Benifit confusion ESA & more

elsien

It sounds like it is already a joint claim if the partner's income is being taken into account.

calcotti

elsien wrote: »

It sounds like it is already a joint claim if the partner's income is being taken into account.

You may be right but OP said (at post 14) that it’s not a joint claim, all in his name only, whereas I would expect a Tax Credits joint claim to include both names.

xylophone

The OP says

I claim as stated above tax credits, child benefit & guardians allowance, my partner claims nothing & its not a joint claim as such, its all in my name, her income is as stated & we get nothing else from anywhere, no other benefits at all & no other income

We have been down the route of making a joint claim, my partner has a small income as mentioned above & that seems to create more problems than it solves I'm not entirely sure why

which makes it difficult to understand the exact situation.

I imagine that the partner (who owns the house outright) is in receipt of a widow's pension from a scheme that discontinues the payment on remarriage.

It appears that this lady's health prevents her from being able to work.

It seems doubtful that she would be able to manage all bills and expenses on under £5000 a year were she living alone - perhaps she has substantial capital/savings income.

dirty_deeds

Sorry for any confusion as you can probably tell I'm not very good at this stuff I am not intending to drip feed information as mentioned above I just don't know what is relevant & what isn't


So, tax credits approx. 62 pw, child benefit 30 something pw my partners pension approx. 50 pw or 400 pcm + guardians allowance as mentioned above at 17pw that's it no housing benefit no council tax help no other earnings & no savings for either of us


Yes my partner did have savings which is how we have survived until now but that's all long gone & we are struggling now


Xylophone you are correct her pension is a widows one that would stop if she remarried


I have been misunderstanding a joint claim for benefits as all paperwork comes in my name so I presumed I was claiming & she wasn't ? she is on paperwork such as the esa & tax credit stuff so it appears I was wrong there, sorry


Having looked through some paperwork this afternoon and one thing occurs to me, it appears that the house isn't counted as earnings but as savings which makes a huge difference to our perceived wealth

elsien

The value of the house shouldn't be being taken into account for benefits purposes. Have the forms been filled in wrong?
Does your partner have savings in the form of bank accounts or investments?

poppy12345

dirty_deeds wrote: »

Sorry for any confusion as you can probably tell I'm not very good at this stuff I am not intending to drip feed information as mentioned above I just don't know what is relevant & what isn't


So, tax credits approx. 62 pw, child benefit 30 something pw my partners pension approx. 50 pw or 400 pcm + guardians allowance as mentioned above at 17pw that's it no housing benefit no council tax help no other earnings & no savings for either of us


Yes my partner did have savings which is how we have survived until now but that's all long gone & we are struggling now


Xylophone you are correct her pension is a widows one that would stop if she remarried


I have been misunderstanding a joint claim for benefits as all paperwork comes in my name so I presumed I was claiming & she wasn't ? she is on paperwork such as the esa & tax credit stuff so it appears I was wrong there, sorry


Having looked through some paperwork this afternoon and one thing occurs to me, it appears that the house isn't counted as earnings but as savings which makes a huge difference to our perceived wealth

Child benefit is £20.70 per week, as you only have 1 child. The pension £50 per week isn't £400 per month. The house isn't counted as savings because you live there. I think you should speak to your partner to see exactly what's being claimed because something isn't right here.

Once you've done that ring your local CAB for an appointment for a full benefit check.

dirty_deeds

elsien wrote: »

The value of the house shouldn't be being taken into account for benefits purposes. Have the forms been filled in wrong?
Does your partner have savings in the form of bank accounts or investments?

I don't know much about how the forms were originally filled in 4+ years ago as it was done for me at the benefits office because I was in no fit state to do them myself, it is a very good point & something worth checking now I am more able, thank you


No savings or investments for either of us although my partner did have shares that she cashed in a couple of years ago amounting to less than 2000, obviously that's long gone now


I am sure the house is mentioned on the original forms but cant find them so don't know what the context of that is, we are not talking country mansion here but if it is classed at least partly as savings as I suspect what are the options ? surely she cant be expected to sell something she owned long before she met me to support our family?

Mojisola

The value of the house you live is not counted at all in an assessment for benefits.

dirty_deeds

poppy12345 wrote: »

Child benefit is £20.70 per week, as you only have 1 child. The pension £50 per week isn't £400 per month. The house isn't counted as savings because you live there. I think you should speak to your partner to see exactly what's being claimed because something isn't right here.

Once you've done that ring your local CAB for an appointment for a full benefit check.

Yes child benefit is £20.70 sorry I was adding in the guardians allowance


£400 pcm breaks down to what then ? maths was never my strong point !


If you think we haven't spoken about this at length you are deeply mistaken, there are no secrets both of us see all paperwork that comes through the door & know that we are rapidly sinking, there is no hidden pot of gold, my partner has sat beside me reading much of this throughout!


I am fully aware that something isn't right hence trying here to get solid information to help sort this mess out


I tried cab once I realised I wasn't going to receive esa anymore they seemed to hit the same brick wall I have been facing for the last 4 years + basically "entitlement nil"

Thomas_The_Tank_Top

dirty_deeds wrote: »

Hi I am really confused about my benefit situation, I am currently on ESA and am expected to jump through hoops with pretend medical examinations etc but they don't actually give me a single penny, I guess this is because my partner owns the house & that is classed as income somehow ?


Secondly I get tax credits for my granddaughter who I am legal guardian for, that obviously goes to my partner as she pays all the bills including those for my granddaughter & most for myself out of a small pension


So I am left with £17 & pence guardians allowance as my personal money


How can this be right ? can I claim anything else ? is my partner expected to support me for the rest of my life ?


Angry & confused after paying into the system for nigh on 40 years that I cant seem to get the help we need

Andy me hearty. Give my regards to Flo.