Wtc & HB claim

Comp2

In July my 12 months of permitted work ended and although I was awarded ESA Isecided to not claim it and continue working and increase my hours to 16 per week.

The council stopped HB and my ESA stopped. I put in a claim for WTC and new claim for HB and have spent in excess of 20 hours filling in forms and compiling paperwork as evidence for both claims. So now two months have passed with no financial help trying to get by on my husbands and my part time wages.

We have received food from food bank and bank account is now empty with rent and bills not being paid. Only just sent off the latest forms and paperwork requested by Nov 3rd but so worried how to manage until whenever?

Darksparkle

What's holding up your WTC claim?

Comp2

2 weeks until the initial form was received, then after another two weeks we phoned to ask how it was progressing and they said they were sending out more forms. That took over a week to arrive and then we spent most of the weekend filling in the forms and collating evidence they requested relating to our business and personal finances. We finished that last night and sent them today.

tboo

You really need to speak to the council - they should process your claim based on your current circumstances only while you wait for the WTC to be processed.
The council will then add the WTC to the claim and if you are over the amount to qualify terminate the claim.
Any WTC issued to you will be in arrears and current payments - the council should ignore the arrear amount.

Comp2

The council just offered us tokens for the food bank :-(.

The trouble is that won't pay the rent or our direct debits.

nannytone_2

you say both you and your husband are working, and that you've increased your hours to 16.
at NLW that would be £110 a week and then whatever your husband earns.
so surely it is just your rent you are struggling with?

ypuve has help with food from the food bank and yet your rent and bills aren't being paid.

i dont understand how you cannot pay rent or bills or buy food when you are both earning something

Comp2

I have just increased my hours to 16. The trouble is business is not booming overnight. I am getting as much work as I can but I have had last minute cancellations which doesn't help.

My husband has lost a couple of regular clients recently due to hospital stays so they had to go elsewhere. He has not replaced them yet so our joint income barely scratches the surface currently.

Our rent is over £800 a month for a start. The direct debits come out on set days. I and my husband have already 'borrowed' the balance from our business accounts leaving barely enough for expenses.

Comp2

We have basically used up our money because we paid everything up until now but obviously haven't earnt that money.

nannytone_2

so you're both self employed?

can one of you not find an employed position while the other gets their self employed business up and running?
or both work on the same business?

Comp2

My husband has already returned to work too early. He is still ill! He is over 60. Yes that sounds feasible! Thankfully he has a very high pain threshold but that could be his undoing.

He would help me too but I don't have enough work for that yet.

Comp2

And as for me finding an employed position. My own business will be a success. It is heading in the right direction and I am unemployable. So to pack up my regular clients to take on an employed position that I would never hold down if I got one in the first instance would be a bad move.