is this right

GP1_3

This is our circumstances; We are on employment and support allowance and receive houising benefit and council tax benefit and we had a change in circumstances when our son left college and our daughter started college, we lose £65 total for child benefit and child tax credits a week as our son is now 18years old and started a job which is £300 a week gross, we were then told that we have to pay between £59.05 and £63.50 rent and £6.55 council tax so thats around £135.05 a week . I have been told that because my son is earning £300 a week gross he needs to pay around £135 a week and help towards the food bill as he needs a packed lunch each day. Does this sound right to you? This means i can not afford to let my son stay at home with the amount of money lost, the only other way is for him to get a part time job or a job that pays under £100 a week which i feel is unfair.
I feel this is putting a lot of stress on my son and our family, he knows he needs to contribute towards the household and we thought around £70 max was right, we feel that this law is forcing our son out of his family home as he could get a place of his own or share for around £50p/w + food.
I went on the internet to see what people pay into the home as a son or daughter and it was £25 to £50 p/w and the odd £70, i have wrote to my MP to see if the goverment realise what this is doing to families. We have been married for 20years and planned our family, my wife went ill 10 years ago which stopped me from working, i thought i would put this in so you realise that this isn't the position we would like to be in but the circumstances give us little choice. Any comments or thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Upsidedown_Bear

I'm slightly confused.

You say you have to pay between £59.05 and £63.50 rent plus £6.55 council tax but later say you'll have to pay £135.

£59.05 rent (the minimum) plus £6.55 council tax is £65.60.
£63.50 rent (the maximum) plus £6.55 council tax is £70.05.

Upsidedown_Bear

Have just re-read your post.

Are you including the £65 a week you lose in child benefit/tax credits in your £135 a week total?

cord123

It sounds like your son needs to get in the real world. When I got a job my mum lost child benefit etc so I paid £110 a week.... some kids are lucky and have parents that dont need the money, some arent. Your son will still be left with plenty of money! x

I_luv_cats

The o/p is saying they are losing some child benefits of £65 pw.

and

having to pay more rent/ctax because their son is working (as below)



Gross weekly income of between £183.00 and £315.99
£6.55




Gross weekly income of between £238.00 and £315.99
£59.05




A non-dependant is normally any adult who lives with you and is not your partner. In some cases we make a deduction from your benefit to represent the contribution the Government expects them to make to your household. This is called a non-dependant deduction.

The non-dependant deduction is taken off of the maximum benefit before we work out how much help we can give you with the remaining amount.

BigAunty

No, you've misunderstood or miscalculated or you belong to the very common group of parents that post on this forum that simply fail to understand or budget for the loss of the child related benefits when the child becomes an adult - we see a lot of posts here from bewildered parents who seemingly have failed to realise that CHILD benefits tend to end after 18 years and they just have to lump it, there's no replacement benefit.

Your local council will have a non-dependents deduction table on it which will show the relatively modest reduction in your CT/HB which he is expected to pay to you in keep and this is unlikely to exceed 20% of his wages.

You cannot lump together the loss of child benefits/child tax credits with the non-dependent deductions (because he is no longer a child and dependent on you so you don't qualify for them and because as an adult, he's expected to contribute towards the household). These are separate matters. Even if he was a Uni student or unemployed or a low paid apprentice, you would no longer get child benefit or child tax credits - they are gone, get over it.

You now no longer have to pay for his clothing, books, sports equipment, transport to school/college, school uniform, school lunches, so the loss of the child benefits shouldn't be that distressing.

It is not up to the local MP to tell you how to budget or how to negotiate the payment of keep by your child - don't waste his time with such a trivial matter.

Notmyrealname

GP1 wrote: »

This is our circumstances; We are on employment and support allowance and receive houising benefit and council tax benefit and we had a change in circumstances when our son left college and our daughter started college, we lose £65 total for child benefit and child tax credits a week as our son is now 18years old and started a job which is £300 a week gross, we were then told that we have to pay between £59.05 and £63.50 rent and £6.55 council tax so thats around £135.05 a week . I have been told that because my son is earning £300 a week gross he needs to pay around £135 a week and help towards the food bill as he needs a packed lunch each day. Does this sound right to you?

Yes it seems perfectly correct to me.

This means i can not afford to let my son stay at home with the amount of money lost, the only other way is for him to get a part time job or a job that pays under £100 a week which i feel is unfair.

Or, shock horror, another way is he could PAY HIS WAY and pay towards his keep.

You want him to earn less so you can continue to get benefits for him so he, as a grown adult, doesn't have to pay his way? And what is that going to teach him other than how to become a dole scrounger?

Why can't he pay the £135 a week? HE EARNS THREE HUNDRED POUNDS A WEEK - HE EARNS MORE MONEY THAN YOU!!!! Why the hell should we have to foot the bill because you want him to be able to keep all his wages?

I_luv_cats

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Yes it seems perfectly correct to me.



Or, shock horror, another way is he could PAY HIS WAY and pay towards his keep.

You want him to earn less so you can continue to get benefits for him so he, as a grown adult, doesn't have to pay his way? And what is that going to teach him other than how to become a dole scrounger?

Why can't he pay the £135 a week? HE EARNS THREE HUNDRED POUNDS A WEEK - HE EARNS MORE MONEY THAN YOU!!!! Why the hell should we have to foot the bill because you want him to be able to keep all his wages?

Are most of these comments really necessary? We are suppose to be nice to each other on here!

Hmm71

Who told you your son needs to pay £135 a week towards the household costs? You need to sit down with your family and work out your income/expenditure and come up with a realistic amount your son can contribute towards the family budget.
As i luv cats has already pointed out your council make a non-dependant deduction from your housing and council tax benefits in respect of your son's earnings. What you ask from him towards the shortfall is up to you.
You really all need to discuss how much he is going to pay and what he is going to be expected to pay for himself. As an example: he pays a contribution to rent, bills and food but buys his own clothes and pays for his own travel costs.

krisskross

You lose the child related benefits for him whether he lives with you or not.

It is only right that taxpayers are not expected to pay his rent for him. He is earning more than enough to pay his own way.

Will you need a bedroom less if he leaves? This could be a financial issue for you as well.

Dunroamin

I really can't see the problem with your son covering the extra rent and then paying towards his food. Surely he wouldn't want to be supported by disabled parents who live on benefits now he's working?