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.

This thread is an example of why people don't know though. So many posts saying '[even though you've checked and have found out you're eligible] you won't be eligible with that income!'

The whole point of Universal Credit is that it takes your circumstances into account. So unless you run the figures for your exact circumstances, you won't know if you are eligible.

We get a fair bit of UC, because we have 3 children with additional needs and rent costs. We don't have any childcare costs.

If we didn't have children, we wouldn't be eligible for UC, but we also wouldn't need it because I'd be working and bringing in more than UC give us.

Thank you. I'm sorry to hear you experienced similar. It's really so very unfair.

You missed out greedy employers who would rather the tax payer foot their wage bill while they pay themselves and their shareholders ridiculous bonuses. Every April the benefits rise, and every year greedy landlords raise their rents in line with UC and housing benefits. No wonder it’s spiralling out of control.

It's a shit system and they fuck over people who need help the most. My granddaughter has cerebral palsy, a relatively mild case, but she is still far behind other children her age, she can't jump or climb, she can walk short distances, but struggles, falls over a lot and injures herself, has sleep difficulties and other problems. My daughter applied for benefits, to be told she isn't disabled enough. She is 2 was told to claim again when she is 3 later this year, so she will, but I don't hold out much hope.
I have been on tax credits for many years, £78 a week child tax credits and £20 a week working tax credits, which helped immensely, but now it no longer exists and I was forced onto UC and am now only entitled to £249 a month, I am desperately trying to find a 2nd part time job, no luck so far though, Not to mention they didn't pay me for the 1st month because they fucked up!
I swear they only got rid of tax credits so they could cut peoples money!

I don't know, I feel a little weird about this one.
I've been out of work for coming up to a year due to severe ongoing back issues, so the only income we have is DH's which is just shy of £2k per month after taxes and what not, yet we're apparently not entitled to any help.
It's a nightmare even trying to get PIP, which would honestly help massively. Not my fault I can't work 🤷🏻‍♀️ I get these things are completely dependent on everybody's individual needs but I find it pretty difficult feeling bad for someone who brings home a lot more than us, and is still entitled to financial help 🙃

Earning £4k a month or taking home £4k a month? There's a huge difference! Someone on £4k pm gross would be taking home around £2.5k a month, possibly less after pension and student loan repayments.

If you're in a high rent area, you could easily be paying £2k a month in rent for a family home. I'm 50 miles from London, but still in the SE, and it's hard to find a 3-bed property for under £1,800 a month, so you'd be left with precious little to live on after paying your rent if it wasn't for UC.

The full rent wouldn't be included in the UC calculation, the LHA rate is approx £400 less than that, even after the increase that takes effect today.

I completely know where you’re coming from OP, it’s a real kick in the teeth finding out years later you’ve missed out

I can go one better though, myself and DH were told years ago (when I was PT due to caring for DC who was critically ill and couldn’t attend nursery) by someone from citizens advice that we weren’t entitled to anything and not to bother applying - found out six YEARS later whilst on mat leave that even now I’m back FT we are (and always were) entitled to some aspect of UC and need not have racked up the £££ in credit card debt (using them to live off when I had to suddenly cut 60% of my hours to look after DC all that time ago)

Sometimes it genuinely feels you get screwed over no matter what you do OP so I feel your pain

I think if you really needed the money you'd have double checked Martin Lewis' site and/or the gov sites and checked what you were entitled to.

DB and SIL I think claim this (both have always worked full time, in either contract or permanent jobs) even though SIL on principle thinks she shouldn't claim as other people worse off need it.

Why do you get £400 a month towards your mortgage loan? How do you work that out? Surely everyone would be claiming that if they could.

Redo your calculations.

I don't get applying for the mortgage loan if you have disposable income left over. It is for last resort, about to lose your house scenarios.

If you’ve been on tax credits for many years then you’ve had a lot of breathing space in which to improve your own financial prospects and security. Surely you weren’t expecting it to go on forever?

I know this is a bit of a moot point... but...

There are people who e.g. claim UB40 and income support when they're unemployed, even if for a short period of time, say when they've lost their job. They're expected to dip into their savings (most of us have e.g. a 3-6 month cushion. I've known people who are single but have rent/mortgage to pay but have blurred the truth (I've only claimed it once years ago for a year, the other times I just got on with it and used my savings) and said they didn't have savings and then have had to go to the job centre and be preached at to get a job. These are people who've paid tax and NI their entire lives yet get nothing back from the system if they are say if one friend of mine was, made redundant due to a slash of half the staff in her company for cost reasons. She claimed benefits for about 3-6 months until she got another job, because she would've been homeless otherwise and her flat was far too small to rent out a room, even the living room out.

It is not surprising more people than ever in British history want to move here (740,000 a year net immigration) etc.
It is very hard to make the system fair but I would rather we paid much less out and all had much lower taxes. Neither political party offers that option, sadly - they are both big spending huge state parties at present.

The only people I know who got help paying mortgage interest are:

• My DM back in the 1970s, when she divorced my dad she chose to keep the house but have no contact and no maintenance payments from him. The council came round and accused her of being a prostitute as she let rooms to men in the house.

• My DB's best friend who had 3 DC all under 5, he was a single father and his ex was a druggie and alcoholic, he couldn't work at the time and could only get limited family childcare as his DM still worked.

They both owned (with mortgages) their own properties but obvs it seemed the council would rather they kept their own homes than risk having lose them and then having to house them in council accommodation.

Yet, when the migrants and immigrants question is brought up, all the do gooders say, 'oh our benefits system is no easier/fairer than on the continent'. I beg to differ.

I have a severely disabled relative, no capacity 24 hour care, for whom I am Deputy. His essential care (24 hour) has been cut back and back and is likely to be cut further. His only income is disability payments and he has been assessed as being able to contribute £600 pcm towards his carers wages (his benefits are £1300 pcm). He does not have enough money to pay the household bills. It is because benefits have been widened so much that those truly in need are really struggling to pay for essential care let alone anything else.

Immigration has rocketed because people are coming here on visas to fill service jobs that employers can't fill with UK residents, not because of generous Welfare. People with no right of residence aren't entitled to benefit in any case.

I’d be angry at the government for allowing people who don’t need benefits to claim them. You say yourself you don’t need the money. Benefits should be there for those in-need.

Child maintenance doesn't affect UC, it's disregarded. If you're paying rent, you could well be entitled to some UC, especially if you have childcare costs.

And how much will be included in UC for rent depends on where you live. If you're in London or the SE, the amount will be higher than if you're in the NE or another area where rents are lower.

That means that the threshold at which UC entitlement stops is higher in some areas than others. Where I live, you would definitely be entitled to some help from UC on that income if you were renting.

"Do gooders" 🙄

Have you completely forgotten about David Cameron going head to head with the EU precisely because of his determination to cut access to Welfare in the UK for migrants, compared to those available in EU countries?

People who come here with no right of residence are entitled to a very limited level of support, so this idea that people come here because DWP hands them thousands is complete and utter nonsense.

No, but i'm an unpaid carer so finding another job to fit in with my responsibilities and my job is really hard, my partner already works 2 jobs, plus ferries us all about, hospital appts, work and everywhere else. It's not as sinple as "improving my financial prospects and security" . One saving grace is we no longer have a mortgage, it's just hard supporting a family, working and being a carer, but thanks for the judgement!

Define 'normal'. It sounds like a lot of money, but it depends where you live.

It used to be a lot easier to find out, too, because there was some funding for welfare rights work via the Legal Services Commission.

When the Cameron govt introduced the Welfare Reform Act, they stopped all that funding, so not only was the benefit system a lot more complex, it was harder to get advice on your entitlement.

Before that change, our local CABs would run a benefit check for everyone that came in looking for advice, and they picked up an awful lot of unclaimed benefits. That went when they had to cut staff because the funding was cut.

For a child to qualify for DLA, they have to have significantly greater care/mobility needs than a child of the same age without difficulties. That's why it's hard to get DLA for babies, all babies need pretty much round the clock care. The older the child is, the wider that gap becomes. A child who doesn't qualify at 2 may well qualify at 3, or at 5.

I guess that your move from TCs to UC was triggered by a change in circumstances, which is unlucky. People who are "migrated" to UC will get the same as they did under TCs, under transitional protection rules.

Yes that is what we were told by an independant source too, she really is way behind others her age, especially in mobility, but I understand why ot's hard, as like you say babies need round the clock care anyway.
As for UC that is what I was led to believe too, but I get £8.14 a month transitional protection and that is it.

That is really appalling, shocking as my DM would say. Why is he paying nearly £600 pcm towards his carers wages when he has no money for his bills?

And then you get the likes of OP trying to claw back every bit of money she can.