Entitled to website

justlittleoleme

does anyone know how accurate the Entitledto website is or others similar. I have never claimed any benefits in my life but due to my marriage breakdown I am looking at buying a shared-ownership property & when I put in all the relevant details, I really could not believe how much it told me I would qualify for. Just wondered if this info on these sites is really accurate x

Icequeen99

I have done numerous tests on that site and only ever found one error which has been corrected.

A lot of people post on here saying it is wrong, but I think it depends on the quality of the information answered and then being able to understand and interpret the results before comparing to any actual award given.

IQ

BigAunty

Garbage in equals garbage out. It has a good reputation for accuracy but inputting anything slightly wrong can throw out the calculations.

If you are comfortable providing the details for forum members to verify, then outline your situation (employment income, children and their age, if there are any disabilities, etc) and the benefits and their sums it says you can get.

Lone parents can get quite generous benefits, particularly if there is working tax credits, too.

sulkisu

If you post your information up, income for 2013-2014 and 2014-2015, number and ages of children, housing situation and costs, childcare costs, any disabilities, and the figures that you have come up with, I am sure that someone will be able to tell if they sound accurate.

justlittleoleme

thank you for your replies. I'm not uncomfortable giving my details & will outline these below. I am buying/paying cash for 50% share of a property. My husband & I are separating so I will be classed as single & will live alone. I will have no mortgage. I am 67 years old. I have no capital over £10,000 (after paying for my property purchase). I have no dependant children/family. I own no other property. The only income I will have is my state pension which is a meagre £91.30 a week. The property I hope to buy is in Band A for council tax. The breakdown of my purchase is £55 per month for service charge costs & £135 rent per month to the housing company for the other 50% of property I will not own. I have a disability that I do not, as yet, receive any benefit for. This is due to an on-going hand problem & basically I have only limited use of one hand. When I went onto the entitledto site, one question was: "how much do you pay in charges, ground rent & other housing costs" & then it asks "how much is your rent" so not sure what to put in either box re my outgoing costs listed above. Maybe someone could help me with my calculations. thanks in advance for your help which I really do appreciate x

pmlindyloo

justlittleoleme wrote: »

thank you for your replies. I'm not uncomfortable giving my details & will outline these below. I am buying/paying cash for 50% share of a property. My husband & I are separating so I will be classed as single & will live alone. I will have no mortgage. I am 67 years old. I have no capital over £10,000 (after paying for my property purchase). I have no dependant children/family. I own no other property. The only income I will have is my state pension which is a meagre £91.30 a week. The property I hope to buy is in Band A for council tax. The breakdown of my purchase is £55 per month for service charge costs & £135 rent per month to the housing company for the other 50% of property I will not own. I have a disability that I do not, as yet, receive any benefit for. This is due to an on-going hand problem & basically I have only limited use of one hand. When I went onto the entitledto site, one question was: "how much do you pay in charges, ground rent & other housing costs" & then it asks "how much is your rent" so not sure what to put in either box re my outgoing costs listed above. Maybe someone could help me with my calculations. thanks in advance for your help which I really do appreciate x

As you will have found out you will be entitled to Pension Credit.

This will automatically give you full entitlement to Housing Benefit for your rent (as it is Shared Ownership)

As regards the ground rent and service charge questions this is because some of the service charges may be payable as part of your HB.

See this link:
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/what_is_housing_benefit/housing_benefit_calculations

But don't worry, as this will all be sorted out for you.

Just apply for your Pension Credit first.

I'm sure on the HB application form it will have a breakdown of what service charges you will be paying. Perhaps it is on your lease/contract?

BigAunty

Ok, so you basically found out that most or nearly all of your accommodation costs will be met by housing benefit and council tax discount and that your disposable income will increase through pension credit?

Have a look into whether you would qualify for attendance allowance, not sure if you would but here's the info.

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/money-matters/claiming-benefits/attendance-allowance/what-is-attendance-allowance/

I'm not familiar with the process for buying a shared ownership association property so the following is just an observation of mine, not a fact. I'm surprised that a social housing landlord would allow someone without employment income to buy a property because they will be unable to staircase up and buy it outright. Perhaps its because they receive income in the form of rent that they don't mind this.

justlittleoleme

thank you for the replies this morning. I really do appreciate your posts. I'm guessing that I would not be able to apply for any benefits I would be entitled to until I have signed the forms for this purchase? I do have an option of buying more of the shared ownership: currently 50% but up to 100% could be bought with the housing association agreeing. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to buy more than 50%. I will have a look at the attendance allowance link you have given me. Because I have never claimed a penny in benefits in my life, I am finding it hard but guess that is just me - things are not easy at the moment. thanks again x

BigAunty

justlittleoleme wrote: »

thank you for the replies this morning. I really do appreciate your posts. I'm guessing that I would not be able to apply for any benefits I would be entitled to until I have signed the forms for this purchase?

You cannot apply for housing benefit until you have a liability to pay rent (i.e. through having a signed tenancy agreement or occupying the property) and you cannot apply for council tax benefit in advance. The Shelter website explains how housing benefit works.

As far as I know, attendance allowance isn't means tested so can be applied for by you now. Check the Age UK info to verify this.

As for pension credit, I don't know how it works. Are you co-habiting with your ex? Are you formally separated? Are you currently above the means testing limit but plan to use your savings to pay for your move?

A lone parent, for example, can apparently still get benefits as if they don't live with their partner who has income/capital even if they are both still in the same property, as long as they are prepared to demonstrate to the DWP, etc, that they aren't in a relationship. Not quite sure how this works in practice, though.

Remember that the Turn2us online benefit calculator can model different scenarios - you can find out your entitlements now and investigate how they could be in the future.

Indie_Kid

BigAunty wrote: »

As far as I know, attendance allowance isn't means tested so can be applied for by you now. Check the Age UK info to verify this.

This is right Attendance Allowance has nothing to do with savings or income.