Benefit Advice.

steviecn

Hi all,

I just wanted to see if anyone could give me some advice on benfits and my current situation.

In brief, I have begun work at a local college as a 'contract' IT Lecturer but on an empoloyed basis (they pay my tax and NI). I work 20 hours a week and earn just under £18ph, although there is a lot of time spent outside the classroom lesson prepping etc...!

My contract with the college runs until June 21st 2013 as the summer holidays then start, so consequently I shan't be earning any wage from the college until we start back in September 2013.

I am not paid for holidays, such as half term and easter, so in effect I am only paid for 32 weeks out of 52 per year.

Can anyone give my any advice as to any benefits that I may be entitled to as currently my 'average monthly' take home pay is below my living costs.

FYI Long term I am trying to source other work for the times I am not working at the college, so hopefully benefits will not be required.

Thanks for your help!

Steve.

pmlindyloo

Even averaging out your monthly salary I believe your income is too high to entitle you to any benefits.

Are you single/married/partner/children? Any other household income?

Since you are contracted for the year then I believe you would not be entitled to JSA during the summer holiday as you are 'employed' so not job seeking.

I am willing to be proved wrong though! I make out your monthly income to be £1500.

If you are having difficulty meeting your outgoings there are really only two options. Reduce your income (lots of help to do that on this site) or increase your income through a second job.

You can put your details into the benefit checker on www.turn2us.org.uk to be absolutley sure.

BigAunty

Benefits are largely calculated on income, and your household/living expenses are irrelevant.

Looks like you earn about 11.5k per year.

You can put your details into the Turn2us online benefit calculator to identify any entitlement, such as council tax benefit or housing benefit (if you are a tenant).

The local council website or Direct Gov website will tell you what the maximum Local Housing Allowance (Housing Benefit) rate is and whether you are entitled to a shared property (under age of 35) or 1 bedroom rate (35 years plus) if you are a private tenant.

The benefit calculator will take your salary into account when calculating any LHA.

You won't qualify for working tax credits if you are single and without a disability or dependents as claimants must work 30 hours per week. Does the college pay you directly or are you self employed?

If you aren't entitled to much in the way of benefits, your options are to increase your income (get another job, a lodger or whatever) and decrease your income - download the MSE budget planner and go through the site to identify how to slash your living expenses.

miduck

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Even averaging out your monthly salary I believe your income is too high to entitle you to any benefits.

Are you single/married/partner/children? Any other household income?

Since you are contracted for the year then I believe you would not be entitled to JSA during the summer holiday as you are 'employed' so not job seeking.

I am willing to be proved wrong though! I make out your monthly income to be £1500.

If you are having difficulty meeting your outgoings there are really only two options. Reduce your income (lots of help to do that on this site) or increase your income through a second job.

You can put your details into the benefit checker on www.turn2us.org.uk to be absolutley sure.

Largely correct - strictly speaking the OP is not employed during the summer, however given the expectation that he shall recommence the same employment in September, he is treated as if he is still employed, and his earnings will be averaged out to cover the summer period.

steviecn

Thanks for the quick reply!

My monthly average wage is around the £960.00 before tax. If it was around £1500.00 then I would be OK! At that level of income then I'd understandably not be entitled to benefits.

Thanks for your advice though and i'll check out the link you sent.

steviecn

Again, thanks for all your replies. It's made things clearer for me!

BigAunty

steviecn wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply!

My monthly average wage is around the £960.00 before tax. If it was around £1500.00 then I would be OK! At that level of income then I'd understandably not be entitled to benefits.

Thanks for your advice though and i'll check out the link you sent.

I calculated that you earn £360 a week (20 hours x £18) and you earn this 32 weeks of the year, so that's £11520 per annum. Split over the course of 12 months that is indeed £960 per month.

Obviously, if you manage to get another job on top, even a NMW job of 15 hours per week, £92 odd a week, or you'd gross £1360 per month from both.

pmlindyloo

steviecn wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply!

My monthly average wage is around the £960.00 before tax. If it was around £1500.00 then I would be OK! At that level of income then I'd understandably not be entitled to benefits.

Thanks for your advice though and i'll check out the link you sent.

Sorry, must read more carefully

Thought you were earning £18k a year (would be nice!)

To make up for my mistake I will give you a link which takes you straight to the calculator

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

notanewuser

steviecn wrote: »

Hi all,

I just wanted to see if anyone could give me some advice on benfits and my current situation.

In brief, I have begun work at a local college as a 'contract' IT Lecturer but on an empoloyed basis (they pay my tax and NI). I work 20 hours a week and earn just under £18ph, although there is a lot of time spent outside the classroom lesson prepping etc...!

My contract with the college runs until June 21st 2013 as the summer holidays then start, so consequently I shan't be earning any wage from the college until we start back in September 2013.

I am not paid for holidays, such as half term and easter, so in effect I am only paid for 32 weeks out of 52 per year.

Can anyone give my any advice as to any benefits that I may be entitled to as currently my 'average monthly' take home pay is below my living costs.

FYI Long term I am trying to source other work for the times I am not working at the college, so hopefully benefits will not be required.

Thanks for your help!

Steve.

You should be getting some holiday pay.

5 months at 20 hours per week earns you almost 47 hours holiday.