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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that a 23k benefits cap will drive some families in the SE

987 replies

Minifingers9 · 28/05/2015 11:14

... Into destitution?

I live in a pretty unappealing and comparatively cheap part of greater London but you can't get a 3 bedroom rental for under £1400 a month.
If we lost our jobs we wouldn't be able to live on 23k a year as a family of 5. Not when 15k of it was going on rent.
Why don't they have regional benefit caps?

OP posts:
woodhill · 31/05/2015 18:45

Grateful you tried hard and then unforseen circumstances caused you to need to fall back on the system as you quite rightly should do.

I think it is the parents who have never worked and messed around at school disrupting others then had dc that they could not provide for whilst the taxpayer picks up the bill or dad goes off and irresponsibly makes another lady pregnant. then their dc now 16 has not done well at school. no encouragement from parents.

oh wait for it, she is pregnant. here we go again. This cycle needs breaking.

ghostspirit · 31/05/2015 18:59

give up posting on here.....

HelenaDove · 31/05/2015 19:11

Good to know TTK My h made provision in a workplace pension which are making excuses not to pay out And before you start his then employer said he and collugues had to pay in if he wanted to continue working there This all happened before i met him He is 23 years my senior

On their paperwork it says they will pay out a REDUCED amount if God forbid something happens to DH as i am over ten years younger than him And they say they WONT pay out to a same sex widow/widower.

HelenaDove · 31/05/2015 19:16

TTK If the country doesnt owe people a living then that works both ways On the jury service thread there are self emplyed ppl facing losing their homes because of being forced to do jury service Well if no one owes them a living then they dont owe a civic duty especially if its going to cost them that living/livelihood.

LotusLight · 31/05/2015 19:20

A benefits cap coming down to £23k is fine for the SE and it encourages families to get back to work or move to slum it out in outer London where I live or even further out. The benefits cap is very popular amongst voters of all parties. It's a bit of a side issue as it does not affect most people, but an important matter of principle and it is about compassion - you do better for those less well off if you encourage them into full time work, not pay them to do nothing. So in a sense it is ultimately a kind policy.

32percentcharged · 31/05/2015 19:30

Helena - I appreciate you may not be comfortable doing it, but t would be good if you can name and shame the company which won't pay out to same sex spouses.

Btw it is perfectly normally for a spouse to get a reduced sum from a deceased's pension. That's why its so vital for women in particular to keep their own pensions going if possible. My pension was one of the reasons I kept working even when childcare wiped out my income for a few years. If DH goes first, I'm entitled to half his pension and vice versa, but Its my own pension I'm relying on

TTWK · 31/05/2015 19:36

TTK If the country doesnt owe people a living then that works both ways On the jury service thread there are self emplyed ppl facing losing their homes because of being forced to do jury service Well if no one owes them a living then they dont owe a civic duty especially if its going to cost them that living/livelihood.

HelenaDove, what a ridiculous comparison. And it doesn't even work as an example.

People owe a duty to do jury service precisely because they are owed a trial by jury should they be accused.

Hillingdon · 31/05/2015 19:47

Helena - 32 is correct, why on earth would a company pay out a full pension to someone else?

I have my own pension. I don't rely on someone else to pay for my retirement. I have a generous scheme and if I popped off my DH would get 4 times my salary, he wouldn't additionally get my pension in full too. It's my pension and if I am not here...

Hillingdon · 31/05/2015 19:49

Helena - you are being too dramatic. People losing their house because of jury service - really!!!

RufusTheReindeer · 31/05/2015 20:13

Have to agree with hillingdon there

Off to read the Jury thread

HelenaDove · 31/05/2015 21:35

Good God i dont expect his pension to pay for me I was giving the full picture so i dont get accused of drip feeding.

FFS i dont expect anything. But the point is they are making excuses to not pay out AT ALL.

After experiencing this and having goalposts moved by them nearly every week i wont touch a private pension with a bargepole and i cant afford to so its a moot point really. Im my husbands appointee due to his illnesses and what i have seen of it so far tells me its all a big con.

Justanotherlurker · 31/05/2015 22:20

FFS i dont expect anything. But the point is they are making excuses to not pay out AT ALL.

Yet you highlighted 'reduced' and pointed out an archaic notion on why they won't pay out (which you should name and shame BTW) as though contracts don't have caveats or stipulations, so it's a moot point.

As for the regional weighting on benefits that someone mentioned, I personally think this is a bad idea, it would increase disparity and would cut certain regions further adrift, not only in monetary terms but collectively as a nation.

HelenaDove · 31/05/2015 22:25

JESUS WEPT i meant a reduced payout to me if something happens to him WHICH I DO NOT WANT im simply pointing out what the paperwork says so i dont get accused of drip feeding.

I just want him to get what he is rightfully owed.

And believe me its on the paperwork about same sex couples. I was appalled when i saw it.

Hillingdon · 31/05/2015 22:32

Helena, you are getting a bit over wrought! Calm down, it's only a forum....

32percentcharged · 31/05/2015 22:36

Well why not name and shame if they actually stipulate that they won't recognise same sex marriage? That IS appalling.

I still don't understand the relevance of the reduced pension caveat though. I can't imagine any company or public sector paying an employee's full pension to their widow(er). You usually get a percentage but you won't get It all because its not yours.

Justanotherlurker · 31/05/2015 22:44

Sorry Helena, misunderstood your post and skimmed a lot of the previous ones.

Hillingdon · 31/05/2015 22:47

I have a good pension, it only pays 50% to my DH.

I suspect though Helena didn't quite mean that, she was so busy get angry and aggressive to others she forgot to explain what she actually meant

PtolemysNeedle · 31/05/2015 22:51

Why would you be accused of drip feeding for failing to mention something that's completely irrelevant to what is being discussed?

32percentcharged · 31/05/2015 22:52

There can be changes to pension schemes, but I don't see how the company can literally change things week to week. The paperwork will
Explain your dh's entitlements.
I appreciate its bloody annoying when things change- I am in the teachers pension scheme which has changed recently so that basically everyone pays in more, works for longer and gets less out, but that's fairly typical of what's happening now with an aging population. If this is the sort of 'moving the goalposts' you mean, then welcome to the real world! But I don't understand how a company can literally change things weekly and also not adhere to the terms and conditions

Hillingdon · 31/05/2015 22:59

32 - mine is like that. Career average rather than final salary. My FIL was in a final salary due to working for the NHS. He retired at 60. Doesn't stop moaning about being a higher rate tax payer just on his NHS pension!

morage · 31/05/2015 23:07

My pension is final salary. I would have been better off on a career average. It is senior staff that benefit most from final salary schemes.

HelenaDove · 31/05/2015 23:13

They sent paperwork back to us saying the bank details were wrong But we can prove it was filled in correctly.

They have told me a different thing every week If it was a relationship it would be called gaslighting.

I have kept a diary of what has happened and recorded some of the phone calls.

Im not talking about law changes. Im talking about them changing their own rules from week to week.

32percentcharged · 31/05/2015 23:25

Get your DH to look at his pension statements - they will set out what he's accrued

HelenaDove · 31/05/2015 23:41

Thanks.

Dawndonnaagain · 01/06/2015 08:07

give up posting on here.....
Mum has for a bit.

In other news:
Did you know that Carer's Allowance is affected by the cap.