MSE News: Autumn Statement: Benefits to rise by just 1%

princessdon

You know we discussed this on DT when hypothesing what people will gain/lose

It doesn't give me great pleasure to say that I will be financially better off due to

Rise in Personal Allowance - so £1,335 EACH Plus the rise in 40% so win there.

Fuel frozen - Great News

Increase in ISA's

I can still put 40K Pa into a pension and get Tax Relief

I'm not convinced that is right given that I have a respectable income. I do think benefits are too high in parts - but where I think they are high (HB, CTC, Multiple Children Claimants) etc have not been addressed.

Even as someone who doesn't support the "entitled to" mentality that has emerged for some groups of people and can be referred to on here as a Benefit Basher at times I think he got it wrong and feel sorry for anyone on JSA right now.

Horseunderwater

Yeah - 71p a week rise - anyone know what someone could buy these days for that?

System

Horseunderwater wrote: »

Yeah - 71p a week rise - anyone know what someone could buy these days for that?

A mars bar?

schrodie

miduck wrote: »

If you have no income other than the couples rate of ESA, you will qualify for free prescriptions and full CTB. If you have a mortgage you will qualify for SMI, if you live rent free then clearly you do not need the money to pay for housing costs.

Anything else?

Yes! But given your response above I doubt you'd understand!

wayne0

shedboy94 wrote: »

Have you looking into this for your uniform washing costs?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/relief-tools.htm

yeah, i forgot to add it this year, but its only 40 or so quid... which gives me about a tenner off my tax bill...

i actually told most the people at my work about it... (i used to be self employed so already filled in tax returns... got a letter saying i didnt need to anymore, but though i would just in case, and got 400 quid rebate last year, and 180 this year...)

but all the same, the washing power costs more than a tenner a year, (you cant claim cost of powder and the uniform expense legally) - although i can claim for the cost of my footwear for work... (i go through 3 or 4 pairs of shoes a year due to the oil in kitchen it destroys the shoes... as we have non slip floors it eats at the sole like no tomorrow)

but still... cheers for the link though...

wayne0

schrodie wrote: »

Yes! But given your response above I doubt you'd understand!

i have lived on benefits and worked for my living...

in 10 years of working i have spent about 1 yr on benefits (2 claims) both times recieving about a fiver a week because i worked at the same time...

i can tell you, I WAS WORSE OFF FOR WORKING...

I can tell you, i know how easy it is to put money aside when on benefits... i saved up about 900 quid in about 6 months when i was on jsa a couple of years ago... i wish i could do that now i work...

i got my whole rent paid, plus council tax paid, a 25 quid cold weather payment for fuel (if temps were as cold as this week)

because i work, i dont get the 25 quid, infact i had to spend extra on some (an extra 3 bags of coal to heat up our living room this week.)

im not a benefit basher... but i do believe that some of the rates are too high...

bear in mind:

if i work,
i have to travel to work... pay fuel (no buses at night when i finish) to travel the journey home 15 miles 1 way...

wayne0

LunaLady wrote: »

This thread will end badly like they all do.

its going that way eh lol...

rogerblack

wayne0 wrote: »

y
but all the same, the washing power costs more than a tenner a year, (you cant claim cost of powder and the uniform expense legally) - although i can claim for the cost of my footwear for work... (i go through 3 or 4 pairs of shoes a year due to the oil in kitchen it destroys the shoes... as we have non slip floors it eats at the sole like no tomorrow)

As I understand it, you can claim for any expense wholely incurred during work.
If the washing powder, water, electricity, and the wear and tear on the washing machine exceeds the uniform allowance, you can in principle claim for that, rather than uniform allowance, if you can justify the exact amounts.

You would need to allocate a portion of these, unless you can only wash workwear at once for good reason.

Russe11

schrodie wrote: »

Can you place a figure on that or is that statement based on what the daily mail have lead you to believe. And if they are getting "a hell of a lot more than £71pw" how much more?

For interest the government expects 2 people, one sick/disabled, to live off £150 a week!

yes but many disabled people can and do work to top up their benefits, those who don't are the one on higher rates.

I know someone who gets a car and a rate of disability, plus they do a full time manual job at the same time!

dori2o

Russe11 wrote: »

yes but many disabled people can and do work to top up their benefits, those who don't are the one on higher rates.

I know someone who gets a car and a rate of disability, plus they do a full time manual job at the same time!

You have to remember that DLA is not related at all to being in or out of work. It is a stand alone benefit paid to help with the extra costs associated with living with a disability.

I use my DLA award in a completely different way to how someone else will use it.

My Mum for example gets High Rate Mobility and High Rate Care due to a multitude of illnesses and conditions she has.

She can't walk far enough to be able to use a bus and cost of taxi fares wouldn't be covered by the DLA, so she has a car with the Mobility element which my Dad drives (as my Mum doesn't drive). This enables her top get to her hospital and other medical appointments (she has 4 regular weekly appointments for which a taxi would cost approx £65 a week so the car makes good sense).

I get High Rate Mobility.

Due to the medications I take, the lack of sleep I get due to medications, depression and my leg condition.

I use the DLA to top up my employment income (opposite to your example of topping up benefits wirth work) which has allowed me to drop 5 hours a week at work. This means I can better manage my work and disability, and ensures that I'm not driving to or from work either a) when I've just taken my pills in the morning, or b)when I'm so tired I'm dropping off.

It's a better situation for me as I am in better control of my condition and the secondary conditions that come with it, and it's better for my employer as I'm not taking as much sickness leave from work, or coming in late for my shift, or leaving my shift early.

The remainder of the money from DLA, and the bit I get from tax credits, is used to fund treatments and medications that are not available on the NHS for various reasons, to pay for my wheelchair and will soon be funding a mobility scooter through the motability scheme.