Benefits reduction

[Bonsaitreepic]

I got my UC payment today. Just checked and it’s almost £300 less than usual. This is because my oldest is now classed as an adult as he’s left ft education. He’s not currently in work.
I have 3 other children but now I seemingly only get support for 2 of them due to the child cap.
Im freaking out. I only get maintenance for one of the children as I have the other 2 50/50 with their dad. I cannot afford to lose this much money every month. I was already struggling as it was. I’m unable to work just yet as one of the children has complex needs. I already get some DLA for them.
im quite sure there’s nothing I can do about this but I’m so worried

That's how I started, £5 an hour in a warehouse, worked my way up and am now a £55k a year manager, there is no shortcut to hard work.

"Or the fact that those people EXPECT us to pay for their disabled children because they can't work."

From what I have read you are taking out more than you are giving so you aren't paying for anyone else's children.

It sounds harsh but most people don’t have the luxury of sitting at home working out what they want to do. He could easily get a job in hospitality/retail etc while he works that out. Until then he should give you more because he won’t get a better deal than £50 bed and board. It’s tough but so is being absolutely skint. Surely he can see the effect that this financial strain is having on you?

Emz6103 Your comments are about benefit claimants are extremely harsh. Very few people claim benefits as a lifestyle choice because it is difficult and demeaning. It seems to me that those fortunate enough to not need benefits - but that could very easily change by circumstances beyond their control. I had a short period of claiming as a result of disability and it is no picnic when the arbitrary figure of what “the law says you can live on” is applied. I’ve never discovered how this is calculated but believe me, it falls far short of fundamental necessities and drives up spiralling debt for basic expenses. Tax avoidance schemes and off-shore bank accounts cost the government many billions more than welfare bills, it is to those people your anger needs to be directed.
That said, the OP needs to stop mollycoddling her son and demand that he takes a job, any job, so that he can contribute to family finances. This too, however, could be a double edged sword, because benefit assessments take household income into account for UC and OP may find her UC further reduced.

I certainly am not a benefit basher, I fully support the welfare system and it is certainly critical for some and has supplemented my household when needed in the past. What I do think is appalling is the amount of people who use it because it’s easier, they don’t want to work, they are figuring out what they want to do (OP’s DS), they don’t want to lose nursery hours or other benefits by working the list goes on… They are preventing those who truly need it from getting the full support that should be available for them.
I think the test would be, who would/could find a job if the benefit system was not in place, those are the people IMO that shouldn’t have them. I have seen this with people I know who have had disability payments stopped, they haven’t worked for 20 years (some have, cash in hand while claiming) but now all of a sudden can get a job, when the disabled lad across the road from my parents IMO should be getting more.
Wherever there is power and money there will be corruption and abuse, but the more abuse of the system there is, the further those in need will see their benefits cut. As a PP said, the minority cannot support the majority.

Also sadly as this lad has seen op claiming and living off the state (however justifiably) to him that’s normal and what adults do. It’s the water he is swimming in Wouldn’t even occur to our teens or our friends teens that this was an option.

Not convinced by this. My dad didn't work, instead preferring to sell drugs and I work full time.

Another proponent of the race to the bottom. ‘Need to start cutting back’ ‘Bin the booze’. You have no idea what you’re talking about if you think life on benefits - especially with a disability - is easy. The OP was in a relationship when she had four kids so could clearly afford them. Circumstances change - that’s what the benefit system is there for. I don’t think her son should be sitting around claiming benefit, but if he’s claiming in his own right, there will be a requirement to look for work - or do you think benefits are just handed out with no obligation on the part of the claimant ?

Message them, the child cap only applied to families that had children after the cap was introduced I believe?? I’m pretty sure that families who had already had xxhildren weren’t affected?
id message them or call them and ask

Ultimately no one can offer any useful advice because the OP hasn't clarified so many things ( probably busy looking after her younger DC).. I don't think she has many choices other than to insist the 18-year-old work.

Mum is on benefits because she has a child with a disability…. I’m sure the son is capable of seeing that!
she isn’t claiming because she doesn’t want to work but because she can’t work.

I’ve worked in welfare rights and the only disabled people I saw lose benefits after 20 years were those who suffered as a result of the welfare reform act when eligibility for disability benefits was changed - the changes were designed to get people off benefits and save money, and the more severe the disability the more it costs, so guess who suffered the most ? These people were forced to find work and unless you’ve lived under a rock for the last few years you will know that a lot of claimants died as a result of being wrongly found fit for work. So it’s not a case of being able to get a job ‘all of a sudden’, it’s being forced to because there’s no alternative. The ignorance of what’s been happening in the disability benefits system under the Tories is staggering.

If there is a change of circumstances for the claimant at any point, then the cap will apply when there is a benefit recalculation.

I think you have quoted the wrong poster. But, DS’s earnings wouldn’t reduce OP’s UC.

Have you considered setting up a gofundme page and asking your friends for donations?

Ugh, no, don't do that. Why should her friends fund her when her son refuses to work?

@Rosscameasdoody as I said in my post, I support a welfare system for those who genuinely need it. However I maintain those who can contribute to the working society should. I’ve seen people claim disability benefits and blockpave their own driveway, someone else I know claimed and worked in construction and takeaway delivery. Someone else i know gets paid cash in hand to look after her five grandchildren whilst on disability. Perhaps it’s unfortunate that someone who has worked in welfare has not seen any of these cases and that’s why so many people cheat and abuse the system for many years.
I clearly stated those who cannot work
and are genuine, the system should be there for, if the abuse was not happening there would be more support for them.
I never said I supported the assessments and the tightening of the protocols were the right measures in fact I didn’t mention them. I equally know someone who had worked from sixteen, who had major health issues and couldn’t claim anything because he had savings, what he was given he had to pay back. There are major flaws in the system. My PP was solely focusing on those who claim who don’t need to like OP’s DS.

I really don't want to sound mean but surely you knew this was going to happen? The UC and child benefit only continues up to 19 if they stay in education or training, the info is well publicised. I'm sure there's even info on MN about this.

@Mt192 said:

The benefit cap should not affect you
Your council tax should be zero
If your housing element doesn't cover your full rent, apply to your council for Discretionary Housing Payments

The second of those is rarely correct. Very few councils in England now give 100% Council Tax Reduction for working age people. Claimants are expected to pay part. Mostly around the 20-25% mark but some NE Lincs? set it as high as 50%.

@Purpleboat Disabilities aren't always physical. Someone may be able to block pave a driveway (on a good day) but they may not have the mental capacity to hold down a job. That work they did on the driveway could be helping their mental health, and as I said, they could have done that on a good day and been back in bed for the rest of the week. Statements like this are short sighted and unhelpful.

I took issue with your advice on selling online because it won’t improve the OP’s situation because it will affect her benefits and possibly land her in trouble with HMRC if she buys goods specifically to resell. You say you’re disabled and don’t claim benefits - presumably not even the universal ones like PIP ? Well maybe you can manage without, but the fact is that universal benefits like PIP, DLA and attendance allowance have been fought for long and hard to level the playing field for disabled people.

Living with a severe disability is costly and these benefits go some way to contributing to that extra cost. Many disabled people work, and are among some of the lowest paid, so can legitimately claim these benefits alongside work. And yet your post was full of phrases like ‘burden on the system’ and ‘accepting charity’. You also persist in referring to benefits as ‘handouts’ when many people have worked and paid into the system they now need to fall back on. Kudos to you for asserting your independence, but you might want to have a little more respect for those who aren’t so lucky.

why are you assuming that these people are cheating the system ? Universal benefits like PIP are payable in work and if they have been properly assessed they’re not doing anything wrong. For example, if someone is able to claim for a mental health condition the fact that they can do physical work is of no consequence. For others there are things like work trials and ESA permitted work where benefit remains in payment because the work element is therapeutic.

I see so many similar comments on these threads and the plain fact is that unless you know the full circumstances, it’s wrong to assume cheating. Fraud in the disability benefits sector is less than 2%, yet to read some of these comments you’d think it was far higher.

Unless you've seen their medical records and know exactly what benefits they are getting you don't know what they are entitled to. Why do so many MNetters think they know the intricate details of someone's finances?

Spot on. The assumption is that if you claim disability benefits and work you must be cheating, when in fact universal benefits like PIP and in some cases sickness benefits like ESA, are paid alongside work. These people will have been assessed and aren’t doing anything wrong. Fraud in these benefits is very low and it isn’t genuinely disabled people who cheat - they just carry the stigma caused by the few who do.

Exactly. My friend has type 1 diabetes and a visual impairment, she works full time but gets PIP as per her entitlement. My mum also has a mental health condition, normally she can work full time but sometimes she is unable to for a brief period.