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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

benefits - can anyone advise?

667 replies

namechangerrr · 21/10/2010 22:20

hi i am a regulare but have name changed for this. i was wondering if anyone would e able to help me here. i have seen on the news about benfits being cut/capped but cant seem to find any exact figures.

was wondering if anyone could be able to help me and see if my benefit will be capped or cut, so that i can be prepared for this.

i recieve weekly:
£135 child tax credit
£48 cb
£65 incone support
£145 hb
£12 ctb

i no this seems like a huge amount when written like this but in reality it isnt. once i have paid gas, elec, water rates (£28 per week!), tv licence etc there is not much left for food/nappies.

i would be very grateful if anyone could help. i am not intending to be on benefit forever and i do want to better myself for myself and my children.

OP posts:
CardyMow · 22/10/2010 00:04

Water rates in the Devon area are criminally expensive. I have a relative who lives in that area and pays water rates to the same company as the OP. He has been on a waiting list for a water meter for 5 years, and still doesn't have one fitted. Apparently the high costs are to do with keeping the Devon beaches the cleanest in the country to encourage tourism, and the water board has to pay for this, thus pushing up the price of water.

The cap apparently does not take into acount whether you have 2 dc or 10 dc.It is just a limit in total of how much benefits any family can receive of £500 a week. For all benefits combined, so if you get less than £500/week including IS, CTC, CB, HB, CTB and free school meals, then you will be OK. I think I worked out last night that if you have 2 dc you will be under the cap no matter how high your rent(and HB) is, but for 3+ dc, it will depend on how high housing costs are in your area.

By my working out, including a cost of £27 for free school meals, you should be OK and not lose any. The £27 figure comes from what I have to PAY for my 3 dc's to have school dinners per week.

MaMoTTaT · 22/10/2010 00:17

Loudlass - I think a large number of 3 DC single parent families will lose at least some of their benefits with the cap.

LHA for 3 bedroom house here is £126 a week - so really quite low) and I stand to lose £15 a week under the cap should I still be on benefits when it's introduced!

Appletrees · 22/10/2010 00:44

Gosh.

loftylorrie · 22/10/2010 05:43

Loudlass, thankyou for that concise and easy to understand description of how the cap will probably work Grin

I have to admit, I was a little scared about how we were going to cope but as we only have the one DC (and are definitely not having more until one/both of us have a new job) we should be alright. I don't think I'd be able to take any cuts, about 95% of our benefit is accounted for by essentials.

I'm more worried about the housing prices going up combined with HB going down. Our allowance of HB (£500 a month according to the woman at the council we spoke to) covers the average price of a two-bed in the area, but only just. And it's hard enough getting a place anyway, despite the three of us (me, DP and our four-month-old) being crammed into a studio flat that's freezing cold and constantly damp/mouldy Sad

OP, sounds like you're going to be okay, I reckon. You're underneath what I think the Beeb said the cap was going to be (about 24/25k iirc)

lowrib · 22/10/2010 06:44

"please don't pull the violent relationship card" what a nasty thing to say ilove. Your attitude stinks.

ilove · 22/10/2010 08:00

No, my attitude doesn't stink. I never said that anyone on their own with children shouldn't be housed/heat/light/hot water/food/essentials. I have escaped a violent relationship myself many years ago when my eldest was a baby, or did you deliberately choose to ignore me posting that???

What I did say is that a violent relationship escape should not be used as a reason to get given more money than someone who works more than full-time. And it shouldn't. I am totally shocked by the amount of money that people get given, it is wrong.

I HAVE claimed tax credits in the past, they say I'm not entitled.

GMajor7DeadlySins · 22/10/2010 08:22

Christ. OP I'm sure you knew that your post would be deeply insulting to those who work for a third of that??

altinkum · 22/10/2010 08:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

onceamai · 22/10/2010 08:24

Think I'm with ilove by and large on this one. I really don't understand why those on benefit should have anything other than the bare essentials, otherwise what incentive is there for them to find work.

Lots and lots of families with two working parents would love to be able to cover the essentials with 95% of earned income with 5% left over. Sadly that's not the case.

What is wrong though is that when someone on benefits gets a job the benefits are not cut by just the amount the claimant earns. This is a disincentive for claimants to take personal responsibility for themselves and their family.

Sorry but at the end of the day if someone else has to pay your way you should not have the same degree of choice or comfort as those who go out to work.

Glad the OP has the means to post from her limited resources though.

GMajor7DeadlySins · 22/10/2010 08:25

Whoa there!

altinkum · 22/10/2010 08:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

onceamai · 22/10/2010 08:29

Sorry Altinkum and OP - must go - else I'll be late for work. If I'm lucky might be back by about 6.30!

GMajor7DeadlySins · 22/10/2010 08:29

Yeah, agree about the system being at fault altinkmum, but why this need to rub it in the faces of those who work themselves to death?

mistletoekisses · 22/10/2010 08:31

This thread is getting a little out of hand.

'Oh fuck up Ilove, what a incentive, idiotic and moronic post from a self selfish and patronising twat!'

I for one don't see Iloves posts as either of the above. What I see is someone who works very hard genuinely stunned at how much is given out in benefits. That is her right. I am equally stunned tbh - but on the flip side I think this is the safety net we all think should be there for people in this situation.

OP - I think the major change I have read about is that the lenght of time you receive these benefits for may be shortened and fall in time.

ilove · 22/10/2010 08:38

I have not slagged off the OP not have I ridiculed her and called her names. I have said that the SYSTEM is wrong, no way should anyone get more money for NOT working than someone who does.

I am not selfish, or patronising, or a twat. I have insulted no one, just given my opinion. Which I am more than entitled to do, and just because my opinion does not agree with yours Altinkmum does not give you the right to hurl abuse at me.

DialMforMother · 22/10/2010 08:44

Fairly sure op is a troll given the vast differences in her spelling from sentence to sentence and the fact that she only pops up every 15posts to say 'don't judge me I am very very sad and want to work in 3yrs or so'.

Which is a shame because why someone would want to put on an outing for 'benefit scroungers need to get a job' and 'hard-working taxpayers funding your lifestyle' in the current economic climate is beyond
me. Angry

MumInBeds · 22/10/2010 08:59

Loudlass That £500pw cap is for a couple, if you are a lone parent it is £350pw.

Gooftroop · 22/10/2010 09:02

Agree with every word ilove has posted. Am beyond shocked at what OP receives. It actually makes me feel a bit ill. For a short period, eg 6 months, to pick oneself up and sort oneself out, fine. But ongoing? OP says she hopes to be working by 2013!!!!! And how will that happen if she's sitting at home all these years? She's setting herself up for a lifetime on benefits. What possible incentive is there to work when you are getting all that? I don't blame OP for taking what is available, but can't she see that this system is demotivating and unfair to people like ilove (and myself) who work hard and find their taxes goint to support millions of people like namechangerr?

Gooftroop · 22/10/2010 09:06

DialM I thought so too, except for the weird bit about the water rates!

notalone · 22/10/2010 09:15

ilove - sorry but I do think your attitude stinks. The OP was asking a simple question about her benefits and you have been downright nasty. You come across as a very bitter individual and know nothing really about the OP's situation. Yes, you work hard, yes life is probably hard (as it is for many many of us at the moment) but there is no need to be like you are. The Op was asking for advice, not a slating.

OP - I wish you all the luck in the world. Life sounds hard atm so I hope it all sorts itself out. There are people on here who will be able to advise you properly. I am not one of them sadly as I am a student so my benefits are very different to yours, but I wanted to let you know that there are lots of people on here who are lovely and will prbably give you some really good advice.

notalone · 22/10/2010 09:18

"Glad the OP has the means to post from her limited resources though" -
Oncemai - the op may well be using her local library which will probably offer free internet access or her laptop and internet subsciption may well be the only luxury she allows herself. Or she may have received computer access as part of the government Home Access scheme.

GeekOfTheWeek · 22/10/2010 09:18

I am totally shocked by the amounts you get op.

The system is desperately flawed.

Anyone that feels otherwise have a look what a full time nurse earns.

MaMoTTaT · 22/10/2010 09:21

yes she says she hopes to be working by 2013

I hope to be working by 2013 too! (ie I'm going to be looking seriously for work next year - already am a little now) so I seriously hope that I will be working by 2013.

I am genuinely curious as to how Ilove manages to work 60hrs a week with 3 dependant children and not have any childcare costs.

I'll tell you a good incentive to work - as it stops some of the shite people spout at you. It's ok to still get your £2500 a year (tax free) child benefit when your working, and if you're on a low wage to keep yoour tax credits of several £1000 a year - no-one spouts shite at you then either , and to get some WTC tax credit on top, and to still probably get some housing benefit too - as well as your wage.

But that's ok to still get those on a low wage

spikeycow · 22/10/2010 09:26

What people are failing to realise is that most benefits go on bills and food. I was on benefits for a long while, and had NO disposable income. When something breaks down in your home you have to get into debt to replace it, paying extortionate rates of interest. OP I bet you don't have disposable income do you.
I work now but on a low wage so am still entitled to some help with HB. Not ashamed in the slightest.
Some of the attitudes on this thread are beyond nasty. Makes me laugh that some higher earning people are screaming to keep their benefits. I wonder if they are the same people who then bash people like the OP?

Original poster
namechangerrr · 22/10/2010 09:30

oh so now im being accused of being a troll!!!! :( thanks a lot. i am a regulare poster here but dont want to disclose my name as i know people on here via fb rl etc and have just fled domestic violence!! sorry if that causes offence and portrays me as a troll!

i am not going to stay on this forum to be bullied. i have just left a bully i really dont need to be bullied again.

thanks for all the lovely comments x

OP posts: