Housing Benefit concerns

KaneZP

Good Afternoon,

I was recently moved into an assisted living housing with my girlfriend because of mental health concerns. I began getting mentally unstable in 2015 where doctors and housing authorities decided it was in the best interest and public safety to house me in a secure-bu-still-public housing.

I currently pay the authorities £150 for living fees. I/e maintenance fees etc. At the time of moving in, I was not earning anything and my girlfriend works part-time as 19/half hours.

As my mental illness makes me unstable I am unable to either maintain jobs or to function correctly whilst working. However, the job centre has stated that because my girlfriend is working so many hours that impact me. Meaning I wouldn't be able to claim much.

So onto housing benefits,... We get nearly every bit of that paid for. However recently I have taken on an agency job which I work under 16 hours, basically.... If I am lucky, I get two shifts a week. However, so far, I have had none for 2-3 weeks. I have only ever been paid 3/4 times max.

And that is automatically used to pay off my motorcycle finance and my credit card fees. So at the end of the day, I don't actually have any funds again...

Do you think this would impact me massively on my benefits?

poppy12345

KaneZP wrote: »

Good Afternoon,

I was recently moved into an assisted living housing with my girlfriend because of mental health concerns. I began getting mentally unstable in 2015 where doctors and housing authorities decided it was in the best interest and public safety to house me in a secure-bu-still-public housing.

I currently pay the authorities £150 for living fees. I/e maintenance fees etc. At the time of moving in, I was not earning anything and my girlfriend works part-time as 19/half hours.

As my mental illness makes me unstable I am unable to either maintain jobs or to function correctly whilst working. However, the job centre has stated that because my girlfriend is working so many hours that impact me. Meaning I wouldn't be able to claim much.

So onto housing benefits,... We get nearly every bit of that paid for. However recently I have taken on an agency job which I work under 16 hours, basically.... If I am lucky, I get two shifts a week. However, so far, I have had none for 2-3 weeks. I have only ever been paid 3/4 times max.

And that is automatically used to pay off my motorcycle finance and my credit card fees. So at the end of the day, I don't actually have any funds again...

Do you think this would impact me massively on my benefits?

With your partner working and the hours that you work even if you didn't you wouldn't be entitled to any JSA. I'm assuming housing benefit know about the hours you sometimes work? If they don't then you need to tell them because this will affect the amount of housing benefit you get.
Do you claim PIP? if not then you could look into this http://www.focusondisability.org.uk/personal-independence-payment-PIP-assessment-points.html this link explains all you need to know. If you don't already claim and you fit those descriptors, you could claim. You'll need evidence to support you claim also.
Unfortunately we all have bills to pay, and i'm sure lots of people don't have a lot of money left by the time their bills have been paid.

Caz3121

if your income is variable you should report it regularly to housing benefit so they can reassess your award (additional income will generally mean less housing benefit but not on a £ for £ basis)
The fact that this income is spent on other things does not mean it is not counted as income for benefit purposes

KaneZP

Hi, there - Thank you for your response.

I am going to the tribunal about my PIP as my paperwork was lost and they claimed to see no evidence towards my case.

KaneZP

Thank you for responding.

This agency work is a new thing which only happens in the last few months so at the moment they aren't aware of it. Purely because It took so long with pre-employment checks. Never thought I'd get the job.

It's very difficult. It's almost like you're punished for working.

poppy12345

KaneZP wrote: »

Thank you for responding.

This agency work is a new thing which only happens in the last few months so at the moment they aren't aware of it. Purely because It took so long with pre-employment checks. Never thought I'd get the job.

It's very difficult. It's almost like you're punished for working.

Then you need to ring them and report the changes. Any money you earn because of work will mean you'll get less housing beneift. If you don't ring them then you'll end up with an overpayment to pay back.

marliepanda

KaneZP wrote: »

Thank you for responding.

This agency work is a new thing which only happens in the last few months so at the moment they aren't aware of it. Purely because It took so long with pre-employment checks. Never thought I'd get the job.

It's very difficult. It's almost like you're punished for working.

Punished for working?

No. You're just expected to use your own money for your own bills now, instead of the benefit money.

If you didn't work these few hours, what is paying your motorcycle finance and credit cards?

mycleverbunnies

I have experienced it from both sides.I worked full time for over 27 yrs until I collapsed last year.I had ssp until march and am now on PIP & ESA until I recover with treatment and go back to work next year.
I never once minded working while other people needed benefits & that my taxes went towards it.Although to call them 'my taxes' is wrong anyway as once tax is paid it doesn't belong to any individual.I liked working,considered myself lucky to have always had a job.I agree with you Poppy,it's hard to not be able to work when you want to and on top of that it's not pleasant to have people come on this forum just to say nasty things because people need benefits at some time in their lives to survive.
This forum has been really helpful to me through my illness- including you Poppy who answered a question for me when I was negotiating the minefield that is the benefits system. It is here to help vulnerable people not for the vulnerable people to be attacked & people that come on here to attack just can't be nice people.
Poppy you are actually doing voluntary work by being on here which is fantastic given you are unwell as well as kind of you to share your knowledge.
Hope you have a lovely day without too much pain 😎

mycleverbunnies

Also Poppy did not say it was all about them.They were actually pointing out that there was no need to have a go at the op.

Cheeky_Monkey

KaneZP wrote: »

Good Afternoon,

I was recently moved into an assisted living housing with my girlfriend because of mental health concerns. I began getting mentally unstable in 2015 where doctors and housing authorities decided it was in the best interest and public safety to house me in a secure-bu-still-public housing.

I currently pay the authorities £150 for living fees. I/e maintenance fees etc. At the time of moving in, I was not earning anything and my girlfriend works part-time as 19/half hours.

As my mental illness makes me unstable I am unable to either maintain jobs or to function correctly whilst working. However, the job centre has stated that because my girlfriend is working so many hours that impact me. Meaning I wouldn't be able to claim much.

So onto housing benefits,... We get nearly every bit of that paid for. However recently I have taken on an agency job which I work under 16 hours, basically.... If I am lucky, I get two shifts a week. However, so far, I have had none for 2-3 weeks. I have only ever been paid 3/4 times max.

And that is automatically used to pay off my motorcycle finance and my credit card fees. So at the end of the day, I don't actually have any funds again...

Do you think this would impact me massively on my benefits?

That's a bit of a contradiction there. It would appear that you can actually work despite saying that you can't

Alice_Holt

readingfan wrote: »

..... get up at 4 am every day and work a manually exhausting job primarily in an industrial freezer, that causes back pain, exhaustion, headaches and so on for minimum wage, only to see a chunk of it disappear into benefit claimants pockets......

What readingfan has perhaps failed to understand is that he may not be able to continue with such manually arduous work until SPA of 68 (plus) as a consequence of his own physical deterioration (or replacement with cheaper robots).
There are many male JSA / ESA claimants in their late 50's who can no longer physically perform the manual job they had in their 20's, 30's, and 40's but are ill-equipped (due to educational attainments, experience, attitude, or ability) to cope with knowledge-based work.
Many then go on to develop depression and poor mental health alongside their physical difficulties.
In several decades time that could be his fate!
He will then have to put up with younger versions of himself branding him as a drain on society.

I would suggest to readingfan that he puts time and effort in now to improve his vocational qualifications, and position himself more favourable in the job market. If he improves his own human capital, then perhaps he will be lucky enough never become a benefit claimant himself.