AIBU to be angry about the benefits system

[Daffodilsinfebruary]

I have recently discovered by using a free, independent benefits calculator called entitledto that had I applied for Universal Credit over 2 years ago, me and my family would be over £16,000 better off.

I had assumed that benefits were for either single-parent families or people unable to work due to disability.

The majority of our savings would have been from claiming 85% back in childcare costs. We also would have had a payout of over £200 each month in addition.

For context, we bring in just shy off £4,000 a month. I thought this was a very reasonable income and we would be entitled to nil.

I feel angry that we did not know about this. A friend of mine who I met through our children attending the same nursery told me she claims 85% back in childcare costs during a conversation in which I complained of my childcare going up £150.

I did further research and 19 billion pounds apparently goes unclaimed every year.

I’ve never claimed benefits in all my life and worked hard to get on the property ladder.

should I be angry that we didn’t claim, or take it in my stride.

I wonder how many other families who could have claimed but haven’t.

Only read half the thread but not sure why everyone is so exercised about 4K a month. As of 9 days ago that’s practically minimum wage for 2 people.

It's about 7 grand a year over minimum wage 🤨

This whole thread is a lot of nonsense.

I'm on UC and I have to live on £190 a week and yes I have to pay £100 a week rent out of that, leaving £90 a week for bills.

I'm certain this whole thread is a set up.

You may well find that you don't actually qualify when you apply.

We don't earn as much as you and get a very small amount.

6.5 actually as a couple. I wouldn’t say earning 3k more than mw is earning mega bucks by any stretch. As I said imo it’s practically minimum wage.

I think it's a bit galling that they don't let you and other people backdate their claims. If you'd underpaid tax for two years, you'd be hounded for it.

That is because tax is owed. Benefits are not.

I'm a single parent and not in any benefits apart from child benefit for my son, I don't get it for my 16 year old daughter as she is doing an open uni degree. It really annoys me when people think I'm on benefits when I am not, just becuase im single i look young and choose not to drive as i prefer walking. I grew up on benefits and got bullied as in those days if you were in the dole you had to have dinner tickets and were poor nothing fancy. My mum and dad are still poor and accept that they are and can't have anything flash . However my neighbour who is healthy but apparently has epilepsy but ok to run a car dealership from our shared unallocated driveway and owns a Mercedes, girlfriend comes round in a 4 by 4 and have a truck no idea where the money comes from However he doesn't pay rent and kids were on free school meals obviously it's not known they are on the dole however his ex slipped it out to me. I couldn't give a toss about whose on benefits, who's got what even if they are flash its just he is a c*, However they dont want anything to do with me and gives me funny looks all the time, and so do my other neighbours when I have a better job and more educated than the lot of them. And I don't want benefits as it reminds me of my childhood However I believe in if you have a baby Having parent around out of work is good and I was lucky I was with my partner when my kids were young and I was able to not work but I studied at home and did avon etc if my partner and i split up when theyvqere young i would have just gone on benefits as being around my kids is more important and better for me anyway, Anyway I don't care if other people need/want to work it's just personally I think having my parents always at home is why I felt quite happy and secure growing up However it was my normal a bit like I grew up without a car and now see no point as its just natural for me to walk. When my dad got a chappy Ford minded very old people were like how does he afford that it was less than a grand and save for ages! When now loads of people om the dole are driving around in 44s and they don't get the 'how do they afford that as no one suspects they on dole. Anyway if you are just on benefits then you are poor it's the people that are on benefits and can work on the side and get a new partner that has money that doesn't live with them so no-one suspects. I knew guy near me on the dole he looked poor everyone was nasty about him and slagging him off as he smokes and orders dominoes as if to say he cannot treat himself to a little luxury when some a bloody scamming and looking like successful people and getting away with it. Sorry I no it's irrelevant but I'm just ranting today. The benefits system ans the housing system is ridiculous. As soon as I got my good job a kept getting letters from tax credits wanting me to claim its like they want people to, to keep them monitored or something . However if anyone is entitled then they should get it I just can't stand people who assume people are on or not on the dole lol

So @Daffodilsinfebruary have you actually applied for uc now and put a claim in

It's not really about what's 'owed' or not. You were eligible for tax in the past, they claw it back, eligible for benefits for the same period? Tough.

You're right to be angry. Okay you could survive without the support but for lots of of people support is really needed and government deliberately don't publicise what is available - meaning lots of people who really need it miss out

When I read the title of your post, I thought you were angry about the broken system as many claim when they shouldn’t, but then I saw that you were angry because you didn’t claim too…
Yes, the system is definitely broken indeed.

This gets right on my nerves. People whinge and moan about people on benefits and take a high and mighty stance of "never claimed benefits before" yet if they checked they'd be entitled to at least a bit of help. No one knows the personal details of anyone's income and expenditure and all this benefits bashing does my nut in.

I'm angry that tax payers is funding benefits for anyone who can work.

I think everyone who can work should work ie if you claim benefits you should earn them, every single penny - it's only fair when workers are scrimping by in this tory created financial mess.

Ref at £4k pcm you should be able to claim benefits is another question - I def support child care subsidy if you work, if you don't work, then you should be made to work for it if you can work.

We should only be funding benefits for those on short term unemployment whilst they look for a job and those whose health is incompatible with work. Everyone else can work just like I have since I was 16yo in and around all of my studying inc both bachelor and masters degrees.

You thick? No it isn't

I am a single parent family and I earn far less than you. I'm entitled to nothing.

I can't afford paid childcare - very lucky that grandparents are able to help out.

It's really not.

It's two salaries of circa £28k.

Minimum wage full time is less than £21k.

It's a little galling to read replies saying it's easy to find out about benefits and support. Everyone is different and what's perfectly straightforward, even obvious to some can easily be a completely different story for someone else. And the actual application processes can be so savage and destructive to the applicant that many are scared off entirely for years, needing a real sea-change in attitudes to help them consider it again.
There have been better times. When child tax credits first came in, it changed my family's life. I worked full-time but tax credits meant we could things like birthday parties. Before that we'd only just been scraping by.
Twentyish years later I still work full-time and I've tended to put off claiming benefits, tax credits etc just because since A Certain Party came into government I've had experiences where they'd suddenly announce that they'd overpaid me, leaving me paying money back for months and years. At least one of these was sort of my own fault, and I wanted to avoid making another such punishing mistake, but it happened a couple of other times when I'd done everything perfectly. However for the past few years it just wouldn't have been possible to look after my youngest without universal credit, and I'm so glad I applied. We still need to use foodbanks, and it's not like I'm even on minimum wage. But even now I'm too scared to even look into the disability benefits I once received. What happened to disability benefits, in the name of giving politicians a vast imaginary army of thieving benefits-cheats to blame things on at the same time as letting incredibly wealthy individuals and corporation dodge taxes worth incalculably more than anything ever lost to benefits-cheats, was a profound disgrace. Ugly and deliberate. I'd need therapy before I could ever go through the disability benefits system again.
There must be a simpler way of doing all this, but the fact that even this government has been forced to recognise that one really can work full-time and still not have enough to live on, well, I think that's as close as we'll get to an admission that the system is broken. Perhaps it suits them to have people depend on these extra crumbs they make us jump through hoops for.

tl;dr: If what people are entitled to seems stupidly obvious to you, make yourself useful and help them find it. You may say that's not your job but if it's that simple it won't take much effort. Share links on your social media. We need one another. We need you.

The government is pretty shy of telling people what they are entitled to. I don't blame you for not checking up on this one - why would you? Most of us assume we are well above the benefits threshold. If it's still worth your while to make a claim do so, and you are entitled to feel narked that the state does not tell us what we are entitled to, as if it is paying out its money rather than ours!

Agree with you. It's hard to find out what you are entited to - intentionally.

It's not that much when you consider in parts of the UK they ask for proof of income of 50k for a two bed flat 🤷🏻‍♀️
Where that is impossible for many that is why benefits will always be needed.

I used a calculator link sent by the childcare gov website message system and calculated i'd be so much better of claiming some kind of benefits after my marriage broke up. I took the calculation, put the same info into the actual claim form and was entitled to nothing so I'd take the website calc with a pinch of salt.

get a new partner that has money that doesn't live with them so no-one suspects

Well, the income of a non-resident partner would not, and should not be taken into account. It would be fucking weird if it was.

Or are benefit claimants only allowed to get into relationships with other claimants?

You are not allowed to claim Tax Free, Childcare and claim universal credit you’re better off just claiming universal credit