Good news..changes to maintenance payments and Income Support

[onadietcokebreak]

Good news for anyone who is not entitled to Income Support because maintenance payments exceed the amount payable.

From April 2010 maintenance payments are fully disregarded when assessing Income Support claims. It has already been disregarded when assessing Housing benefit claims from October 08.

If anyone has previously claimed and been turned down it may be worthwhile making a claim again in April.

Hope that helps some people.

I cannot understand it either and I wrote it

On a diet coke break - it was a suggestion only, if feasable. Thing is it's not even relevent really... this is about I/S being paid to parents who already get maintenance from their childrens absent parents. I/S should only be given to those who fall below the threshold, income should include maintenance.

Whether or not those parents work is an entirely seperate issue and up to them. Of course moving is hard, being on benefits is hard, getting a job is hard, looking after kids is hard, finding childcare is hard - we all have to do it though. i never said it was easy.

There's a few 'shoulds' in there Hando.

As I aisd before, my ex should be paying maintenance, but he doesn't.

Thing is, we all have to deal with how things actually are and not how they should be. Maybe hence the change in rules re: income support?

I don't claim but am glad the extra support is available for those who need it.

have to say i think it shouldnt happen...

income support to me is there to support your income and the amount they come up with is for a single person but this is takign into accoun that tax credits payments are for children.

If someone is getting the highest amount from the CSA which is 2k a month its laughable that they should be able to claim benefits on top of this!

The reason i work full time with 2 small childrne is that if i stopped workign i wouldnt be entitled automatically to benefits due to my maintenance and fully agree that this should be the case.

The government do not have your childrne for you and if the maintainance is thought to be enough (and therefore reduces IS payments) along with tax credits etc then that is a good thing!!

also... entitlement for free school dinners is that you claim child tax and not workign tax so IS doesnt come into the equation for this.
free prescriptions are available even if you work and are on a low income

I can tell you exactly why the legislation is being changed in this way. If you have 2 ex-p's with maintenance assessments, like I do, and one is responsible and pays you the £33/week he's meant to, you lose £13 of your IS. Now even I think that's fair. BUT my other ex-p has an assessment for £29 a week, which is deducted from my IS also at present. The problem being that he hasn't paid any of this for 11 months now, which adds up to a significant sum for me, leaving me and my 3 DC's below the poverty level. My MP took this up in court, and THIS is why the legislation is being changed. And will not be changed back by any subsequent government until they have sorted out the CSA. As a disclaimer, I am on IS because I am registered disabled due to uncontrolled epilepsy, and before I was signed off permanantly sick 2 years ago, I had always worked, despite being a lone parent. And I am also caring for my DC's, 2 of whom have quite severe and complex care needs themselves, due to medical problems.

Befor everybody gets their knickers in knots! Stop for a minute and seriously think about this. ATM there is very little info about this but do you seriously think for a minute they are going to let you keep all your IS, and CSA without it affecting your HB, CTB what they give you in one had they will take out of the other

They are having to to cover situations like mine, as the CSA is not fit for purpose, and thousands of lone parents were in my situation, losing £30 or more a week of their IS without their ex-p's actually paying the maintenance. They are trying to figure out a way to prevent overpayments of IS where there is an assessment on an ex-p that is not being paid, because if it is being paid, it creates an overpayment of IS, but if it's not being paid, The DWP's computer system is unable to take that into account, so it still shows as an overpayment. The government have looked at the costs of updating the DWP's computer systems to allow for these situations, but it is actually more cost effective to let lone parents keep all maintenance paid than to pay for a whole new computer system. Bit short sighted if you ask me, but that's how it's come about.

The DWP have now stopped deducting my ex-p's (unpaid) maintenance, but it means my 'account' is now showing a £1,000 overpayment of IS, that the DWP do not want to wait on repayments. They've deferred it until all the new legislation is finalised, but that's the end of March. But to answer EO2's question, they will not be taking it back in another area, it's to prevent these theoretical overpayments from putting Lone parents into poverty.

so basically if i give up my job, i will be able to keep 500 a month in maintainance and get IS and full ctc along with the majority of my rent and all my council tax!

makes no sense whatsoever!

what they used to do to get over what loudlass is saying is that they would give you the 20 csa and give the rest to dwp meanign you would get full IS.

Think this makes a lot more sense than what they plan on doing1

makes me think whats the point of workign as a single mum!

onadietcokebreak. Thanks for sharing the news, and you are very right - even millionaires can survive on peanuts for a week or perhaps a few months. It is the longer term that is depressing.

Hando, are you a wanabee PM or perhaps a paid marketing assistant? Anyone can claim Job Seekers Allowance (an amount equivalent to IS, even millionairre bankers - and those on contribution based JS can claim the same addons as those on IS) - so why beat up on this single parent group so vehemently?

Consider please, it costs the country a lot less to support lone or single parents on IS and allow them to keep maintenance than it does to support many other initiatives (warmongering, bank bailing, paying JOnathon Ross and Graham Norton, MPs expenses etc etc).

In my experience lone and single parenting is so tough because of the lack of spousal support, joint decision sharing ability, job and leisure opportunities, time and status. It is not an enviable position, for the parent or the children...even if some extra pennies are allowed.

I'd like to take this opportunitiy to thank every lone and single parent for their time and sacrifice in engaging in the joys and efforts of raising children. Well done in all your achievements.
xxx

Where are they getting all this money they seem to be handing out like it grows on trees - to banks, as aid to foreign nations, on wars, increase in state pension, etc.?

I don't get it.

Just to add, I don't think the way the maintenance is changing is for the better, there was nothing wrong with the old system where the LP was allowed to keep £20/week of the maintenance, and the rest went directly to the dwp, as it covers some of the amount the government spends on benefits. But equally, the new system that comes into force in April is fairer than the current system that's been in place since October 2008, that is leaving a LOT of LP's in debt due to 'non-compliant' non-resident parents not meeting their maintenance obligations. But then the old system wasn't THAT fair either, as a lot of non-resident parents felt it was wrong that the money they were paying to support their DC's was not being given to their dc's. There isn't a system that can possibly be fair to everyone or cover all situations, and the government are busy trying to please everybody for a short period of time rather than actually spend money where it's needed, on the CSA, which would enable it to actually chase NRP's that don't want to pay, thus negating the situation I amongst others have found themselves in.

I can hardly believe this is true. This would make such a difference to me & my girls! Does anyone have a link to a government site with the info on? Ill believe it when I see it.

If I may add my view.
I agree that maintenance should not be taken into account for income support. As income support is for the individual.

I have two gorgeous boys that I have every weekend (ds1 is 5 and Ds2 is 3 years)

Because of the type of job I do I use the online calculator for the CSA website to gauge how much maintenance I pay direct to my EX-P every month.

I believe that every father has a responsibility to provide for their children. Easier said then done. I have my boys every weekend, with my boys and on the whole I get on with their mother. I only live a few mile from my boys and I I love being close to them.

Shouldn't happen.

I get IS and housing Benifit as well as CTC. No M from ExH at all. Haven't asked for it. Don't want it.

I am not in poverty AT ALL. That is a joke! Budget and you will be MORE than fine. I have internet, mobile, house phone and Sky T.V. (plus we eat decent meals every day) Please tell me how that is poverty?

Agree it will discourage people to look for jobs. I already think if I liked living without a job this would be no bother at all. I can see why so many people live thir lives on benifits. (personally I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a job and am looking)

A. Joke.

No situation is black & white meltedchocolate. I would love a job too, but as I live out in the sticks its virtually impossible to get one. (Not through lack of trying) I also have a special needs child & have regular appointments with CAMHS which makes it trickier.

Being so rural I have to have a car, (14 year old Toyota) so factoring in car upkeep & petrol (say £50-60 a week minimum) that wipes out income support almost in one fell swoop.

Also I have my own home, which I pay insurance for & general upkeep. I dont get my rent paid for & no allowance for maintenance. If my boiler breaks down I pay for it. (£196 last winter) I have just come off the phone to a handy man about the damage done to my roof by the recent weather. God knows what that will cost me. I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones because at least I dont have a mortgage to pay out every month. If I did I would be well & truly screwed!

As it is I am petrified of anything going wrong with my car or house because I may not be able to get it fixed.

I currently get just over the IS level from my ex, £96 in CTC & £31 CB. Its fine, as long as nothing goes wrong. I would be perfectly happy living in a town with decent bus service & renting a flat/house fully paid for by the government with no worries of unexpected bills. Bring it on!!

This extra money (and I still wont believe it until its in my bank) would help cover my additional costs, enable me to provide a buffer for any future problems.

onadietcokebreak, do you have a link showing details of the new rules?

SP - I also live in a ridiculously rural area. It is hard trying to find a job but I am still trying. I dont have a car. I can not afford it. I rely completely on buses which is a pain as they dont come round very often but it is what I can afford so I deal with it.

You say you have a house, does that mean a house that you own outright if you dont have a mortgage to pay?

sparkle you're wasting your breath on some of the people on here
but i at least understand completely what you're facing
obv.you and i are even less deserving as we own cars and houses (tho i still pay a mortgage and mine is being sold as part of my divorce settlement)
and incidentally we became home/car owners because we worked bloody hard for them and paid tax not because they were given to us
also it needs to be mentioned that without the help of IS/JSA and all the related stuff it brings it means that any help back into work/training or study is too expensive an option

Hi MC. Not driving isnt an option around here im afraid. There is no real bus service. I could not get the girls to school without my car. Will be better when they are up at the comp, at least there is a bus service to there.

Yes, I have a house. On the face of it it seems fantastic. The reality is I am (on a day to day basis) worse off than someone having their rent paid & no maintenance worries or insurance to pay. Its not a cheap business being a homeowner. I am petrified of things going wrong with the house that I simply cannot afford to pay for. I just had a handyman come over today to look at the damage caused to my roof during the bad weather. It will be half a days work to fix it, so hopefully only £50 or £60. Thats a fair chunk when you only have £215 coming in a week in the first place. Not to mention the car costs. Leaves about £100 to cover food, bills & anything else that week. Deep joy! Would be nice if the government offered a token sum towards maintenance, considering the fact that if I didnt have a house id be claiming £700 a month in housing benefits off the state. Where is the incentive to better yourself? You only get kicked in the teeth! (Sorry rant over lol)

I feel sorry for the ones who have a mortgage to pay as well as the maintenance issues. In that respect I consider myself to be very lucky.

This new ruling will be a godsend for me. My eldest goes to the comp in September & the clubs & extras involved cost a fortune. Ive been desperate to find a job so I can pay for these things & maybe even (dare I say it?) take the girls on a proper holiday for once, but the lack of local opportunities & restrictions placed by having a special needs child make it almost impossible. This ruling, although not the same as having a real wage coming in, will help enormously & take the pressure off an already stressful life.

Thanks aseriouslyblondemoment Nice to have some support here. I hope things work out for you with the house sale & everything soon. I am a year now in my new home, & although a lot smaller than what im used to, its MINE ALL MINE!!! He does not have a key! He cannot let himself in & harass me whenever he see's fit! Thats worth more than anything to me!

Many thanks onadietcokebreak for bringing this to our attention. I have checked with Gingerbread who confirmed that although not widely advertised it would be sometime in April. They gave me the no for Income Support, who didnt know the exact date, but gave me Child Maintenance Options no who confirmed I will be eligible to claim from 12th April. Pity there isnt a jumping around cheering emotion. LOL! Thanks again. You really made my day, week, year.

ooh i'm celebrating with you
will go make a note of that date now!

I had it in my head that you didn't get stuff like IS if you owned a house. You're right - I couldn't afford to live like that.

I can see how in your case it will make the world of difference but in a case like mine where the people claiming could well be 'spongers' it is a horrible idea. I really think the idea should be worked out better but maybe that would just be too hard to do?

Sparkleprincess.

So glad that this has helped you. Will find a link to the (hidden) guidance later but its very complex to wade through unless you are a benefit expert.

Reclaim from 12th April and you should be entitled (unless you wanna post the last 2numbers of your nino and I will work out exact date for you)

Do you pay for your mortgage yourself or does ex pay?