dd off to uni, tax credit slashed and council tax bill hugely increased. what can we do?

[NoahVale]

i worked out our incomings and outgoings but now they are screwed


need some advice, aside from sitting DH down and forcing him to work more hours, working more hours myself.
not keen on Stepchange.
remind me how to Really budget
tia

[Munchkin08]

I had to get a letter from the uni confirming the address she is living at, I have had to pay full council tax until I get a letter hopefully this week reducing my CT down.

[Dizzydora71]

My daughter has just left for uni.Because she left her previous course in July and not started uni till September I am being charged full council tax from July till September because she isn't classed as a student for that time.
Is your daughter in uni halls or shared housing ?.My daughter is In a shared house so has to register as a student for her house.
If your daughter is the same you wouldn't be able to get the student part for your house

[Themoleisdead]

I know this is not you directly but is your DD getting the maximum she's entitled to from Student Finance? If your income has changed by more than 15% you can fill inCurrent Year Assessment Form also make sure you tick the box giving Student Finance permission to share your details as if you are low income it can trigger bursaries from the uni.

[mollie123]

so far as I know each council has its own rules on council tax support - let alone the fact the Scotland and England are differant. As a pp suggested - check your local council's website or contact them.

[VodkaValiumLattePlease]

The 'non dependent' doesn't affect your claim as she's a student, if she worked you'd get a deduction from your benefits relating to their gross weekly earnings. This is what that phrase relates too.

[SillySongsWithLarry]

I know it doesn't help your situation but it is well known that when your children grow up your child related benefits stop. Is there any reason you can't increase your hours or seek a better paid job to cover the shortfall in income? My children are primary school age but we are planning already for the day tax credits etc stop so it won't be such a big hit.

[Danglyweed]

Has your local authority website got a housing/council tax calculator?

[NoahVale]

thank you.
Turntous shows we Should get HB and council tax help.

[NameChange30]

The thing is, if he's paying off his credit card debts, he has less money to contribute to the family. If he's not paying them off, he's going to be racking up huge amounts of interest. So even if you don't want to be responsible for his debts, they're still your problem.

Anyway, I suggest you visit CAB to ask for advice about benefits (to check they've been calculated correctly), budgeting, and your own debts. If you explain that you just want to look at your debts and not your husband's they should still be able to help you.

[NoahVale]

no, no rent or utility debts.
simply credit cards.
not joint, all separate, and I want to keep them separate.

[NameChange30]

What do you mean, you hate the limitations of StepChange?

There are other charities that can help you manage debts (Citizens Advice being a good option).

The thing is that for calculating benefits, you and your husband are treated jointly, you are a household and it's assumed that money will be shared.

What kind of debts do you and your husband have, are they priority debts (rent, council tax, gas & electricity) or other debts (loans, credit cards, etc)? Are they all in separate names or are any in joint names?

[NoahVale]

I will just Have to Call the council

[NoahVale]

Yes We do have debts and i dont want to go to Stepchange, I dont want to be accountable for DH's debts as well as my own and I would hate the limitations of Stepchange.

[NameChange30]

How many hours to you and your partner work?
How many children do you have still living at home and how old are they?

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that your benefits would be cut by quite so much just because one child is going away to university. But it's hard to say without knowing more about your circumstances.

You could contact Citizens Advice and ask them to do a benefits check or use an online calculator eg //www.entitledto.co.uk

Citizens Advice can also help with budgeting, they can give face to face advice and there is also a budgeting tool on their website. You will probably find useful stuff on the Money Advice Service website too.

You mentioned StepChange, do you have any debts?

[NoahVale]

thanks Mollie, no I am sure you havent confused the issue, you are being really helpful.
as are all posters.
i think basic food shopping is the only way forward and cancelling online delivery since that is minimum of £25
I hate raising the issue with DH, he gets grumpy, he Shoudl work more I admit that. but he has his issues and stresses in life.

[mollie123]

noah sorry if I was confusing the issue. and I don't understand how they can say including a non-dependent on this claim for this period would not have an effect.
Do check (when you can ) with your particular council as I always understood non-dependents who went to University were not counted as theoretically they earn nothing.

[AppleJac]

I take it your doing all the usual things to save money like...

Shopping at Lidl/Aldi
Not having cable tv
Cutting back mobile contracts as much as possible
Sharing a car rather than having one each?
Cancelling any gardners and window cleaners and doing it yourself
Shopping around for the best deals on gas, electric etc

[NoahVale]

no, no empty room, she shared with her sister.

[MephistoMarley]

Is she leaving an empty bedroom? What about taking foreign students on short term stays? It's covered under the rent a room scheme so won't be liable for tax and won't affect tax credits if you still get any

[NoahVale]

I am going to send my youngest dd up the chimney

[NoahVale]

Bright side, although we receive a now tiny council tax rebate, £3 per week, if we wavered that we would no longer need to keep receiving their excessively long letters, Just how many trees!

[NoahVale]

yes she did receive the full loan. but our council tax bill is now huge, swings and roundabouts. as much as we would love to be able to provide her with money, reality is different.

[AndNowItsSeven]

However if your income is that low your dd should have received the full loan?

[AndNowItsSeven]

It's because your applicable amount changes if you have a dependent child. Ie if you earned £1200 a month for example and had a child you would receive HB but if you didn't have a child at home you would have to earn less to be entitled to HB and CTS.

[lljkk]

I wonder if it's crazy whether OP could get a term-time lodger to go in the departing girl's room.