what counts as income, as household income and expenditure

Maddalene

Hello,

This probably sounds silly, but I'm confused by what might be classed as "My" versus "household" income and expenditure.

Firstly, is expenditure just classified as rent, bills, not food shopping, toiletries, transport?

Secondly, I have three children with disabilities who receive DLA/ PIP. One is only 8 so I assume the money he gets is part of "my" income (is this correct?).

Two are adults. One has court of protection and a bank account I operate for him. I assume that I don't include his finances in any calculation - is this correct? Or is he part of the "household"?

The issue is my eldest son who has no bank account or capacity of his own and I get the money paid into my account. I assume his money is NOT my income and deduct that from any calculations. But is he part of the "household"?

(They all live at home) It's a bit hard to work out the son with no bank accounts expenses anyway, and do I assume they're "household" or not?

To confuse matters the DWP does NOT view my adult sons as being part of our "household" - they're classed as separate - which is why it's so confusing when it comes to loans.

Thanks

CliveOfIndia

It can be tricky. My understanding (though can't guarantee it 100%) is that your children who are over 18 would be classed as "household", you can include their income under "household" but not claim it to be your own. Unless you have POA or equivalent, in which case you could. Under 18, you could class it as yours, on the assumption that you manage it for them.

But it's really important to do your sums carefully. Yes, expenses include food, toiletries, transport, whatever. Any medical or support care you may have to pay for. Even if you get accepted for the loan, it's no good then finding out that you can't afford it because your surplus each month is less than you thought.

It might be worth doing an SOA: https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

This is often used on the Debt-Free Wannabe boards, but it can be a great way of forcing yourself to take a proper look at your finances and see what you actually spend (there's no need to share it if you don't want to).

Finally, it's worth asking yourself what the loan is for. Even if you can comfortably afford it, it's daft to take out a loan if you don't need to. That's none of my business, and only you can make that decision. But it's worth asking yourself the question. If it's for something "essential", then there are very often different alternatives available.

Maddalene

Thanks.

I am not sure it's fair on the adult sons to class their income as "household" as they're not responsible for repaying anything. But it's certainly not mine for sure.

Renfrewman

How many people are in your household?

Maddalene

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