Adding childcare to tax credits claim

kay159

My daughter is disabled and has a 15 month old. Her partner works full time on a low wage. They claim WTC and CTC
Her consultant has expressed concerns that as she is prone to losing consciousness she should not be left alone with her son all the time
I understand that as she has a disability she would be eligible for help towards childcare
Initially she is looking at 1 half day a week possibly increasing to 2 or 3 at a later date.
From what we know there is a possibility of gaining help towards 75% of the nursery fees
If she has to submit a new claim for Universal credit she would lose around £40 a week in benefits according to the benefit checkers such as entitledto and turn2us (not exactly sure why), and given that her landlord will not allow any form of HB this could jeopordise their tenancy and push them into rent arrears
Can she add on childcare to her existing claim without the need to apply for universal credit
If not can they claim childcare tax allowances even though she does not work due to disability
Thanks

kay159

Can I add to this - ran through the figures on benefits calculators yesterday and showed £40 a week worse off under Universal Credit but on the one on this site states could be up to £40 a week better off if HB is included in the claim - would this be possible without the landlords agreement and how long would a switch over to Universal Credit take and how long would they be left with no benefits

Darksparkle

Is she receiving a disability benefit such as DLA or PIP?

kay159

Yes she has DLA both components

Darksparkle

They can add childcare to tax credits then (it’s only up to 70% help and depends on household income).

I do not believe they would qualify for tax free childcare unless she received contributions based esa, incapacity benefit or ni credits based on incapacity or limited capability for work

Icequeen99

As DS says, she can add the childcare element to their tax credit claim.

Tax-Free Childcare should not be claimed as they will lose all of their tax credits.

You really need someone like a welfare rights adviser to carefully calculate the UC - you need to be sure before making a decision to leave tax credits for all sorts of reasons not just financial but also from a conditionality perspective.

IQ