Tax credits & benefits for people in work or looking for work

CAB_Birmingham_representative · 2 November 2012 at 12:37PM

Dear Dabbers,

From the information you have provided, we have found the following:

If your mother is over the qualifying age for Pension Credit or is incapacitated then as long as she occupies that property as her home, its value will not be taken in to account.

If in the future your mother no longer resides there and the property becomes vacant, as long as the property is in your name then it may be counted as capital and will affect your entitlements to means tested benefits such as Income Based JSA, Council Tax Benefit and support for mortgage interest payments.

We hope this answers your question.

Kind regards,
Birmingham CAB

sw1110 · 14 November 2012 at 9:17AM

I'm not too sure if I have done this correctly as this is my first post ever!

My partner was made redunandant about 2 months ago and is actively looking work, and I will be starting maternity leave in 2 weeks time, so things are quite stressful at the moment! We have been trying to get in touch with our local CAB but are having no joy.

We want to find out what benefits we are entitled too, if any. I will be on SMP and my partner is currently claiming Job Seekers. We have been looking on-line to see what we can find and we think we could potentially be eligible for the following:

Child Benefit
Sure Start new baby grant
Working Tax credits
Housing Benefit
Council tax reduction
and maybe some others, but not really sure, which is why we wanted to speak with someone for advice.

We don't have any savings and rent privately.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as we want to get any forms that need completing done ASAP.

Thanks

cabbage · 14 November 2012 at 9:27AM

hi

this seems to be posted in the wrong section. You need to start a new thread with your question. If you can't get hold of your cab have you tried to go to see them in person to get the opening hours etc. For help online you could try entitledto or https://www.turn2us.org.uk

CAB_Birmingham_representative · 14 November 2012 at 5:51PM

sw1110 wrote: »

I'm not too sure if I have done this correctly as this is my first post ever!

My partner was made redunandant about 2 months ago and is actively looking work, and I will be starting maternity leave in 2 weeks time, so things are quite stressful at the moment! We have been trying to get in touch with our local CAB but are having no joy.

We want to find out what benefits we are entitled too, if any. I will be on SMP and my partner is currently claiming Job Seekers. We have been looking on-line to see what we can find and we think we could potentially be eligible for the following:

Child Benefit
Sure Start new baby grant
Working Tax credits
Housing Benefit
Council tax reduction
and maybe some others, but not really sure, which is why we wanted to speak with someone for advice.

We don't have any savings and rent privately.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as we want to get any forms that need completing done ASAP.

Thanks

Dear sw110,

Thank you for your email, we are sorry to hear that you are experiencing problems with accessing your local bureau. They may have an Adviceline you can call, please click on the following link and type in your postcode. This should bring up your local bureau together with their contact details:

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

In terms of your enquiry, you may be entitled to some of the benefits you have already identified however it will be dependant upon your personal circumstances.

Your entitlement to housing benefit and council tax benefit is dependant upon your household income, age and where you live.

You may be entitled to both child benefit and child tax credit after your child is born. For more information on these benefits, please click on to the following link which will lead you to a factsheet titled ‘Benefits for families with children’

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/benefits_e/benefits_children_and_young_people_ew/benefits_for_families_and_children.htm

In order to find out whether you can receive tax credits and to request a claim form, you may contact the HMRC directly on 0345 300 3900.

As stated by the previous poster (Cabbage) you will need to either visit your local bureau or contact Turn2us on 0808 802 2000 in order to get a benefit check. This will then confirm what benefits you will be entitled to claim.

Kind regards,
Birmingham CAB

piinkdiiamond · 14 November 2012 at 11:20PM

Hii, I am contracted to 15 hours at work, although i do quite a bit of overtime around xmas. I have 2 different jobs, 7 hours in one place & 8 in the other & my partner works 30 hours. My question is Ive recently found out im Pregnant

& I wanted to know, would I just get my 15 hours as smp? Or is overtime counted aswell? & what benefits if any would we be entitled to??
Thankyou!!

CAB_Birmingham_representative · 15 November 2012 at 6:30PM

piinkdiiamond wrote: »

Hii, I am contracted to 15 hours at work, although i do quite a bit of overtime around xmas. I have 2 different jobs, 7 hours in one place & 8 in the other & my partner works 30 hours. My question is Ive recently found out im Pregnant & I wanted to know, would I just get my 15 hours as smp? Or is overtime counted aswell? & what benefits if any would we be entitled to??
Thankyou!!

Dear piinkdiiamond,

Thank you for your enquiry.

In order to receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) you will need to have: been working for the same employer for at least 26 weeks, by the time you are 15 weeks away from the date your baby is due. This means that you must have worked for the same employer throughout your pregnancy. For the first six weeks of maternity leave, SMP is paid at 90% of your average gross weekly earnings. For the remaining weeks, it is paid at 90 per cent of your gross weekly earnings or £135.45 a week, whichever is lower.

If this does not apply to you, you may wish to look into Maternity Allowance. You can get Maternity Allowance if you have been working recently or you have stopped working to have a child. You must have been working for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before you are due to give birth. It does not matter if these weeks are split up, or if they are not all for the same employer. You can claim Maternity Allowance if you do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, as long as you have been earning at least £30 a week on average. In order to make a claim you will need to complete form MA1 by calling the JCP on their free phone number: 0800 055 6688. The amount of Maternity Allowance you get is either 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings or £135.45 a week, whichever is less.

For more information on further benefits you may be entitled to, please click on the following link which will lead you to a factsheet titled ‘Benefits for Families and Children’ which can also be found on www.adviceguide.org.uk:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/benefits_e/benefits_children_and_young_people_ew/benefits_for_families_and_children.htm#benefits_for_maternity

You will need to have a benefit check to confirm what benefits you are entitled to. You may either visit your local bureau or contact Turn2us on 0808 802 2000.

Kind regards,
Birmingham CAB

madmoose_2 · 18 November 2012 at 2:29AM

Hi, I've been self employed for 5 years and a long running contract of mine has come to an end recently. Effectively it's like I've been made redundant, but without being an employee. I have been looking for more work for the last couple of months, but nothing regular has come up so far. Am I able to claim anything to support myself whilst I'm job hunting? The couple jobs I've had in the last 2 months have only been for 2 days over the whole time, so not enough to survive on.

I'm married and my partner works and we've never claimed anything before, so I'm unsure if I'd be entitled to anything or not. I've been paying class 2 and class 4 NI whilst I've been self employed.

Hope you can advise. Thanks.

mel48rose · 18 November 2012 at 9:45AM

Hi, my partner is claiming jsa. He has been receiving full HB and CTB. He has just managed to find e temp job contracted for 11 hrs a wk (prob be more leading up to Xmas).
He's worried that he will be worse off if he has to pay rent and CT.
Its only minimum wage for the job.
Thanks for your time.

CAB_Birmingham_representative · 19 November 2012 at 3:28PM

madmoose wrote: »

Hi, I've been self employed for 5 years and a long running contract of mine has come to an end recently. Effectively it's like I've been made redundant, but without being an employee. I have been looking for more work for the last couple of months, but nothing regular has come up so far. Am I able to claim anything to support myself whilst I'm job hunting? The couple jobs I've had in the last 2 months have only been for 2 days over the whole time, so not enough to survive on.

I'm married and my partner works and we've never claimed anything before, so I'm unsure if I'd be entitled to anything or not. I've been paying class 2 and class 4 NI whilst I've been self employed.

Hope you can advise. Thanks.

Dear Madmoose,

Thank you for your email enquiry.

Although you are self employed, you may still be entitled to receive certain benefits however; your entitlement will be dependant upon you and your partner’s household income, the hours you work, savings and personal circumstances.

Please click on the following factsheet titled ‘Benefits and Tax credits for People in work’ which will provide you with information on benefits you may be entitled to:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/benefits_e/benefits_benefits_in_work_or_looking_for_work_ew/benefits_and_tax_credits_for_people_in_work.htm

You may also wish to visit your local bureau for a benefit check.

Alternatively, you could also contact Turn2us on 0808 802 2000. Turn2us also have a factsheet on ‘Self employment and benefits’. Please follow the link below.

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/information__resources/benefits/working_or_looking_for_work/self_employment.aspx

We hope you find this information useful.

Kind regards,
Birmingham CAB

madmoose_2 · 19 November 2012 at 3:52PM

Thanks for your reply and for the links.

My husband works around 60+ hours per week at his own business, so it appears I can't claim JSA even if I'm just working 1-2 days per month?

I fall under the 'less than 16 hours a week' bracket, but with him working more to help us meet mortgage and bill payments, it looks like I'm not eligible? Do you think this is the case?

Thanks for your help.

Tax credits & benefits for people in work or looking for work

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