Very confused and in need of help please!

Inimeitiel

Hi all, I guess the best way for anyone to help is to get it all out there! So I'll jump right in

Basically me and my boyfriend live together and are both unable to work due to health issues at the moment we are claiming contribution based ESA, he is 27 (28 in May) and I'm 24 (25 in March) (just encase this affects anything)

This according to benefits office is a benefit claimed by my partner with me added on
We are in the support catagory of ESA and are receiving £173.65 per week in ESA benefit but when we put all our details into the benefits calculator it says we should be getting about £218.60 per week
But when we call them they tell us that we are getting what we should as its all based on my partner and I don't affect the benefits

Can someone tell me what I'm missing? As we are struggling to keep up with bills and feeding ourselves (so normally skip meals) but we don't know what to do to see where we are going wrong any light or help would be MASSIVELY appreciated!

Thank you all in advance!

Torry_Quine

It appears from your information that your partner is on contribution based ESA with an income based top up for you, which is also less for under 25 years old. Have you checked to see if you are entitled to anything else such as help with housing costs?

mum2one

Exactly what TQ said - as your under 25, its a lower rate, have you looked into housing benefit? x

Inimeitiel

We also receive housing benefits which doesn't cover the full rent and are paying £20 a week council tax (due to my boyfriend being unable to pay last year and ringing up a debt)

We have asked and they have told us we aren't entitled to anything else but I'm unsure why I'm putting in that I'm 24 and this is still the figure we are getting but obviously we are getting £60 (ish) less per week then what it says which would cover our food and we would be able to put the heating on once in a while!

MummyMoo

I don't know anything about benefit entitlement but I thought maybe I could add my two cents to try be help.

May I suggest you look at your weekly budget, if you don't have one maybe you should think about setting one. On that much money you should have to be skipping meals. There are lots of threads on here about budgeting which are extremely helpful. When I joined up many years ago I was in a dire financial state but now I'm actually starting to get savings and I'm helping friends to get on the right path

BigAunty

The calculators give you the impression you are due £44 more per week, but if your health improves, a joint JSA claim is £114.85 which is a stonking £58 less than you currently receive.

You should not be going hungry though clearly on your current budget (and in particular on a potential JSA income, you face issues with whether to heat or eat.

Food banks help out those struggling to afford groceries, though you may require a referrel from the Citizens Advice Bureau or other body, plus they have limits on the number of times you can collect food parcels. They are happy to help out people struggling on benefits.

I second the advice to download the MSE budget planner and work through the site to work out where to slash expenses on each bill. The Old Style board will have good advice on the cheapest of groceries and frugal recipes. There was an MSE who a few years back produced a nutritionist approved recipes that fed a family of 4 for £100 a month, for example.

How much do you pay each week towards your rent? Apply for Discretionary Housing Payment to top up your HB. You may not get it, and if you do, it will only be temporary but worth a try.

Have you asked the council to lower the CT debt repayment? That's swallowing up over 10% of your income. Does he definitely owe the debt?

emmsie123

Can you copy and paste the calculator results.
The max esa for a couple is £173 a week.
You must of put something wrong somewhere.
Did you tick the carer box?
By mistake.