Income/benefit advice.

glitter03

Hi all, i am currently unemployed after doing some temp work at xmas. (prior to that i was on maternity leave)

I applied for JSA but was not eligible for contribution based and i cannot apply for income based as my partner works full time hours.

We do not get WTC and CTC is only £15 a week.

So basically as i have no income until i can find a job (which i am applying for different jobs everyday) and then likely another month after that for first pay to come through i am on £15 a week income which leaves us short as a family.

Is there anything i can claim or do to help us out until i am earning again or are we destined to be scraping by until i am in employment again?

Horseunderwater

How much does your OH earn? Is it over £17.5k gross? If not and he is doing full time hours you may now qualify for WTC for this years income. There is an income disregard of £2.5k if your income goes down, but I assume it has gone down quite a bit more than that as you have been on Mat leave. So it is well worth inputting last years income into entitled 2's benefit calculator then ticking income box lower for this year to then add in a current years estimated income. You may be surprised at the result. Oh and do not forget to deduct £100/week off your gross income as you have been on Mat leave.
If you do get more entitlement, then note what you input into system and ring up tax credits and let them know of revision to income for this year.

allen35

Based on only getting £15 per week CTC it seems your joint income for 11/12 tax year was approx' £23,750.

Have you worked out this years income and deducted £100 for every week you were in receipt of SMP.

If your income has decreased by over £2,500 contact HMRC and give an estimate of this years combined income and it may increase your tax credits.

During these times your OH is expected to support you until you get another job

glitter03

Hi thanks for the replies guys

I have just phoned Tax Credits (again) and given them an estimate for the year 2012/2013 so hopefully i will see an increase there.

Not sure how you have worked out the income there allen35, my OH is a teacher and earns more than that. My employment before maternity leave was part time.

I am reluctant to specify exact income details because as i have seen on other posts i have browsed you will get posters replying with 'you earn x amount so you should not need tax credits etc' but obviously we still have to pay the mortgage and other household bills for example he travels a fair way to work every day which costs us a fortune in petrol. We have no debts or loans etc...it is just with me not working at the moment things will be a struggle.

allen35

Sorry Glitter i wasn't prying, i based it on having 1 child which obviously i got wrong.

Hope all works out and you aren't out of work for too long.

glitter03

Nooo don't apologise, i hope i didn't come across as rude in that previous post?! I didn't think you were prying at all, i was genuinely wondering how you got the figure lol because i don't understand how they work out each persons 'entitlement'.

We have two children although my eldest is 5years old.

Thanks

allen35

I shouldn't imagine it will take you long to get back into work but if you feel you are struggling to maintain your mortgage payments in the short term it may be a good idea to speak to your mortgage provider and possibly have a holiday or reduction of your payments for a couple of months.

You may want to have a look at your household budget and look for reductions. Have a look at your electricity/gas bills and see if you can switch to save money (try u-switch.com it's impartial)

Always a good idea to check what insurance you have and check your not paying twice through different policies.

Once again good luck with the job hunting.:)

glitter03

Thankyou allen Taking a mortgage holiday i think we would have to have been on the last pounds and completely desperate. I would not be keen to do that!

However:

Got offered a job today. Phew. Panic over

midnight_express

well done with the job