Benefits for lone parents...surely this isn't right??

[isthisright]

Ok so long story but will try and keep as short as poss!

When my XH left 6 years ago I called tax credits and they said as I was still married I couldn't claim anything. Being totally naive at the time I accepted that and really struggled on working PT, big mortgage etc. Luckily XH paid the mortgage still and gave me bit extra for bills for a year or so till I sorted myself out. Then I found I COULD claim and and so started getting CTC and WTC.

Anyway, five years down the line I am remarried and have DS2. Things aren't working AGAIN ( Really upset about it but that would be another thread!

So, I looked on entitledto.com. At the moment H earns £27k. I am a SAHM. I get carers allowance as DS1 is SN. But still, we only scrape by with mortgage, kids activities etc. We do okay but basically just have to do everything really cheaply.

So, on entitledto.com it says that if I was a lone parent I would get £29k a year in benefits plus things paid like prescriptions, school meals etc. Is this right??

If it was right I could afford to keep my house and would probably be in a better situation that I am in now financially.

I just can't see this being right? I have some very special friends who are single parents and they really struggle with money.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

if you went on IS it would be £59.15, you would then get 2 lots of child tax credits and 2 lots of child benefit and full council tax credit, no help with mortgage, then the carers allowance on top, dont think that would work out to nearly 30k

Here it is:
(At the moment after tax, NI etc, DH has a salary of about £21k net).

Tax Credits-Initial Tax Credit: £6,679.50 £127.75
Tax Credits-Final Tax Credit: £6,679.50 £127.75
Income Support/JSA: £16,672.34 £318.87 Assumes adult-only Income Support/JSA(IB).
Council Tax Benefit: £599.71 £11.47 Based on an income of £127.75 from tax credits.
Total: £23,951.55 £458.09 Total means-tested entitlements
Earned Income (net): £1,045.71 £20.00
Other Income (net): £2,543.70 £48.65
Income From Child Benefit: £1,579.02 £30.20
Total Income: £29,119.98 £556.94

The 'earned income' is the £20 a week I do from home

And just did it as though DH didn't work and it came out at £31,976.36.

Is this really right? If so it's not worth him working (long hours, stressed with kids, constant arguing about me getting no help with hosp appointments etc).

Message withdrawn

Oh but if DS1 didn't get DLA then we would get £17k a year.

Didn't realise DLA made that much difference to overall benefits.

Sorry, I am just working things out here!

Will go away now

As a non working lone parent of two, without the added disability and carers benefits, you would get £59.50 Income Support per week, £81 child tax credit, and £30.10 child benefit. You will get council tax benefit that will pay your council tax, but I don't think you will get housing benefit for a mortgage.

Don't you get DLA while your husband works?

Message withdrawn

Thank you.

It says I can get help with the interest on mortgage but not the actual mortgage.

It looks from entitledto.com that I'd get £318 a week IS.

It's got to be wrong hasn't it.

I was thinking of asking DH to leave work so we can stop arguing and patch up our marriage if we were going to be £10k better off anyway!

Maybe not then.......

Yes, I do get DLA.

At the moment I put it straight into DS1's bank account but that would have to stop if I was alone.

And if your DH makes himself intentionally unemployed he can't claim JSA for 6 months.

And don't forget that if you are on IS they would expect Maintenance from both XPs and take that into consideration for the calculations

I only do 2 hours a week at the moment. Had to give up my job in the summer due to stress with DS1 hospital appts etc.

Message withdrawn

Glad it's not just me tobysmum!

Let me know how you get on with CAB!

IS per week for 1 adult is about £59.

I am a single parent, 1 kid, no disabilities and I get £100 a week (ish) then a month I get CB and I also get housing and council benefit.

DS gets free dinners and milk at school and I got sent £20 to help with the cost of uniforms.

It isn't the life of riely - no wonder people assume such if entitledto.com is SO inaccurate.

entitledto must be up the swanny if its giving out results like that, IS is a set amount, £59 for lone parents and £90 for couples per week, you can claim for mortgage interest payments but it depends on when you took the mortgage out and there is a waiting period by which time you could possibly lost the house, I wouldnt advise anyone giving up work to live on benefits.

I got a totaly wierd amount on that web site too. I don't think that is right.

I work 17 hrs so I don't get income support but I get less than the tax credits amount you list with child and tax credits combined. I think it is either tax credits or income support not both???

I don't know though,

Oh and if you claim income support they minus off any amount you get in maintenance.

i am a single parent with 1 ds who is disabled, he gets high rate for care and mobility(altho we swapped the mobility bit for a C4 Grand Picasso )

i am better off not claiming IS as they add a carers premium of £25 to the usual IS amount, making it around £84.50? and if i did claim xp would only have to give me £45 thru the csa which you have to do if you claim IS, which they let you keep £10 of....woohoo!

they deduct what you get from carers allowance and csa(disregarding the first £10) so i would get (£84.50 - £48.65 - £35) 85p!! altho i would get full CT and full HB, i rent privately and the rent (£475)is over the amount allowed by the rent officer so would have to pay the rest of the rent anyway(£50 a month)

xp currently gives us £80 a week and i get partial HB and CT benefit so pay CT £63 a month and £200 a month rent,

we get

48.65 CA
109.88 CTC
18.10 CHB
64.50 DLA
80.00 CM from XP
321.13 TOTAL

and we are doing pretty much ok...alright i have a credit card bill that would choke a horse...but doesnt everyone

a girl i know who is also single with a disabled child is on IS and gets her mortgage paid as well but im not sure how this works.

Ok, I am thinking of leaving h, and put my info in and I would apparently recieve:
entitlement per year per week
Tax Credits-Initial Tax Credit: £6,679.50 £127.75
Tax Credits-Final Tax Credit: £6,679.50 £127.75
Income Support/JSA: £63,430.93 £1,213.16 Assumes adult-only Income Support/JSA(IB).
Council Tax Benefit: £1,342.00 £25.67 Based on an income of £127.75 from tax credits.
Total: £71,452.43 £1,366.58 Total means-tested entitlements
Earned Income (net): £0.00 £0.00
Income From Child Benefit: £1,579.02 £30.20
Total Income: £73,031.45 £1,396.78

I have two dc's my son gets high rate mobility and middle rate care,
Surely with benefits I would not recieve £1,396.78 per week.

I am a family lawyer and a lot of women who come into see me, myself inluded, end up better off without their partners. But they have to work 16 plus hours a week to get the working tax credits