i have no money!

[beansmum]

i'm on income support at the mo, it's £55.65pw and then i get child benefit on top of that. how is it possible to live on that much? ds is only 11wks so doesn't need much but still struggling.

I haven't heard anything about housing benefit or council tax benefit which i applied for months ago so am still trying to pay rent of £500 pm. Luckily my landlord is my mum so she's not too bothered if i'm a bit late but shes just lost her job and really needs the money.

Also i just got a letter asking me to pay my council tax which is over £1000. when i wanted to get job seekers allowance i was told i wasn't entitled to it since i am going back to uni in october and am counted as a full time student. If i'm a full time student when i want money how come i'm not when they want me to pay something!

Anyway, i'm well into my overdraft and have no idea how i'm going to survive the next year at uni. As far as i know my income wont change, the income support will be reduced by the amount of my student loan. Is that right?

Any advice?

No idea, but have you been to see the lone parent advisor at your job centre? They know the ins and outs and everything you may or may not be entitled to, and its not just for when your looking for a job. Sympathy coming your way ...

council should backpay you if you applied months ago. keep on at them about it and tell them that you've applied ages ago, it'll be helpful if you know when you applied so they can look it up. dont worry about annoying them with constant phone calls from you, as its the only way you can get something done. have you applied for child tax credit? you'll be entitled to that as well. I think that's all Im on. Good luck with it. Just remember to keep nagging! xxx

I'd also recommend the lone parent advisor beansmum. I got all my WFTC fast-tracked when I went to one - otherwise, I'd probably have been waiting months to get it sorted. They're not unpleasant the way they used to be.

Hi Beansmum. i am no expert on this but am in a similar situation (single parent, going back to uni in sept.) i was told the student loan could be knocked off income support. i am now receiving child tax credits instead as they don't take into account any loans, burrasries, grants or maintenance as income. Also could try applying to college access/hardship fund. the best thing i did was to speak to the cab. you can make appointments, but i got lots of advice and calculations over the phone.

Hey beans mum, i came off income support when i started my nurse training, i got £97.00 a week. you dont pay council tax because you are on income support, so that shouldnt be an issue. I also rent off my mother and tha may be your isssue with housing benefit? I get iteven though my mother is my landlord. They are just very through about it. As i understand it, your mother needs a fukll time other address, in other words mustnt live you at your address? Other tha that the rent will be assessed locally to deem that it is appropriate for the size and local prices.
I got the 57 for me and you will also get child tax credit of 30 something pounds. and 16.75 a week in child benefit.
Still it was very hard. I had to run a car on it and survive. lucky i had help form my mother occasionally.
At uni it depends what you are studying. Im doing nursing so i get a bursary, above income support threshold. but i still get help with housing benefit and council tax is free because im a full time student and only live with DD.
CAB are great but the lone parent advisors only do better off calcs and WFTC. Id avoid going back to workbefore uni starts as its alot of paperwork and stress sorting it all out, did that too before i started uni and regreted it!
Id be cahsing the housing people, it only too a month for mine to be sorted, and quicker when i was reassesed.
hope that helps. Oh yes and student loans count as income, so beware before you take them out!

hey everyone, thanks for your advice.
went to cab today and worked out that i'm not getting everything i should be.

No one at the job centre had told me about child tax credits so have applied for that now.

also no one had told me about the maternity grant which is £500 so hopefully will be able to get that, you have to apply within 3 months of the babys birth which is tomorrow. I've filled in the form but it has to be signed by a midwife or health visitor so i'll have to do it tomorrow and just hope thats ok.

really annoyed that i wasn't told about these thing when i applied for i.s. not sure how they expected me to find out! also not been getting my milk tokens, not that i ever used them but thats not the point!

aww beansmum. i hope things will get better for you now. xxx

You can use your milk tokens for normal milk, if your breastfeeding, what a shame noone told you what you were entitled too. Hopefully youll have a bit more money now.

Beansmum, that's appalling that you weren't told. Make a complaint! (If you have time - I can't fit in all the complaints I want to make!)

if you went and saw a lone parent adviser at the job centre and applied for child tax credit through them, then they can get it sorted for you quicker. I went to see mine today and he said that if I applied for tax credit through them, it'll only take 10 days to go through, where as if I did it myself, then it'll take about a month. Just an idea I just had. xx

when i went to the job centre today and said that i wanted to apply for tax credits they said i would have to do it myself coz they had no application forms. applied on the inland revenue website so hopefully it wont take too long.

Luckily my parents have been able to help me out a bit and my grandfather bought me a few baby things, like a car seat. i don't know how people who have no other support manage to survive, it's a really stupid system.

do unis still have a bursary fund each term to financially help students? (when i was there you had to fill in a form saying why you needed money-there was a set amount divided between everyone)i dont think you get a lot but it might help
get onto the housing benefit and ask them whats taking so long(politely!!)-one thing though prepare yourself- cause where i live you cant claim housing if your parent is your landlord though i have heard of some people getting it in this situation.
good luck

edinburgh is testing out a new system where you get a fixed amount of housing allowance depending on what area you live in, maybe thats why its taking so long? will phone them again tomorrow. i have been calling and i've written and emailed as well. Last time i called they said they had a backlog of claims to process and they would get back to me. i applied in june so it's getting a bit worrying now.

Hope my mum being my landlord doesn't stop me getting benefit, if i can't pay rent i'll have to move out and live somewhere else, mum needs the money. She would love me to live with her but she lives in glencoe and i want to finish my degree.

if I can just get through the next 2 years and graduate i can get a good job and wont have to worry about all this stupid money stuff again! cant wait!

i went to uni in glasgow! used to go out clubbing in edinburgh-i loved it!!
good luck with everything beansmum

beansmum, i had my ds in my first year at uni (v. unplanned), then had dd at end of second year, so just wanted to let you know it can be done (i passed!). it sounds like you are at least managing to find out what exactly you are entitled to which seem sto be half the battle. hope the housing benefit gets sorted out soon, i know how stressful it can be.

Beansmum i hate to say it but im in livingston,just outside edinburgh and i heard somewhere that if your landlord/lady is a parent you cant get housing benefit to cover rentas they as a parent are expected not to charge you rent,i hope its wrong but worth looking into,also yes definately get your child tax credit sorted,you should get that along side your IS and CB.The lone parent advisors are very good too,you should phone the job centre to get an appointment to see one and they can make sure you get everything your entitled to.