what can i get

toozie_2

Please don't think I'm being cheeky, but if you are a single parent, the Lone Parent Advisor at CAB, usually has loads of good advice. Will also tell you how much better/worse off you'll be when you find employment. This is an in-depth, confidential report on your in/out goings, down to travel costs etc to new job.
Good luck, and hope I haven't offended you. xx

braken2000

didnt think about that, i am a lone parent and ur not being rude at all, im going to see the CAB in a few hours. thanks for your help

Fran

Just in case there's confusion with 2 different things - CAB can advise you on your best options in your situation, so take along all info you want them to check etc. The Lone Parent Advisor will be found at your Jobcentre, you are automatically allocated one so they will be in touch with you and you will attend a work focused interview.

braken2000

right, im going to take my last bank statements, pay slips, and any benefit details with me to the CAB, and ill explain my situation and see what they say,

Spendless

Fran wrote:

If you can though you want to claim Income Support, because it's only on IS that you can get help with your mortgage ( and that is only after a few months) - see Ted's link for info.

I got help with my mortgage when i was on JSA- contribution based. At the time i was single with no dependants, it was back in 1998/1999 so things might have changed by now.

bonnie_2

you have to be on benifits for 39 weeks now before they will help with mortgage, you only get milk tokens for under 5,s

Curry_Queen

bonnie wrote:

you have to be on benifits for 39 weeks now before they will help with mortgage,

That's only if you took out your mortgage after October 1995 and has always been the case. If you took out your mortgage before this date you can get help with payments sooner

Curry_Queen

margaretclare wrote:

There is a supplement for lone parents.

I think that was phased out a long time ago but those that were getting it before they stopped it still continue to do so, and I believe it was paid with CB, although now the CTC and WTC is in force I'm not sure it isn't being stopped altogether now.

I don't receive any extra benefit as a single parent and never have done.

Fran

margaretclare wrote:

Hi Ann

You should be able to get:
Jobseeker's Allowance (contribution-based)

As a lone parent you can claim Income Support and do not need to sign on at the Jobcentre. IS depends on your income and any savings or capital that you have. Anything over £3,000 starts to affect your benefit.

Child Benefit will continue but not WTC or CTC

You should still be entitled to Child Tax Credit as the old child element of Income Support is now paid as Child Tax Credits

Either Housing Benefit or help with mortgage interest - ask at the JobCentre for this.

You will not be able to claim Housing Benefit, that is only for rented accommodation.

If your income is inadequate with all the above, you could try claiming Income Support.

You are entitled to IS if your income, capital and savings are low as you are responsible for bringing up a child/children.

There is a supplement for lone parents.

As has been pointed out, this was phased out and was attached to Child Benefit. It may still be payable to people who have had a continuous claim since 1998 but won't apply to you as a new claim.

Milk tokens etc went out years ago, I think!

I'm not sure what you get for under 5's if that applies.

Can I just add, I'm a part-time volunteer adviser with CAB.

As this is the case you are in a position to check the info that you are putting on here first.

Most of the questions you're asking can be dealt with at your local JobCentre Plus. People come to CAB thinking we can tell them something different, or get benefits for them that the JobCentre can't - well, that isn't the case!

I disagree with you here! The Jobcentre is only concerned with benefits and jobs. The CAB has access to information across the board and look at an overall situation. They can do "better off calculations" for instance to see how much better off or not you are if you take work and they can check that you are receiving all the benefits that you receive. This is different to the Jobcentre who will only tell you about benefits that you ask about. Often people go to the CAB with a number of problems, for instance they enquire about one debt but have several. As CAB are concerned with income maximisation they will try to ensure that the person is getting all they are entitled to whereas the Jobcentre are not concerned with this side of things.

Tell the tax people to stop your WTC and CTC,

You should not tell them to stop CTC.

penrith

"Milk tokens etc went out years ago, I think!

I'm not sure what you get for under 5's if that applies. "

If you are on Income Support and have children under 5 years of age, you do still get milk tokens. If you have a child under 1 years old you generally get milk tokens for powdered milk (one token gets you a 900g tin of baby milk powder, C&G, Farleys, SMA). If you are exclusively breastfeedinga child aged under 1, you can ask for the milk tokens to be for liquid milk for the breastfeeding mother. If you have children aged between 1 and 5, then you get a vouchers that buys you 7 pints of liquid milk per week. You can also get milk tokens for liquid milk if you are on income support and are pregnant.

HTH