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.

I couldn’t do it .

I feel angry . I work and miss out on time with my children due to this . I haven’t been on a holiday for 3 years aside from a 5 day caravan trip ( I know some don’t have that ) , my children aren’t dressed in designer clothes , I get the bus to work in all weather as we can’t afford to run 2 cars …. I’m not in poverty and that is not really an issue compared to what others face but it still makes me angry.

However , I still couldn’t do it. I would think - would the children suffer in some way if she went from having loads to having nothing . I don’t know enough about her full situation and … I just couldn’t bring myself to

And ‘The rest’ includes stopping the claimants’ benefit while they investigate, so it’s important that you’re sure of your facts and not just what you think is happening, because even if the claimant is doing nothing wrong, the consequences could be awful for them. Also important to note is that although you can report anonymously, DWP will ask for your details and they do prosecute malicious reporting. I worked for DWP years ago, and if I had a penny for every time a genuine claimant was reported for ‘not looking disabled enough’……………………

Depends what you mean by ‘temporary dire need’. The benefits system was set up as a safety net to be contributed to when able, and taken from when needed. You haven’t included child benefit in your ‘overhaul’. But you say nothing about disability benefits - so what about disabled people who can’t work, or need benefits like DLA or AA to be able to afford to live with the cost of their disability ? How is their need any different to those of families bringing up children ?

It still doesn’t change the fact that unclaimed benefit doesn’t go back into the ‘pot’ as a pp put it. The benefits budget is regularly reviewed and allocated accordingly. And as a benefit adviser I rarely, if ever, came across claimants who were ‘spending beyond their income’. Most of them were on the bones of their arse and not fully aware of the benefits they could have been claiming to help their circumstances.

Anyone with disabled children deserves the extra money as can really help with costs

I'm guessing someone with one child with no sn - mortgage and no childcare costs wouldn't get much uc

In actual fact a couple of benefits are backdated if it’s clear you would have qualified - only for a limited amount of weeks though.

When those disabled children become adults, we lose the work allowance even though we're still caring for them.

That's wrong @Lougle 🥲

But they can claim in their own right then.

Yes, but the amount they get is less than the amount we get when they are children, and the amount we get will then also go down by £200pm because we'll lose the work allowance.

Fine and completely understandable if we were free to take paid work, but at the very least, DD1 is likely to live with us and I will have to be available to care for her.

Yes i get the disabled children bit
but the OP is clearly talking about children with no additional needs
I put in various numbers for mortgage and it still came up with nothing
think the only way we'd have got anything was to lie and say my partner was a solo parent to be honest
I certainly don't bregrudge anyone getting what they're entitled to per say but do think there are a few in society who take the piss a bit
I don't necessarily see why someone on 4K a month (the take home I get now in a new job on 75k ) needs extra financial support other than DLA to be frank 🤷‍♀️but I also don't think that's where our financial system fails us
when the Duke of Westminster and holly willoughby pays less tax than me that's where the issue lies

100% agree.. which is why it has sickened me deeply to know of a local family who squandered their disabled child's money on drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, fast food, take aways. You name it. 5 children were in that household and the parents spent their waking time getting fat, noisy and wasted.
Those poor, poor children.

I get it. My youngest will probably never leave home. It's why we work different hours so someone can be home with him.

The lady you mention in your last paragraph? Does her partner live with her? If so, she is committing fraud. If not, his income is not taken into account, and neither are all the things he treats to her to.
It would be fucking weird to take into the account the finances of people you do not live with when applying for benefits.

I was a benefit adviser in a former life and l lost count of the number of times l came across attitudes like this. Some people sit in judgement believing that they know all the circumstances of someone’s life. Unfortunately l’ve been involved in some very sad cases where claimants have been reported and are actually doing nothing wrong - but have had benefit suspended while they are investigated. It causes a lot of hardship.

I don’t understand why you’re not claiming the extra while you can to support your disabled children. Even if you put it away for them as savings to use to make their lives easier later on. The benefit budget is recalculated annually based in part on claims, so all that happens it that it gets reduced - it doesn’t go to people ‘more deserving’.

Even if you put it away for them as savings to use to make their lives easier later on.

If DC won’t have capacity as an adult, will need means tested benefits or social care support, saving in their name isn’t a wise idea.

The savings don’t have to be in their name, just used for their benefit. A lot of equipment and other things which make living with a disability easier are not automatically funded, and living with disability is expensive.

I know not everything is funded and living with a disability is expensive. That is exactly what I have posted earlier on this thread. I am also aware savings can be in the parents’ names, I was merely pointing out the risks of DC having savings in case posters aren’t aware because many get caught out.

So truly sorry to hear this awful situation happened to you both and you struggled ontop with finances aswell.
Really hope all has improved with both health and finances xx

And of course there are paid carers to help toak the burden. Admittedly, will need to pay but hey, it's your quality of life and gov will provide this to help support. Mustn't take carers allowance as income. It's a given support for the child, not yours.

I'm not sure I understand this post? Am I misreading it? Carer's allowance is for the carer, not the child.

That is depressing, but I am not surprised.
It plays out on MN all the time... "my neighbour claims XYZ and goes on 10 holidays each year, and has a new car" etc.

In the context of paid professional carers, the carers’ allowance is usually by seperate benefits payments. You (parent or disabled person) get paid their wages direct and then have to use that money to pay the carers.

This is different type of carers’ allowance from the carer’s allowance that an unpaid carer can claim.

Yes of course. The carer can be a paid external non member of the family. The gov supports paid carers so the families can get on and pay a carer to care for the person/child. The family should not assume it is their given rights to claim carers allowance if they can go out to work and allow another carer to help. Thays the gov incentive. Carers allowance is not an income. It is an allowance to help pay for the care of someone. That means someone outside of the home can do the job.
British e onomy will work if families help to put that back in.