AIBU to be angry about the benefits system

I have a severely disabled relative, no capacity 24 hour care, for whom I am Deputy. His essential care (24 hour) has been cut back and back and is likely to be cut further. His only income is disability payments and he has been assessed as being able to contribute £600 pcm towards his carers wages (his benefits are £1300 pcm). He does not have enough money to pay the household bills. It is because benefits have been widened so much that those truly in need are really struggling to pay for essential care let alone anything else.

Yet, when the migrants and immigrants question is brought up, all the do gooders say, 'oh our benefits system is no easier/fairer than on the continent'. I beg to differ.

The only people I know who got help paying mortgage interest are:

• My DM back in the 1970s, when she divorced my dad she chose to keep the house but have no contact and no maintenance payments from him. The council came round and accused her of being a prostitute as she let rooms to men in the house.

• My DB's best friend who had 3 DC all under 5, he was a single father and his ex was a druggie and alcoholic, he couldn't work at the time and could only get limited family childcare as his DM still worked.

They both owned (with mortgages) their own properties but obvs it seemed the council would rather they kept their own homes than risk having lose them and then having to house them in council accommodation.

It is not surprising more people than ever in British history want to move here (740,000 a year net immigration) etc.
It is very hard to make the system fair but I would rather we paid much less out and all had much lower taxes. Neither political party offers that option, sadly - they are both big spending huge state parties at present.

I know this is a bit of a moot point... but...

There are people who e.g. claim UB40 and income support when they're unemployed, even if for a short period of time, say when they've lost their job. They're expected to dip into their savings (most of us have e.g. a 3-6 month cushion. I've known people who are single but have rent/mortgage to pay but have blurred the truth (I've only claimed it once years ago for a year, the other times I just got on with it and used my savings) and said they didn't have savings and then have had to go to the job centre and be preached at to get a job. These are people who've paid tax and NI their entire lives yet get nothing back from the system if they are say if one friend of mine was, made redundant due to a slash of half the staff in her company for cost reasons. She claimed benefits for about 3-6 months until she got another job, because she would've been homeless otherwise and her flat was far too small to rent out a room, even the living room out.

If you’ve been on tax credits for many years then you’ve had a lot of breathing space in which to improve your own financial prospects and security. Surely you weren’t expecting it to go on forever?

I don't get applying for the mortgage loan if you have disposable income left over. It is for last resort, about to lose your house scenarios.

I think if you really needed the money you'd have double checked Martin Lewis' site and/or the gov sites and checked what you were entitled to.

DB and SIL I think claim this (both have always worked full time, in either contract or permanent jobs) even though SIL on principle thinks she shouldn't claim as other people worse off need it.

Why do you get £400 a month towards your mortgage loan? How do you work that out? Surely everyone would be claiming that if they could.

Redo your calculations.

I completely know where you’re coming from OP, it’s a real kick in the teeth finding out years later you’ve missed out

I can go one better though, myself and DH were told years ago (when I was PT due to caring for DC who was critically ill and couldn’t attend nursery) by someone from citizens advice that we weren’t entitled to anything and not to bother applying - found out six YEARS later whilst on mat leave that even now I’m back FT we are (and always were) entitled to some aspect of UC and need not have racked up the £££ in credit card debt (using them to live off when I had to suddenly cut 60% of my hours to look after DC all that time ago)

Sometimes it genuinely feels you get screwed over no matter what you do OP so I feel your pain

Earning £4k a month or taking home £4k a month? There's a huge difference! Someone on £4k pm gross would be taking home around £2.5k a month, possibly less after pension and student loan repayments.

If you're in a high rent area, you could easily be paying £2k a month in rent for a family home. I'm 50 miles from London, but still in the SE, and it's hard to find a 3-bed property for under £1,800 a month, so you'd be left with precious little to live on after paying your rent if it wasn't for UC.

The full rent wouldn't be included in the UC calculation, the LHA rate is approx £400 less than that, even after the increase that takes effect today.

I don't know, I feel a little weird about this one.
I've been out of work for coming up to a year due to severe ongoing back issues, so the only income we have is DH's which is just shy of £2k per month after taxes and what not, yet we're apparently not entitled to any help.
It's a nightmare even trying to get PIP, which would honestly help massively. Not my fault I can't work 🤷🏻‍♀️ I get these things are completely dependent on everybody's individual needs but I find it pretty difficult feeling bad for someone who brings home a lot more than us, and is still entitled to financial help 🙃

It's a shit system and they fuck over people who need help the most. My granddaughter has cerebral palsy, a relatively mild case, but she is still far behind other children her age, she can't jump or climb, she can walk short distances, but struggles, falls over a lot and injures herself, has sleep difficulties and other problems. My daughter applied for benefits, to be told she isn't disabled enough. She is 2 was told to claim again when she is 3 later this year, so she will, but I don't hold out much hope.
I have been on tax credits for many years, £78 a week child tax credits and £20 a week working tax credits, which helped immensely, but now it no longer exists and I was forced onto UC and am now only entitled to £249 a month, I am desperately trying to find a 2nd part time job, no luck so far though, Not to mention they didn't pay me for the 1st month because they fucked up!
I swear they only got rid of tax credits so they could cut peoples money!

You missed out greedy employers who would rather the tax payer foot their wage bill while they pay themselves and their shareholders ridiculous bonuses. Every April the benefits rise, and every year greedy landlords raise their rents in line with UC and housing benefits. No wonder it’s spiralling out of control.

Thank you. I'm sorry to hear you experienced similar. It's really so very unfair.

This thread is an example of why people don't know though. So many posts saying '[even though you've checked and have found out you're eligible] you won't be eligible with that income!'

The whole point of Universal Credit is that it takes your circumstances into account. So unless you run the figures for your exact circumstances, you won't know if you are eligible.

We get a fair bit of UC, because we have 3 children with additional needs and rent costs. We don't have any childcare costs.

If we didn't have children, we wouldn't be eligible for UC, but we also wouldn't need it because I'd be working and bringing in more than UC give us.

This happens because we are brainwashed into thinking that 'benefits' are for non-working scroungers, a concept our govt and media works very hard to convince us of. The truth is the vast majority of benefits are paid to those in work, because wages are too low and a real 'living wage' is far higher than most people realise.

Yes, @Daffodilsinfebruary, it's intensely frustrating, and considering HMRC etc have access to all our earnings info you'd think some of it at least could be automatic, but in reality we have to apply for every penny, wading through long complex forms that ask awkward and contradictory questions.

This. 10 years ago we weren't eligible for anything apart from Child Benefit - take home pay combined of about £2,400 a month, mortgage of £300/month no childcare costs, 1 child.

I wouldn't have checked either OP so Id be shocked too. Sometimes benefits seem to be crazy low and other times they seem to be crazy generous. Anyway I hope you get what you are entitled to.

we bring in just over 3k a month, and definitely not entitled to any benefits. We earn too much apparently that my child can only get half of a student loan! So I can’t imagine anyone taking home 4k would be entitled to anything at all.

Id be shocked if you did get as much as you think bringing in £4000 a month. We bring in £3000 a month and have a disabled child which ups what we are entitled to, we usually get between £100-£200 benefits. Being entitled doesn’t automatically mean you get all your childcare back. If you are entitled to £200 a month this may get deducted from your childcare for example and you still have to pay the majority of it.

In terms of you being angry - everyone should be checking / applying to see if they are eligible for things. My son is autistic with ADHD - I didn’t realise he qualified for DLA until someone mentioned it and we now get £400 DLA a month. The government can’t contact everyone and say you may be eligible for this. It’s up to us to investigate and find out.
if you are angry I think you are probably annoyed at yourself for not checking, which is a valid feeling, but no one else’s fault

Just because it says you are entitled to it doesn’t actually mean you’ll get the amount it says. It’s automated

YABU the Entitled to calculator has been around for YEARS.

It's your responsibility to ensure you get what you're entitled to.

You wouldn't be better off not working though surely? You'd be subject to the benefit cap, which is what, £1500/£1600. So after you've paid £1300 rent you've not got a lot left for everything else.

And before anyone says about getting other bills paid if you're unemployed, you really don't. Not where I live anyway. I get £18pcm towards my council tax. I still have to pay over £100 myself.

I'm really sorry this happened to your friend. I came close to this for a few years when I was in dire straights but not entitled to anything because I was single.

I'm agog at the earning thresholds for families. I don't earn and have never earned anywhere near £4k per month but I'm just expected to get on with it without any support!

You would also receive the work allowance because of your limited capability for work.