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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think i will have too much money on benefits.

325 replies

5toocoolforschool · 23/09/2014 12:07

OK so dh and i have split up.He is staying with a friend and is finding somewhere else to live.We have 5 children.He is a relatively high earner and i have always been at home with the kids.

I have applied for everything i am entitled to (income support,child tax credits,child benefit,housing benefit, i will not have to pay any council tax- was not entitled to any of these before)

On top of this i will be receiving maintenance from Ex.

All in i will be receiving £3,300 per month!

That is only a couple of hundred less than dh gets paid.

I am porting this partly because i am sure i have missed something,should i not be getting maintenance from dh as well?Everywhere i have looked says i can.

Partly,i just think its bad.I mean i wont be claiming these forever,i have been accepted on a course (again which i wont have to pay for,which i will be given a grant for childcare)and after that i will be working again,so 3 years max.

But now i can see how easy it must be for someone to just see this as a lifestyle.

OP posts:

Goldendandelion · 23/09/2014 12:34

I'm pretty sure the benefits cap is national. When dh first lost his job we got a fair bit in benefits but then the cap kicked in and we only got £500 a week. This may sound a lot but not when your rent is £1000 and you have 6 kids to feed. Luckily he has another job now!
You will get maintenance on top of your benefits though.

Siarie · 23/09/2014 12:36

All depends where you live, £65k up north is a very good salary whereas South East it's very different.

hoobygalooby · 23/09/2014 12:36

jacks365 · 23/09/2014 12:37

www.gov.uk/benefit-cap

The benefits cap is everywhere if someone said differently they mixed it up with universal credit.

JsOtherHalf · 23/09/2014 12:37

Benefit cap details from government site: www.gov.uk/benefit-cap

Map of universal credit roll out: www.lgbp.co.uk/ucpc/ucpc.html

Shesparkles · 23/09/2014 12:38

This is where I often wonder where I went wrong in studying for a degree, getting married, saving for a deposit for a house, then buying a house before having kids.
Now I work ridiculous shifts and have a not great income.

No disrespect to the OP, you're not doing anything wrong, but "the system" stinks

stubbornstains · 23/09/2014 12:38

Most LPs won't receive as much as you do. Please don't make the mistake of thinking that other LPs see single parenthood on benefits as a "lifestyle choice"- that's both inaccurate and highly insulting.

Child maintenance isn't taken into consideration when benefits are awarded because, when it was, the tendency for NRPs not to pay was regularly leaving families with no form of support whatsoever.

You just happen to be lucky. That's great, I'm happy for you. If you feel you're receiving too much, then you could a) not claim everything you're entitled to, or b) donate a percentage of it to womens' refuges, food banks or Shelter to help single parent families who aren't as fortunate as you?

Stampysladygarden · 23/09/2014 12:39

Wait til you have to report a change in circumstances to Tax Credits or some such thing. It will suspend your housing benefit until it's all updated which can take a couple of months in some areas. It won't be all easy once these things start happening. Being on benefits completely leaves you at the mercy of the system and it's not always that simple.

basgetti · 23/09/2014 12:39

OP is misinformed. She won't get anywhere near the amount she thinks because the benefits cap is already in force nationally.

Tipsykisses · 23/09/2014 12:42

I also thought that benefits are capped at a certain amount ?

stubbornstains · 23/09/2014 12:42

It depends how much of that £3300 is maintenance, and how much of it is benefits, basgetti

(BTW, just to calm the "lifestyle choice" frothers, I receive about a third of what the OP does monthly, including maintenance).

Original poster

5toocoolforschool · 23/09/2014 12:44

Ok well i will let you know how it goes,have asked 2 people on the phone (tax credits and income support)and both said it wont be til 2017.

OP posts:

sleepingdragon · 23/09/2014 12:45

Child maintenance payments have been disregarded from benefits since 2010 but all working age adults in the UK are affected by the benefit cap. The OP will get a maximum.of £500 per week from all the benefits she is entitled to, with maintenance payments on top. It sounds like the people you spoke to got it confused with universal credit, which only operates an a few areas, but am surprised that any advisors would make this mistake. In London and the south east so many people have been affected, not able to pay their rent etc that the benefit cap is at the forefront of the minds of people working around benefit entitlements.

Original poster

5toocoolforschool · 23/09/2014 12:45

Child benefit is not taken into account,or so it says on the website.

OP posts:

JsOtherHalf · 23/09/2014 12:46

The op hasn't said if anyone in the household is in receipt of DLA etc. If this is the case then the cap doesn't apply.
The link from the gov website lists the benefits that would exempt someone from the cap.

hoobygalooby · 23/09/2014 12:46

Surely maintenance should be taken into consideration though as should the fathers income!!!

SaucyJack · 23/09/2014 12:47

When I was on benefits many years ago they deducted the maintenance money from your benefits- I was allowed to keep £10 a week of it.
Has that changed now?
No wonder so many people see it as a lifestyle choice!!!
-----
The absolute vast majority of RPs receive nothing at all in child maintenance, and a significant proportion of those that do receive something only get the minimum £5 a week. It's hugely unfair of you to suggest that SPs are raking it in, and that most of them are doing it for the money.

And yes, those that do get something get I keep it all. This was one of the triumphs of the Labour gov. as it helped those families who were being plunged into near- starvation by exes withholding maintenance the benefits agency was assuming they were paying,

basgetti · 23/09/2014 12:47

Yes stubborn you are right, I misread the OP as the full amount being from benefits.

LucilleBluth · 23/09/2014 12:48

Take it and rebuild your life OP. I'm glad we live in a country that looks after a single parent of 5. I'm sure it won't be forever.

jacks365 · 23/09/2014 12:50

The op listed everything she claimed dla isn't listed so reasonable to assume it isn't claimed.

Job centre and tax credits staff are currently being trained in universal credit so yes right now it is in the forefront of their minds so the mistake is understandable.

Original poster

5toocoolforschool · 23/09/2014 12:50

Sorry should of said lifestyle choice,i dont usually say such things.You know what i mean!

OP posts:

Mrsjayy · 23/09/2014 12:51

You could always not claim and live of maintenance just get hb

Original poster

5toocoolforschool · 23/09/2014 12:52

Have checked and i think you may be right,i did the calculator thingy and it said housing benefit would be reduced so that i receive 500 a week.Doesn’t sound as ridiculous now!

OP posts:

basgetti · 23/09/2014 12:54

OP your situation isn't in any way reflective of the reality for the majority of lone parents on benefits. Most RPs are lucky to get any maintenance at all. So no you shouldn't have called it a 'lifestyle'. It's both inaccurate and goady.

hoobygalooby · 23/09/2014 12:54

I never said they are raking it in actually.
I have been a single mum and know it's no picnic

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