Son 16 in full time education

tori.k

brylissian wrote: »

I called tax credits and explained I had already informed CB in June who also updated CTC. They said they do apologise but they system is recalculating. I said I appreciate that but it doesn't help at all so I asked how long would it be before the new award letter drops thru my door. The reply? "About 2 weeks"! .

I hope it does but don't bank on it, I managed to finally get thru this afternoon was advised they had no idea when I would be getting an award notice, DH reminded me the last time we had issue with TC 2009 it took 16 weeks to get sorted and paperwork returned, Ironically if it takes that long this time I wont make the tax threshold as im effectively working partime-hours so 0 tax until I can get his pass sorted

shazmg

I'm having issues with them too, called 9 times yesterday and went thru all automated questions only to be told it was busy and to call back. I had originally called back in June to inform them that my disabled daughter would be staying on at school til she was 18, this isn't voluntary, in her school the leaving age is 18. They said it would be noted on their system. I called back on the day my daughter went back to school (August 18th) and reminded them of this and they said it was on the system and I should expect a minor change in payments the first week of Sept. When I called yesterday my payments were down by over 2 thirds. I had to cancel direct debits and try to borrow money from family to cover payments that were due to be made. I called today and have been told that next weeks payment will be the same and again I will have to try and scrimp to make payments. If this has been happening for a few years (according to another thread) then they need to find a better way to deal with it and make sure people arent left out of pocket.

mrs_angry

Not liking the comments on this thread at all "well you should be saving" "stop using the kids as income" etc....bit below the belt, really not very helpful, and untrue!

i too have had money stop as son who is 16 started college, i was informed in the award notice it would stop and when i rang was told it would be recalculated from sept 1st. I dont like it but nothing i can do about the system.

my husband works full time, i work part time and go to college and we have 3 children, that little less bit of money does make a difference as we already live close to the edge, yes we have 2 cars, and a telly and broadband etc.....and yes we are given an amount of money from ctc and child benefit, this we dont count as income from our children but income for them, food, bills, clothes etc.....not getting the correct amount means we have to live alot tighter until it is sorted out. People without kids have fewer mouths to feed and clothe etc, yet i wouldnt say they had it any easier or harder than people with kids, we all have it tough at the moment because of rising prices, so rather than spout off with silly sweeping comments better to stick together and support one another

As we all know that when the bills are popping through the door any less money we have counts.

gettingready

Jonj1611 wrote: »

Having other income is great and can be used for other things but only when you know whats going on with payments.

Other income like what? wages/salary perhaps?



Or FOR making payments.. you know, like the rest of us - work and then get paid to pay the bills.

Jonj1611 wrote: »

Rather they sent out letters stating that for people within a certain time-frame that payments maybe irregular or lower than expected, at least that way people don't get left up the creek like today.

Rather that sitting at home waiting for letters - some people should simply get a job.

FBaby

But just because people aren't working or getting benefits doesn't mean they should be any less eligible to expect things to work smoothly for them.

But why assume that those who work never experience such issues? I didn't get paid for two months when I started my new jobs because of issues that were nothing to do with me. If anyone should hope that things worth smoothly, it should be those who provide a service for that remuneration and yet they too deal with incompentencies.

Whether a family is well-off, just about managing, or having to be extra careful, everyone should have a contingency budget comparable to the income they receive. It might mean £500 a month for the well-off, £50 for those who about manage, and £5 for those who count every penny but enough to ensure a shopping treat, or paying a minimum amount for an oncoming bill. I struggle to believe that families receiving tax credits are not able in any way of saving £5 a month.

Jonj1611

gettingready wrote: »

Other income like what? wages/salary perhaps?



Or FOR making payments.. you know, like the rest of us - work and then get paid to pay the bills.



Rather that sitting at home waiting for letters - some people should simply get a job.

Thats fantastic advice thank you. I get ESA and there is a reason I am not working so probably best not to judge people before you know the facts.

Jonj1611

FBaby wrote: »

But why assume that those who work never experience such issues? I didn't get paid for two months when I started my new jobs because of issues that were nothing to do with me. If anyone should hope that things worth smoothly, it should be those who provide a service for that remuneration and yet they too deal with incompentencies.

Whether a family is well-off, just about managing, or having to be extra careful, everyone should have a contingency budget comparable to the income they receive. It might mean £500 a month for the well-off, £50 for those who about manage, and £5 for those who count every penny but enough to ensure a shopping treat, or paying a minimum amount for an oncoming bill. I struggle to believe that families receiving tax credits are not able in any way of saving £5 a month.

I have edited this as I wanted to provide a more balanced response.

Yes your right some people could save £5 a month, my circumstances make saving incredibly difficult and have struggled to put any money away, ironically there have already been 2 emergencies this year requiring such money, tax credits wasn't one of them, especially when you are told nothing will change. And even if I did save £5 a month, over a year that is still not enough to cover what I haven't received.

I dont really understand the other person having a pop at the unemployed for not working, this thread wasn't about that yet there always seem to be a few who seem to want to have a go. I know I am getting the money that was missing repaid but spread out over the rest of year.

I am sure in your job if your wages weren't correct by say £200, you would bring that up immediately and I expect would be the first to complain if they said, sure we will pay the £200 back over the next 12 months. Or will you just say thats fine, I have saved for this moment? I would be surprised if you would be happy with that situation yet it seems ok for others to have a go at people on this thread for complaining about payments that are either missing or lower than expected or not known when they will be paid at all.

FBaby

The difference is that in one case, the money is earned for a service provided, the second, it is income that is given for nothing provided in exchange, so of course, expectations will be different.

The point is about dealing with situations when money expected does not coming forward. If anything, people on benefits are much more at risk because they have less control over it, so should try even harder to save for the unexpected. I know it is hard because it will inevitably mean having to give something up rather than just putting away what might be left over at the end of the month, but once again, that's the same situation than many people working find themselves in. It is a choice, do you allow yourself a few treats each month at the risk of finding yourself in a very stressful situation wondering how a bill will be paid or worse, food/electricity, or you do without any treat for some time to build that emergency fund.

I appreciate that sometimes even emergency fund can run out, but my feeling from reading threads here is that few people ever bother with one in the first place and then blame everyone else.

zagfles

FBaby wrote: »

The difference is that in one case, the money is earned for a service provided, the second, it is income that is given for nothing provided in exchange, so of course, expectations will be different.

Why is the expectation different? Tax credits aren't some optional or discretionary payment which HMRC can pay if they feel like it, they are payments defined by rules laid down by law. Claimants have just as much right to expect the payments the law entitles them to as HMRC have to expect people to pay taxes the law says they have to.

dktreesea

What we found when our first child turned 16 and this recalculation happened is it took around 10 days to sort out, but there wasn't a back payment. Instead, the payments went up a few pounds a week through until the end of the financial year.


Yes, benefits are a risky thing to rely on, because they can be stopped or delayed at any time, especially when there are changes in curcumstances.