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.

Okay, I'll bite. What is this way of taking care of a family which doesn't involve relying on other people somehow?

This is rubbish you wouldn't get anything myself and my dh earn 2000 a month between us and we get zero. We have a claim from when covid hit as dh business was shut down

You do know that any help towards your mortgage has to be paid back when your house is sold / you die

You are awars that many working people get benefits?

I do worry about this ( not for myself as not claiming benefits myself) but what would happen if the country faced massive economic hardship due to war. Would these benefits just carry on being paid, would they reduce them ? There are so many people reliant on them now that I'm not sure what would happen. When we last had a ww there was no welfare state as such.

I you havent needed it, thankyou for not claiming. It leaves it in the pot for those who need it. And we really do need it.

Sorry but it's advertised everywhere. There's not a government building, cmsurestart centre etc without posters up telling you "You may be eligible for working tax credits" there's also adverts on most TV channels both Freeview and digital. I get sick of them and spend my life trying to delete them only for the advert to be replaced by one just as annoying. So sorry YABU the government have done their bit to ensure people know they can claim. Just assuming is your problem nobody else's of get your claim in quick an dmake the most of it.n

It doesn’t work like that. If people don’t claim what they’re entitled to, it doesn’t all go ‘back in the pot’ for everyone else. All that happens is that the budget for benefits gets reduced accordingly.

Yep, it’s called SMI - support for mortgage interest, and it’s a repayable loan, not part of the universal credit entitlement per se.

Just so you know the £500 towards your mortgage is a loan, you have to pay it back at some point. It's only towards the interest as well not the capital.

She is claiming now.

I get depressed that somebody on £4000 can get benefits when me and dp on 2400 can't get anything because no kids.

I understand why you never checked. I was at home for 18 years caring for my disabled son. I wrongly thought that carers allowance was on your joint income but it wasn’t so for 10 years I never claimed . So I do understand that not everyone checks.

This is sadly too common. Papers like The Daily Mail and Express promulgate the erroneous idea that it is only the unemployed or single parents (both of whom they vilify!) That are entitled to any help whereas there are many people who do not know that they are entitled to help! Its a bit of a soap box thing for me and I advise either entitled2 or turn2us benefit checkers to most people I meet.

I think you’re being a little dramatic. The information is out there, it’s on you to then review your personal situation. We have annual budgets, so entitlements etc will fall inline with our fiscal policies.

However, simply claiming isn’t where it ends. Sometimes claiming certain entitlements has a knock on effect to your pension etc so could impact you later down the line.

If you haven’t been struggling and don’t ‘need’ the money, shrug it off and move on. Perhaps the unclaimed $19B is because many others are in a situation where they don’t ‘need’ it either.

Seek the advice of a tax accountant if that’s the path you wish to pursue because £4K and gaining additional doesn’t stack up either.

Completely agree with this! If you are entitled - claim it! Even if you think you dont need it , claim it and save some wages for a rainy day - because , believe me those rainy days can come out of the blue !

We claim it now - because we applied during a very rainy time. My husband had just gone self employed ( 2 weeks - so no time to save anything, we had just came back from holiday skint and were waiting for him to go back to work the next day then get paid the following week and subsequent weeks - me too, agency worker , so knew we had a tight week ahead ) well , then it RAINED! He had a life changing accident the same day and was off work for 7 months with no sick pay. In hospital for 3 - that in itself was expensive - i couldnt work barely for a few months due to this and it crippled us . A year later , we still feel the effects and are in massive debt. For a few months before , i was between jobs and didnt even think about applying as i assumed his wage meant we couldnt. But turns out we missed out on about £1000 per month. If we had , we would have had some aside to help us through and wouldnt have had to max credit cards for a month when he first went in to hospital and we were waiting for the first payment.

If you dont claim it, it doesnt go to " people who need it " - no one else gets more because it's unclaimed . It goes straight back into the governments pockets . So everyone saying " please dont claim if you dont need it, leave it for those who do " - thats nonsense and makes no sense at all!

I'm on 2400 on my own 2 kids and I get nothing but child benefit £80 a month. I don't drive, no pets and live within my means. No help from parents or partner.
I dont want benefits as I've spent my life to get off them as I was bullied at school for being poor. Only to grow up and realise a lot of people want to claim lol if I want more money I'll get a better job or train for a better one but I'm happy with how I am at the moment. Surrounding by people who look richer than me but don't have careers or any sort of life I'm jealous of, they just drive to the shops in their ridiculous expensive cars makes me laugh

The fact that people on such a high income can claim anything, is what's wrong with the benefit system!

I cannot understand how a family with a monthly income of slightly less than £4000 per month can claim anything besides child benefit.

Lesson learnt “” don’t assume , and don’t judge “

with your assumption that it was for people who are single parents or disabled came your judgement . maybe turn your mind around a bit .

this is what is wrong with the world people who view the system as you have .

The phrase "the government's pockets" is wrong. The government does not have pockets, only tax payers who fund all the spends. Tax payers are fed up with being rinsed every month to subsidise people who are committed to spending beyond their income.

There was in the past a concept called "living within your means".

You should probably check these things out for yourself instead of expecting everything to be spoonfed to you.

The people making up the current government, however, have very, very deep pockets indeed. They are the ones who continue to mix their own business interests with their roles in government, and to do that with impunity they have to create someone else for you to be angry with instead. And you're happy to believe them, you eagerly declare that the poor just need to live within their means. Poverty as personal failing is a tried and tested belief among the truly cruel.Meanwhile the system continues to leave millions depending on food banks even despite working, grinding, and fighting always to live within their means. Maybe if a much more substantial portion of our taxes was put into reducing income equality in this country, everybody might be happier. Maybe not. To paraphrase Catherine Tate, I'll let you be the judge of that. I can see how much you like judging.

I don't think @Daffodilsinfebruary the op is coming back

As you are accusing me of cruelty @ConfusingTrousers, I should probably remind you that there are always a lot more poor people than rich ones, and that the middle income earners in the UK currently pay pay the highest rates of income tax that has been paid since ww2.

You also have to work out (good luck with this) how to extract the money from the rich people's trouser pockets and keep them in the country so you can continue to take it from them.

A 17th century French finance minister once wrote that the art of taxation is the art of plucking the goose down with the least possible hissing.

Nothing changes.