago a parent can pay upto £400 child maintenance before housing benefit will count it.

Child Maintenance is not assessed as income, no matter how much, there is no '£400' limit.

Morlock

karmak wrote: »

ok, here goes, Im a sigle working mum, living with my mum who is on housing benefit. who we have informed, they sent a letter to us saying the non dependent deductions i have to pay but have stated in the letter that i earn between £319-£393 per week when i dont!!!!

You seem surprised by the level of your own income, as others have pointed out, you do (even if a little indirectly).

bubbles200957

Morlock wrote: »

Child Maintenance is not assessed as income, no matter how much, there is no '£400' limit.

I was just stating what the housing benefit officer told me when he was dealing with my claim a few years back. He asked me what i had coming in and i made a list he was suprised that I was only getting £5 per week from ex (he didnt realise CSA could award such menial amounts) and he told me I could that it wouldnt be counted, also i could get upto £400 per month before they could touch it. Admittedly he didnt say it could be more than that so just presumed that was the max amount (an amount i could only wish for, even a birthday card etc)
Also the rules have changed since I claimed at they dont count Child benefit as an income anymore, they did use to. Is this a change in the last 5 years?