Are there any other benefits we could be claiming?

SarahLou

Hi fellow MSEers!

Probably a daft question but one that my partner and I know very little about so I thought I'd ask you in here

We had our first baby last July, we're not married but are living together (wedding in 6 months from now!!) and I'm still on Maternity Leave but aren't actually getting any form of maternity pay now. So we're solely relying on my partners income of £17,036 a year. I don't have a penny coming in from any income at all. We first applied for Working and Child Tax Credits when our daughter was born last year so we've been claiming those since. Totalling around a nice £269 a month. Now when we got this years renewal pack, I've had it back to say I'll essentially be getting £52 ish a month from now on, even though obviously our combined income is a fraction of what it was when I was earning a full time wage too. So a bit baffled by this, I phoned up and asked what'd gone on. Apparently it was because when we first applied for them, my partner had been self employed the previous year (April '06-Jan '07) which apparently is why we'd been granted the Working Tax Credits too. So now, apparently £17,036 is above the threshold for receiving working tax credits (:eek: ) so we're only getting Child Tax Credits now. (Hence down to just £50 odd a month which is ludicrous really).

So then it got me thinking, are there any other benefits or anything we could apply for? Lets face it, £17,036 is hardly a high wage and we were hoping that I'd not have to go back to work at the end of my maternity leave (July 1st) but this will depend on whether we can afford for me to NOT go back ultimately. Anyone know of any other benefits we might be entitled to?

JoJoArmani

have you tried entitledto.co.uk? it tell's you based on your wage what you can get.

Just looked on there... your tax credit award is right, doesn't look like you can get anything else. Your partners wage is not bad - my partner works just above minimum wage and therefore we get quite a lot of tax credits to boost our income.

SarahLou

Thanks for that - will have a look on the Entitledto website to see if theres anything on there!

seven-day-weekend

You say you have no income at all? Do you claim your Child Benefit?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/index.htm

timnicebutdim_2

Hi are you sure its £52 per month?? Looking at the entitled to website it says £53 per week (after the child is 1, assuming your child was born on 1/07/07 and your both aged over 25)....so thats roughly £200 per month.

SarahLou

Sorry, forgot to say that I get my Child Benefit too

But yeah, my latest letter from HM Revenue and Customs definitely says £52 per month

Im 24 but my partner is over 25. Wouldn't have thought me being one year under 25 would make that much difference :eek:

I'll have to have another look at the EntitledTo website I think as thats a helluva difference!

SarahLou

My income for 2007-2008 would be £5838 (from Maternity pay after June 07) and my partners last year was £16,800. I've just input that into EntitledTo and see what you mean - it does clearly state on there that it should be £50 something per week! I can see another phone call to HM Revenue and Customs coming on as my letter clearly says that its per month!! Thanks for pointing it out to me, timnicebutdim!

Hope I get somewhere on the phone tomorrow!

Elle00

I hate to say it as that isn't a lot for a family of three to live on - but I don't think you're entitled to anything else.

You're at that horrible threshold stage. If you're husband earnt a few grand a year less then you'd actually be better off.

You might qualify for childcare assistance to help you to work but it wouldn't be much if you earned a few grand or more a year as your overall income would be deemed sufficient to cover it.

I really feel for you in your situation, you're bang on the wrong income to have. The best advice I could give you is to look at some part-time work you could fit around your baby and your home life.

judy2357

Definitely not an expert on working tax credits as we actually owe them nearly £1000, however it seems to me looking at their online calculator that £50 a week would be more likely the sum you should get. Also there is a child element in qualifying for WTC as well and unless I have made an error you might qualify for a small sum there. Think you should read very carefully through the award form you were sent to see if they have made any obvious errors and then get them to give you a break down of what you are entitled to and how they come arrive at £50 per month.

timnicebutdim_2

I can see another phone call to HM Revenue and Customs coming on as my letter clearly says that its per month!! Thanks for pointing it out to me, timnicebutdim!

No probs!:beer: Hope you get it sorted. Were in almost an identical situation to you and we've had about 10 amendments since our baby arrived in December and each time something has been wrong on the form so I definitely agree with judy2357 above about checking the form. It's so confusing as there are many factors involved (the age thing for example i *think* relates to working tax credit) but I am determined to try and understand it and get it right (so long as we don't have to pay it back!!)

bigbill

You dont count the first £102 of the 39 weeks maternity pay so your income 07-08 is much lower than you think, you need to tell the WTC office this.