Could anyone help advise what we should do to help my 20 yo DD benefit from council tax discounts and anything else that is designed to help people working single people on low incomes to pay their utility bills.
Apart from the energy payment (which she’s never had) she doesn’t want any actual payments, just reduction in bills.
She has lived in a shared flat for 18 months and has just moved into a smaller place alone. She earns just over a £1000 most months and has been unable to work any more due to poor mental health during much of this period.
Her dad and I are financially secure so help her to the tune of about £400-500 per month so that she can afford to live.
We have preferred to do this as none of us want her to be dependent on benefits.
However, we’re at the point now where it’s not sustainable for us to keep essentially paying her council tax for her and taking her food shopping because she can’t afford it. It’s also unfair that she’s not getting help with fuel bills given her income and rising living costs. And she lives in the south east (her home town).
Can I ask what help a young single adult on a such a low income can get with bills and is going on UC the only way to get that help?
Can it be back dated? And what happens if your income is variable from month to month (zero hours contract but in a good working environment))?
Do you have to keep reapplying to UC every six weeks? (Has a quick look at the UC website but found it confusing)
Any advice greatly appreciated :)
In case anyone says she should just move back home… she is so welcome here but we live rurally now and she wants to in the city where she was born as it’s too isolated where we live. We chose to help with rent when she first moved out so that she could live in a safe area (she wasn’t assuming we’d help and was planning to move quite a rough area that she could afford)