Not sure what we may be entitled to and even how/where to claim?

tkwad

Please can anyone advise if we may be eligible for help from any source?


Partner made redundant end July (awaiting p45)


we currently get child benefit and child tax credits but tax credits told me to ring when we have the p45, not before....


Partner has started as self employed but work is very little and not enough to cover his van rental and fuel costs so looks like initially going to be running with a possible loss...he is working approximately 35 hours a week including going to visit possible places and work out quotes....


I am a student starting soon on a business course (to try to help partner)


He has a part time PAYE job 8 hrs every 2nd weekend....


We are in rented accommodation


what could we possibly be entitled to?


and how do we claim any help? do we need to visit a job centre or just call relevant people? sorry but this is all new to me

pmlindyloo

Did your OH get any redundancy money?

Other than sorting out tax credits the only other thing that you can claim is housing benefit and council tax reduction.

These are means tested so any entitlement will be based on income from you and your OH, including any student loans, income from his PAYE job and self employment and the amount of savings you have between you.

If you are a full time student then you will be exempt from council tax so should at the very least be entitled to a 25% discount, if you are not receiving already. You would need to get a certificate form your place of education if you are eligible (depends on your course)

You will need evidence of all your income and in your husband's case records of his income and expenditure of his self employment plus evidence of your savings.

Forms for HB and CT reduction can be collected from your local council or they may be online.

tkwad

blondebubbles wrote: »

Do you know what his employment end date was and what his pay to date was? This would be on a P45 but may also be on his final payslip. Of you know this then there is no requirement to wait for the P45.

Are tax credits aware he is now self employed and still PAYE? Basically what they will be looking for is a new estimate of his income for this year.

Without knowing these details it isn't easy to say what you may be entitled to.

Have you tried using a benefit calculator?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/benefits-check

Thank you for replying....he didn't receive a final payslip as they were always emailed to his works email which he can no longer access...so we have no idea until his p45 arrives. We called tax credits last month and they said we were not to call until he got his p45 for they would need the income to date figure..

tkwad

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Did your OH get any redundancy money?

Other than sorting out tax credits the only other thing that you can claim is housing benefit and council tax reduction.

These are means tested so any entitlement will be based on income from you and your OH, including any student loans, income from his PAYE job and self employment and the amount of savings you have between you.

If you are a full time student then you will be exempt from council tax so should at the very least be entitled to a 25% discount, if you are not receiving already. You would need to get a certificate form your place of education if you are eligible (depends on your course)

You will need evidence of all your income and in your husband's case records of his income and expenditure of his self employment plus evidence of your savings.

Forms for HB and CT reduction can be collected from your local council or they may be online.

Thank you for replying...yes OH will be getting redundancy not received it yet.. but he is using this to help his new sole trader business with things like purchasing essential tools etc, .thank you for the advice re help with housing,.who do we claim this from?

kittykat17

tkwad wrote: »

Thank you for replying...yes OH will be getting redundancy not received it yet.. but he is using this to help his new sole trader business with things like purchasing essential tools etc, .thank you for the advice re help with housing,.who do we claim this from?

Housing benefit and council tax reduction are dealt with by your local authority / council (LA). Some have the forms on their websites but in most cases you'll need to go into a council office to collect them. Good luck to your OH with his new business.

tkwad

blondebubbles wrote: »

Without the P45 then yes you wouldn't be able to update the income to date but can still update the other details regarding change of job. Have you done this?

No, not yet. we have had a conversation with tax credits where we told them he was registered as self employed but was not beginning trading just yet, they told us to ring back when we have the P45 and give them those figures and an estimate of his income for the next year to april

tkwad

kittykat17 wrote: »

Housing benefit and council tax reduction are dealt with by your local authority / council (LA). Some have the forms on their websites but in most cases you'll need to go into a council office to collect them. Good luck to your OH with his new business.

Thanks for the advice and thank you for the good luck wishes too

tkwad

I could and probably will cry.... have just spoken to tax credits and even thou partners income is likely to be less than half of last years we now effectively don't qualify for either working tax or child tax credits...

tkwad

blondebubbles wrote: »

You don't need to work to qualify for child tax credits.

What exactly did they say?

For working tax credits for a couple with children you must work 24 hours per week, with one person working at least 16 hours per week. So this could be just one person working the 24 hours or one one does 16 and the other does 8. Or some other combination.

When will your partner actually start working? You said in your OP that he is working 35 hours.

I told the tax credits guy my partner was working a minimum of 30 hours... he started trading as self employed from 1/7/14
we have 1 qualifying child as my eldest goes to university in September and so doesnt qualify from 31st august


Last years income is over the limit for ctc with 1 child, I think thatss what the problem is


When all changes were inputted was told we don't qualify for working tax and it doesnt look good for tax credits despite a drop in income of around 13K

tkwad

Using the figures for this year as last years income we would have qualified for both wtc and ctc, I just find it all really confusing...I hope the guy was wrong and we do get something cos at this rate we could be homeless by christmas

tkwad

blondebubbles wrote: »

Tax credits disregards the first £2500 of your decrease so if you are estimating £13,000 then your tax credit award would be based on £15,500

If you have a look at this table here you will see that you are still eligible.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-credits-entitlement-table-working-at-least-16-hours-and-no-childcare/tax-credits-entitlement-table-working-at-least-16-hours-and-no-childcare

That's a very helpful link, thank you