Advice please oh wise ones....

[legohouse]

Hi, i'm a lone parent to 3 boys,i am self employed and have been working 8-10 hrs a week (varies from week to week).

I have lost some hours and some weeks will only be working 4 hrs,how will this affect me? I get hb and tax creds (not working tax creds as don't work enough hours).

Do i need to tell tax creds/housing of my changes in hrs each time they change,i may get more work coming in in the near future (fingers crossed!)

Thanks

Depends if you mean 8-10 hours paid work...Do you spend time preparing work, accounts advertising ..All that sort of thing..for wTC you need to be working for a minimum of 16 hours a week so if you aren't you need to find a way your up your hours even if not paid

yes,paid work....i don't mind not getting wtc,i haven't had them as never done 16hrs

oh and thanks for your reply starlight

for the time being i will be working 4 hours one week and 7 hours the next,i wondered how this will affect my hb and ctc? as i have been working 8 hrs one wee, 10 the next...

*week

I think it's always best to be up front with them. It may or not affect benefits, I'm not sure if the change is big enough, but ime, it's always better to be honest.

if you update them they should give you the figure but you should get more support not less for HB...CTC...I don't think is affected but inform them as they object if they are told later

I am going to phone on Monday,just wondered if anyone here knows about these things,i am looking for more work..

x posts starlight! thanks,that's helpful,also thanks to MsW [SMILE]

When I got HB as part of a couple, exP was the earner and his hours went up and down. We used to have to take his pay slip into the HB office each week so they could calculate the new amount every week.