Mooloo's little tapestry of life, 2016

Savvy_sewing

I broached the subject with Biggest about the car idea.
Her BF is going to take me to look at some cars he has seen in Auto Trader, on Monday.
So I will shovel my money around so that I can access it if necessary.
Today is usually my busiest day, what with teaching this evening as well.
Yesterday was hopefully the last of the builders coming, so I can now redecorate and start to sort my house out.
At the weekend staff's husband is going to install a new to me, sink in the bathroom as mine has a crack in it.

Savvy_sewing

Just when I think I am starting to improve life etc, something goes wrong. Some 25 pages of paperwork back from housing benefit to tell me they have miscalculated my housing benefit, that I owe them just short of £5,000! In overpayments going back to 2014 when I started my business. Dispite my supplying them with my accounts every 6 months.
They also do not allow certain items on my accounts in their calculations and therefore they have deemed that I have earned £3900 odd profit last year. Anyway that means my benefit entitlement has dropped significantly, to only a few £ a week, and I have to pay them back ofcourse. Taking £25odd a week out of the £30 odd that they allocated, until further notice.
They also listed £5,000 odd in Cash in Bank Accounts, that I don't even have anymore! And a Barclays account I've Never Had!!!
So am going to have to find all my various proofs of bank accounts closed. Find a way of printing my current information out.
Completely re do my budget as I will now need to find over £96 a week extra for my rent with immediate effect.
My actual SOA shows I have £4600 across accounts, but that I also have £4300 odd in debts.
So I have only around £300 in wealth really.

Back to basics then. There will be no more ability to save, or to build my cash as it looks like I will be loosing it all in the next assessment, as I have been returning my initial capital back to me (hence my cash at the moment), and although I don't see that as a wage, it looks like they will treat it as such.
I can't see the point of claiming what I'm supposed to be entitled too if they make it all up anyway. The business profit, (which was actually £3088 I think off the top of my head), was not paid to me as an income it is in the business accounts and in outgoing a etc since then. So when I do this next 6 months they will calculate I've earned even more and reduce the benefits further. Also I have just informed the tax credits that my projected earnings will be £100 a week, so my tax credits will be adjusted pro rata.
Looks like I will be no better off at all.
I understand that my benefits would of course change, etc but this claiming back £5000 is going to really mess me up.
They also are not allowing my childcare claim until I prove all the way back to 2014 that I have DGD in an ofsted place, and produce all my bills etc for two years.
So I have only two weeks to find the information out, and produce it, and appeal my application.
Looks like I need to have a filing system at home, that's better than just shoving it all in a pile. ( my business accounts are all done), but bills and bank statements etc are few and far between as my world is pretty much paperless these days!!
Looks like the decorating will have to go on the back boiler, and I may not manage to replace my leaking fridge freezer, or my rickety gas cooker that has no safety features! I was looking forward to a new kitchen and the like and was counting the days till I had them delivered. Once the housing had finished dealing with the mould. Which was Wednesday. The ceiling was to be painted this weekend and delivery aimed for next Wednesday. All in time for my Birthday on the 22nd.
I had a terrible restless night worrying about it all. When I did sleep I had random weird dreams with my Dad, Mum, Sister her ex husband, the kids etc all of us in squalor and fighting over stuff. Weird. Mind you that dream wasn't until after 4am and before 6am alarm!
I'm shattered!!!

So back to the drawing board for me. Can't sew much today, have to attend DGDs school at 2.15 and that means bringing her and my friends son home early as they wont be going to after school club. Then I will need to start looking for my paper trail tonight.
The budget needs seriously looking at.
I fear the cash savings will be gone in an instant. I'm looking at a car on Monday afterall. I'm struggling with out one. But my head is now saying that I probably won't be able to afford one.
I'm seriously worried about it all now.
If I didn't have enough to deal with already.
So how do I keep positive, dig deep, and turn this all around?
At the moment I don't know.
But I will find a way.
I'm seeing the accountant next Thursday as a matter of coarse, so I will see if he has any ideas as to what I can do.
My rent etc will be going out DD in 5 days, so I need to move my Emergency Fund into my current Account to cover the short fall. This will give me a cushion so I don't over drawer and incur bank charges.
But it would only cover 2 1/2 months rent shortfall. So I have grace to cut the budget. Also to see about getting my appeal, and my new tax credit award.
After that I do not know. I suppose I should use the ISA, except that was savings for DGDs future, and is only £662 anyway. Ds never did repay the deposit for their flat in 2014, which came out of the ISA.

I am not sure what I can do further until I gather all my evidence. I do suspect I will still owe them a considerable amount, Sod's law, but it's the fact that I will have to repay it at the £25odd a week plus pay the amended rent etc with immediate effect.
I expect several more sleepless nights.
Oh and while paying over £90 a week out more the tax credits will be reducing as my income does go up. So then this will all need to be reassessed all over again.
I will be so happy when I actually can earn a living wage, without the need to have anyone calculate my benefits to survive. They never calculate it correctly!
With computers how hard can it be? Obviously very hard in deed.
Thank gosh for my Emergency Fund.
Although how I can replace it will be another matter.

*Robin*

Oh God Mooloo - that's terrible news! I actually have tears in my eyes for you.. But there's a good chance whoever worked out those figures has made a mistake - they often do - have you got a proper accountant? At this point it would be well worth £100 or so a year to get your figures sorted out (and the authorities would be more likely to accept professionally prepared accounts)!

Meanwhile The Bank Of Mum must close now; no matter what your heart tells you there really is no choice about that..

Sending (((hugs))) across the ether to you, and hoping this wonderful MSE community can rally round with practical ideas for help (anyone got an unused car they really don't need? Or maybe decent second-hand white goods if someone is having a new kitchen put in?).

Am so hoping you get some better news to counteract this bombshell soon, Mooloo.

Slinky

So sorry to hear all this Mooloo, it must be a huge worry.

Do I take it you're a sole trader? If so although that profit may be sitting in your 'business accounts' it is actually part of your income at that point as HMRC see you and the business as one and the same. It's not like a limited company which is a seperate identity to yourself in the tax man's eyes. The one thing to take from this is that you won't be taxed on it again when drawing it from 'the business'.

And I agree with Robin, the bank of Mum has just closed its doors. You have to concentrate on yourself and DGD at this point.

teddypinkskin

Mooloo, tighten your belt for now, appeal their decision and keep calm and carry on.
I am always in awe of how well you deal with what life throws at you and I'm sure this time will be no different. Good luck!

dktreesea

Hi Mooloo,


What exactly didn't they allow you to claim as a deduction? I know they routinely exclude interest on business debts. This is explicitly allowed in the housing act, in a section which even starts "for the avoidance of doubt". Also, if they excluded any costs to do with the purchase of your sewing machines, that is wrong. These are tools of trade and can be claimed outright. They don't need to be depreciated.

Eager_Elephant

EE rushes in.......


Mooloo - do you have my email address from before? I will send a PM with it so you can email me.


As you know I am a Benefits Adviser in my day job so we will be able to sort this out one way or another. If its wrong we will get it changed and if its right then we will make paying it back affordable.


I know it's hard not to worry but please keep calm.
I know you have an accountant and that is great but your accountant needs to know HB rules as well as these are different to HMRC.


As someone else has pointed out when you are a sole trader/self-employed for HB purposes all the profit from the shop is counted as your own income - it does not matter that it stays in the business account.
Its the same for Tax Credits - the income you are declaring to them is the profit from your HMRC Tax Return calculation.
So if you sort your returns for HB out the day before rent is due then in effect you look like your profit is more than it is but then it will make itself right for the following accounting period.


It is correct that some expenses are not permitted under HB rules but are under HMRC.

Eager_Elephant

So I have only two weeks to find the information out, and produce it, and appeal my application.

Sorry just coming back to this - if the council have given you only 2 weeks to supply the requested documentation and they have stated your appeal has a 2 week deadline then they have failed to follow HB guidance.
People have 1 month to supply any requested information and if not supplied the claim is then suspended and you get a further month. After that the claim is cancelled.


Appeals have a 1 month time limit but in certain circumstances can be up to 13 months.


Before you appeal you would do a reconsideration anyway.


Do not rush around trying to find all the paperwork and create a bigger mess to deal with - deal with your paperwork methodically and start getting it all in order now. If you don't have a filing cabinet then some folders and polypockets will be fine.


Start filing everything now as you sort through - all bills together in the same folder. Bank statements in date order and separated as to current account and savings so easy to see at a glance.
Childcare all in one folder. Business all in one folder per year.


Also the capital is a side issue, capital does not matter until you reach £6k so it doesn't matter whether they have you down as £5 or £5000. Lets not worry too much about he capital for now (apart from the Barclays account you don't have) as it makes no difference to the award or overpayment.

trix-a-belle

EE, you are a diamond!

Mooloo, listen to EE & breathe.
I love reading your ramblings & wish I had more suggestions to chip in but it is truly grounding & inspirational & you are so brave posting this all, I wish I had your spirit to do that with some of my own difficulties.

Savvy_sewing

Last night I came home to a further debt on the Council Tax, also generated at the same time. 45 pages of it with them telling me they are taking out £396.53 on 1st August by dd for 2014/15
£555.01 on 1st August by dd for 2015/16
And my dd of £122.88 a month for this year.

This doesn't give me any way of spreading the costs.
My reaction is to cancel my DD at the moment. As I would have no money to live on. My bank would be over my overdraft limit of £500 and I would have nothing to pay my rent etc
I will sort things out and write to you EE.
Last night I did a terrible thing and started to take a hand full of Paracetamol! I just broke down in hysterics. Poor DGD was witness to melt down. (Not the paracetamol), but I realised that was silly and stopped. Hence the meltdown.
I slept for a while, but have been awake since just after 4am.
Currently I am going to have a cup of tea.
Then I'm going to have a bath.
When DGD wakes up I'm going to give her a big hug. Tell her it will be ok. But that granny can't buy a new car or the red fridge we were going to have. That she can help me paint and she can still have her new bedroom as the paper and paint is bought and so to is the wardrobe etc. It's in my friends garage.
That she can still have her holiday with her Mum, and my friend and I will still have a break when the shop closes. My friend has said they will pay for the hotel. I still have €100 in my holiday purse from Easter.
I will gather my evidence.
Write my letter of appeal, and work out my budget/debts and then offer a realistic amount that I can afford( will be acceptable).
But I think I will cancel their DDs so they can't just take my money and leave me in debt elsewhere.