Am I entitled to anything if living with a student? 6 January at 9:30PM in Benefits & tax credits 13 replies 722 views

cfaw

Hi all.

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere, but Ive been pointed to this forum to ask.

Our situation is....

Im full time employed- £25,000 a year.
My wife is a student doing a PhD and not working.
No kids. 

Should I / My Wife / We be entitled to anything? 

Ive never looked in to benefits / credits etc. But a friend has said I should be able to get something as we were talking about how everything is going up in price.

Im awful at stuff like this but really appreciate anything in advance

HillStreetBlues

I believe if your wife is a full time student, you will be classed as a single person household so will get 25% deduction from council tax.

poppy12345

The only benefit would be Universal Credit. Based on your earnings and no children it's unlikely you would qualify. Is your wife working as well as being a student? A lot of students have no option to work while studying.

The bills you pay and the cost of living increases doesn't help a benefit claim because they are not taken into consideration.

cfaw

poppy12345 said:

The only benefit would be Universal Credit. Based on your earnings and no children it's unlikely you would qualify. Is your wife working as well as being a student? A lot of students have no option to work while studying.

The bills you pay and the cost of living increases doesn't help a benefit claim because they are not taken into consideration.

Wife does not work. 

I saw a snippet somewhere about houses under £40,000 total income could get help as well? 

elsien

You’re referring to Martin’s  article, Which talks about families and says there might be an eligibility, not that there will be.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/martin-lewis-says-people-earning-25908757

People with children under this bracket are more likely to be able to claim something than people without.
I am a homeowner earning less than 40 K and I’m not entitled to anything at all, and nor should I be.
As there are two of you you could try putting your circumstances into one of the benefits calculators as a double check.

theoretica

Not you but the student - what stage of their PhD are they at and are they getting any grants, support, paid teaching work...? 

poppy12345

cfaw said:

poppy12345 said:

The only benefit would be Universal Credit. Based on your earnings and no children it's unlikely you would qualify. Is your wife working as well as being a student? A lot of students have no option to work while studying.

The bills you pay and the cost of living increases doesn't help a benefit claim because they are not taken into consideration.

Wife does not work. 

I saw a snippet somewhere about houses under £40,000 total income could get help as well? 

You're not the first person to ask about that. Some families may have children with disabilities, some may have disabilies their self or have a limited capability for work because of a health condition. All those will increase their maximum entitlement to UC. As there's only yourself and your wife then your maximum UC entitlement will be much lower.

Is there any other reason why your wife doesn't work, apart from being a student? Most students have no option to work. Can she find part time work as well as study?

cfaw

theoretica said:

Not you but the student - what stage of their PhD are they at and are they getting any grants, support, paid teaching work...? 

Shes at the very end of her PhD now. It was part of their 'contract' that they actually dont work whilst carrying out the PhD as its the full time option and not over so many years 'part-time' so to speak.

elsien said:

You’re referring to Martin’s  article, Which talks about families and says there might be an eligibility, not that there will be.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/martin-lewis-says-people-earning-25908757

People with children under this bracket are more likely to be able to claim something than people without.
I am a homeowner earning less than 40 K and I’m not entitled to anything at all, and nor should I be.
As there are two of you you could try putting your circumstances into one of the benefits calculators as a double check.

I have tried the benefits calculator on many sites but they all say due to her being a phd student, it wont be accurate

poppy12345

Does she receive student finance? Do you rent or own your own home?

cfaw

poppy12345 said:

Does she receive student finance? Do you rent or own your own home?

Can no longer receive student finance. The home is mortgage by myself

poppy12345

cfaw said:

poppy12345 said:

Does she receive student finance? Do you rent or own your own home?

  The home is mortgage by myself

Then because you have no rent costs your maximum UC entitlement will be £525.72 per month any earnings received each month will reduce your UC by 55%. With your earnings your UC would be reduced to zero, so no entitlement.