To ask you to help me work this out?

[Lulu2021]

My head is a mess as I'm going through some relationship difficulties with a young baby and I'm trying to make sense of my entitlement to financial help.

I've done a UC calculation a few times but it comes out with an amount that i think is an overestimate.

My details are;

• FT salary of £47,126, net monthly income £2,516 after deductions.
• 2 DC (ages 15 years and 6 months) - no childcare costs for eldest, costs of £700 pm for youngest when I go back to work from mat leave.
• child maintenance of £120 pm for the eldest child only.
• private rented property
• no other benefits claimed
• no significant savings

It's telling me I'd be entitled to in the region of £650 pm as a single parent. Does this sound right? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I will just clarify that when I said your fellow immoral, it was him I meant was the immoral one.

I'd be gobsmacked if that's accurate.

Just to say - husband got laid off when Covid hit, and I earn between £1k and £1.3k a month (it varies)

We were entitled to f' all. I actually have it in writing that £1200 a month take home pay is the cut off to the point they will give you support. That's for 2 adults and 2 children.

So if £1200 is considered enough to live on for 2 adults and 2 children there is absolutely no way they're going to give one adult with 2 adults already bringing in double that anything IRRESPECTIVE OF YOUR OUTGOINGS!

(just posting for all those people shocked that anyone on this amount of take home pay is entitled to anything - I really can't see how she is)

Wishing you all the luck in the world. You are doing brilliantly, your daughters will no doubt, because you are raising them, be fantastic women. Ignore the haters, most of it stems from jealousy anyway

Sorry not RTFT!

I very much doubt you will be entitled to anything to be honest as when I was getting £1200 a month I was entitled to UC as a single parent but as soon as my wage went up to £1800 a month I wasn’t entitled to anything as it’s over the threshold.

If it’s a calculator I would be a bit wary of them as I think they over estimate what you’re entitled to.
I think your best bet is to speak to UC directly.

What do you do to earn that sort of wage?

@Lulu2021

*Get rid of phone contracts and pay £10 a month for giff gaff

List all the other expenses in the £955 you have left and cut them to the bone*

Phone contracts I agree - I can look for cheaper.

And your second point re cutting other expenses, yes - absolutely I will do my best. Already cancelled a gym membership.

For sorting out your outgoings and debts it might be worth going on to MSE, on the board about debt (can't remember the exact title but it does include debt) you will get lots of help particularly if you are brave enough to post all your outgoings and debts. It is normally very supportive but they will forensically go through everything. When I was getting ready to retire I went on there although I didn't have any debt and it was surprising how much it helped me. I wish I'd done it years ago, I'd be very well off.

@Colouringaddict

Wishing you all the luck in the world. You are doing brilliantly, your daughters will no doubt, because you are raising them, be fantastic women. Ignore the haters, most of it stems from jealousy anyway

Thank you, what a lovely thing to say

@toocold54

Sorry not RTFT!

I very much doubt you will be entitled to anything to be honest as when I was getting £1200 a month I was entitled to UC as a single parent but as soon as my wage went up to £1800 a month I wasn’t entitled to anything as it’s over the threshold.

If it’s a calculator I would be a bit wary of them as I think they over estimate what you’re entitled to.
I think your best bet is to speak to UC directly.

What do you do to earn that sort of wage?

People who know how to calculate Uc have done so for op and determined that in her situation she will be entitled to some help. There is no threshold as such. It depends on a claimants individual situation including childcare and rent. Op pays high childcare and high rent. Her best bet is not speaking to UC as they do not do calculations. She would be best to speak to CAB or a UC help to claim advisers who could also do a calculation.

@ancientgran
Thank you for the tip x

Why would you be entitled to UC if you earn £47,126?

That is a high salary.

I thought the welfare state was there for those in real need? 😬😬

@Gilly12345

Why would you be entitled to UC if you earn £47,126?

That is a high salary.

I thought the welfare state was there for those in real need? 😬😬

For goodness sake read the thread.

@hiuouiy

I can't help with the sums but I wanted to be another poster saying that it is horrendous to realise when your baby is 6 months that the person you had the baby with is not a good enough man to stay with, it is horrendous. You are exhausted, your hormones are all over the place, you have this tiny person you need to look after, and in your case you also have a teenager, you are thinking about the future as a single mother plus probably how you are going to cope with your ex once he is an ex, the best way to get him to be an ex, you have all this and you are still able to sit down and work out the practicalities.

You are doing fantastically, I wish you and your dc the very best, please don't given any headspace at all to the posters here who are being monumentally unhelpful, ignore ignore ignore

I agree with your first paragraph.

For the rest, no. You have to look the facts in the eye in a tough situation,

@CoastalWave

I'd be gobsmacked if that's accurate.

Just to say - husband got laid off when Covid hit, and I earn between £1k and £1.3k a month (it varies)

We were entitled to f' all. I actually have it in writing that £1200 a month take home pay is the cut off to the point they will give you support. That's for 2 adults and 2 children.

So if £1200 is considered enough to live on for 2 adults and 2 children there is absolutely no way they're going to give one adult with 2 adults already bringing in double that anything IRRESPECTIVE OF YOUR OUTGOINGS!

(just posting for all those people shocked that anyone on this amount of take home pay is entitled to anything - I really can't see how she is)

That doesn’t seem right The only absolute cut off I itch UC is the £16,000 savings

If you look on gov.uk it shows you the basic amounts and gives examples eg couple and 2 children no rent 509 +282 + 237 =1028
Pay 1200 ignore first 515 minus 63% of what’s left from the 1028 - 431 = 597
I would go back to them

[quote Lulu2021]@ancientgran
Thank you for the tip x [/quote]
You're welcome. Remember it isn't forever, before you know it the older one will be off and the younger one will be at school and the credit agreements and student loans will be paid off. Combine that with the tips you will get on MSE and you will be laughing. This is a blip but always remember there is light at the end of the tunnel.

We were entitled to f' all. I actually have it in writing that £1200 a month take home pay is the cut off to the point they will give you support. That's for 2 adults and 2 children.

This might be the case for your household but not for everyone. It all depends on your circumstances- childcare costs, whether you rent or have a mortgage, the LHA for our area etc. We are two adults and two children, take home generally just under £3k between us, we are entitled to a small amount of UC most months.

Also agree with @Angiedx that I think you were misinformed and should have been entitled to something.

Just wanted to make a few general comments as an ex cab adviser. Well done op for taking steps to escape an abusive relationship that’s really the most important thing for you to do. Ring the cab help to claim line they have really become experts in uc and all the twists and turns. For other posters it’s worth remembering that the government has decided that there is no help at all for anyone paying a mortgage. There used to be some assistance under the legacy benefits but this was been removed. Governments of all colours for many years have subsidised housing costs by contributing to rents charged by private landlords instead of building more public housing indeed public housing has been sold off for many years. Secondly I understand that we pay very high childcare costs compared to many European countries and the support is instead via uc. For people still on tax credits you might be better off on uc but once you move you can’t go back do fo have a proper better off calculation done first. Do remember though that tax credits ignore your savings, uc is reduced for savings over £6000 and stopped for savings over £16000 so difficult for people saving for a house deposit. Hope this sheds a bit of light on the complexities. Very best wishes op for a happier future.

@ancientgran how lovely you are. Thank you so much. Your kindness is hugely appreciated

@Thistooshallpsss

Just wanted to make a few general comments as an ex cab adviser. Well done op for taking steps to escape an abusive relationship that’s really the most important thing for you to do. Ring the cab help to claim line they have really become experts in uc and all the twists and turns. For other posters it’s worth remembering that the government has decided that there is no help at all for anyone paying a mortgage. There used to be some assistance under the legacy benefits but this was been removed. Governments of all colours for many years have subsidised housing costs by contributing to rents charged by private landlords instead of building more public housing indeed public housing has been sold off for many years. Secondly I understand that we pay very high childcare costs compared to many European countries and the support is instead via uc. For people still on tax credits you might be better off on uc but once you move you can’t go back do fo have a proper better off calculation done first. Do remember though that tax credits ignore your savings, uc is reduced for savings over £6000 and stopped for savings over £16000 so difficult for people saving for a house deposit. Hope this sheds a bit of light on the complexities. Very best wishes op for a happier future.

There is help for people with kids and a mortgage if one of them works because they benefit from the higher work allowance. £513 a month being completely disregarded before earnings start to reduce your Uc is not to be sniffed at.

People who know how to calculate Uc have done so for op and determined that in her situation she will be entitled to some help.

As I said she needs to be wary doing the online calculations as they can overestimate, I learnt the hard way by doing that.

There is also a threshold of how much you can earn and how much they will help pay towards your rent.
She could probably get help with childcare costs but she won’t get a lot of help for rent etc.

My rent threshold is around £100 a week. If I didn’t earn any income at all then I would get the full £100 and if my rent was £150 I would have to find the other £50 myself, they don’t just automatically pay for the full amount.
If you are earning but on a low income they will pay you more UC to put towards your rent but they still wouldn’t pay more than that £100 or whatever it is for that LA.

When you are earning they give you a certain threshold and then over that amount they take off 63p for every pound until a certain point where you don’t get anything.
As I earn £1600 I’m not entitled to anything as it’s over the threshold whereas if my income dropped back down they would increase the UC to cover my earnings if that makes sense.

@toocold54

People who work for UC and know the system have advised me and done calculations for me.

Good point baby robs I’m a bit rusty!

School transport is usually only paid when your child is attending the nearest school they can be offered a place at. If you have chosen a school and it's not the nearest to your home I dont think they'll pay transport for that.

[quote Lulu2021]@ANameChangeAgain

"Most families" might not have studied and worked their arse off for over a decade to be professionally where they are, making multiple sacrifices along the way. Sorry but your comment has infuriated me. [/quote]
I agree OP.
You are here for help and advice not for unhelpful comments like that.

@toocold54

People who know how to calculate Uc have done so for op and determined that in her situation she will be entitled to some help.

As I said she needs to be wary doing the online calculations as they can overestimate, I learnt the hard way by doing that.

There is also a threshold of how much you can earn and how much they will help pay towards your rent.
She could probably get help with childcare costs but she won’t get a lot of help for rent etc.

My rent threshold is around £100 a week. If I didn’t earn any income at all then I would get the full £100 and if my rent was £150 I would have to find the other £50 myself, they don’t just automatically pay for the full amount.
If you are earning but on a low income they will pay you more UC to put towards your rent but they still wouldn’t pay more than that £100 or whatever it is for that LA.

When you are earning they give you a certain threshold and then over that amount they take off 63p for every pound until a certain point where you don’t get anything.
As I earn £1600 I’m not entitled to anything as it’s over the threshold whereas if my income dropped back down they would increase the UC to cover my earnings if that makes sense.

People have done manual calculations for her. Op will get rent element in line with the LHA for her area. The people that have calculated for her have used her actual LHA to calculate accurately. They do not pay more rent element to low earners, it is solely based on LHA and bedroom entitlement. People on lower incomes obviously have less deductions from the whole award.

@Thistooshallpsss

Good point baby robs I’m a bit rusty!

Totally agree there is no help for people on Uc who have a mortgage and have lost their jobs though. I think you have to have had no earnings for nine months before you qualify for support for mortgage interest, by which time most poor people will have lost their home. It's a sorry state of affairs that there is no help available for those first nine months.