Incapacity and income support and working tax?

MandyG_3

hiya

my husband and I have been struggling for the past few years and have never claimed off government except tax credits.

he has been ill since last april and have been off sick etc etc was getting sick pay but he forced himself back into a better job only to be sacked (he has a bad ear infection and was later diagnosed with ME)

we have no money coming in for past 2 months except tax credits and child benefit, he has applied for well over 50 jobs and no one will emply him either because he has had 3 jobs in last year or they hear about the ME and ear infection, no one wants to listen to why exactly he had to leave each job

he now has to go into hospital as they dont think it is ME - they now think he has narcolepsy.

what do we do? does he continue to look for a job? meaning we would have more money but he would maybe make himself worse and he had to take 2 days off for this hospital thing - he has to go in overnight and be attached to a computer?

or do we continue with our claim for incapacity and income support?

only problem there is that I am self employed - doing about 20 hours a week but I will only be bringing in £100 a month

my questions are-

1) will I still get working tax credits? as I am working, (someone told my husband that they would stop - not sure about that as we haven't had a break in employment - I started being self employed whilst my hubby was still working and we were under the impression that tax credits are based on the total FAMILY working hours and pay)

2) are you able to get working tax, incapacity AND income support?

I only ask as we have a mortgage so get no help with that. we would be so much better off iin a council house etc, but we have to pay.

thanks for any advice

my husband is so cut up about it. I cant get a proper job cause we have no one to look after the kids and my husband cant doit as he doesn't know when he could take a funny turn. I am also 5 months pregnant so working from home is ideal and £100 extra a month will help a bit

MandyG_3

does anyone know about this?

I realy wish they made it clear and simple to understand in their booklets etc

Hapless_2

I recommend you have a word with a welfare advisor at the CAB or similar as I have not come across this situ before.

MandyG_3

hiya thanks for that but we cant do that where we are.

CAB there is a 4-6 week wait for an appointment and they are just useless here - no one at the job centre would help, not even when he was struggling to get a job.

read somewhere we would still get WTC if he was on IB, but not sure if they give you income support on top of this as they are making him apply for incapacity and income support

xx

Cute_'n'_Quirky

As an individual you would be able to be self-employed and claim WTC. If you were then off sick you would get IB - but not sure about IS.

A friend of mine had to leave work because of ill-health. She can only claim IB but not IS or WTC because her husband earns over the required amount - they have no children.

In your case, with children, you should still be able to claim IB for your husband and probably IS aswell, simply because of the children. Your WTC would increase in any case.

It IS complicated that is for sure.

Hope it is all sorted out for you.

MandyG_3

thank you very much for you reply.

We usually are put off applying for this reason lol, way too complicated

hope it does work out ok for us

Hapless_2

I don't think that you can claim income support and working tax credit tbh.

MandyG_3

I read somewhere thatyou can claim WTC and Incapacity, but on another page it says you usually get income support and incapacity.

this is why I have asked the question lol, cause it doesn't mention all three. although I have read somewhere else that you can get all three, but it's not a definate yes or no if you know what I mean?

so confusing

I just assumed I would still get WTC cause I am working, my hubby is applying for the incapacity and income support.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

The income support would be dependent on income and number of children.

You will get IB and WTC because I get it!

You just need to apply and let them sort it out.

MandyG_3

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

The income support would be dependent on income and number of children.

You will get IB and WTC because I get it!

You just need to apply and let them sort it out.

thanks for that

can Ijust be cheeky? how much roughly do you get a week?

we originally tried to work it out and it was better for my husband to get a job, but he is so ill now and no one will employ him.

also they never take into account what bills you have going out. due to our IVA we have cut back to bare min. but we still have to pay it all and pay our mortgage.

I am just really worried that we wont get enough financial help from benefits to cover it all,

I wish they could just tell you and give you a simple answer.

krisskross

I understood that there was no help with mortgage payments for several months, although assistance with council tax can be claimed.

Sorry just re-read your original post and you are aware of this. I do feel for you in a difficult situation, as you say if you rented it would be much simpler. Hope you sort things out.