Beware of joint benefit claims

Marcon

DAsurvivor said:

I have taken it to the papers, the Express printed a nearly whole paper on it, I have have tried to get the support of my MP where I used to live and the one where I live now but the DWP won't budge. I bet the same rule applies to Universal Benefits. That is why I thought I would post it here to let others know of this injustice which I am sure has and still in effecting lots of people, especially women. 

Have you been to the Parlimentary Ombudsman to complain about the failure of the form to explain this distinctly murky (not to say generally unknown) point? I'd expect your MP to have suggested but in case not: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk 

NedS

DAsurvivor said:

I was born in the 1950 so have suffered from the changes in pension age. I have a letter from the DWP dated 1st April 2009 stating I would be entitled to a full state pension from 6th November 2019.I have worked full time since I was 16.  I asked for a benefit forecast as I was living with my partner, we had started our own business and was advised by our accountant to claim working tax credit while we built up the business. Unfortunately my relationship went very badly wrong and he became increasing abusive to the extent that the police became involved. I eventually managed to escape in 2019. When I applied for my pension in 2019 I was told that I would not receive until 2021 and that I would not get a full pension because I had not paid NI since 2009. When I queried this,  I was told that while we were receiving tax credits he was credited with NI but I wasn't. When I complained on the grounds of sex discrimination they said that it wasn't sex discrimination but just that his name appeared first on the form although the accepted that this was not explained on the form. I was told the only thing I could do was pay the outstanding years of NI. I want others to know that if you claim benefits as a couple only one of you will receive NI credits while the other person will receive a reduced pension and a massive bill!!

Luckily Tax Credits has now been replaced by Universal Credit, where both claimants on a joint claim are awarded NI credits so this is no longer an issue.

zagfles

Marcon said:

DAsurvivor said:

I have taken it to the papers, the Express printed a nearly whole paper on it, I have have tried to get the support of my MP where I used to live and the one where I live now but the DWP won't budge. I bet the same rule applies to Universal Benefits. That is why I thought I would post it here to let others know of this injustice which I am sure has and still in effecting lots of people, especially women. 

Have you been to the Parlimentary Ombudsman to complain about the failure of the form to explain this distinctly murky (not to say generally unknown) point? I'd expect your MP to have suggested but in case not: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk 

It must be a fairly rare situation, where both partners are SE but not earning enough to pay Class 2 NI, yet both working at least 16 hours each (or IIRC 30 if no kids and not disabled) so entitled to WTC, and for several years? HMRC used to get very sniffy about SE claiming WTC if their earnings weren't consistent with working hours.

SouthCoastBoy

zagfles said:

Brie said:

People may suggest that anyone's name could go first but in a patriarchial society the male in a relationship often gets top billing.  I mean - how often does anyone refer to Mrs & Mr Smith?

I know - I was discussing this exact same thing with my Dad and Mum the other day when I took the kids to see their Grandad and Gran

Oddly enough I always said mum & dad, dad & mum doesn't sound right