When Child Related Benefits Stop

[MysticMeghan]

I found it quite hard when DD went to Uni at 17. The child benefit stopped in the summer when she left school, and I had to make up the shortfall on her rent for her student flat from savings as she only qualified for the basic student loan and not the bursary, which is parental means tested with quite a low threshold, which means you basically get nothing if one parent is working. I remember the old days when a student grant did at least cover your accommodation costs. But it's unrealistic to expect everything to be free. And it's not until a benefit stops your realise how much you miss it!

Our neighbours don't work and get the full range of benefits but this includes quite a large wedge of child benefit and child tax credit which I now know (from what my neighbour has since told me) that they rely on quite heavily. When I mentioned to my neighbour before lockdown that she will probably miss the child related benefits when her twin boys turn 16, she looked at me like I was mad and told me that they can't stop because she needs them to get by. I was a bit embarrassed and thought that maybe this was because her kids had found a college or training place or something (I think you can get them until 19 or 20 in some circumstances) or because they would be claiming benefits in their own right. Both boys have already left school. So I let it drop and with everything that has happened I forgot about it.

This morning she told me through the fence that she has had a letter from DWP saying that her CB and CTT benefits are going to be stopping and she doesn't know how she is going to get by. Apparently she and DH get jobseekers allowance, housing benefit and council tax paid under the umbrella of UC. And I am presuming that her boys will now be able to claim benefits in their own right which would help make up some of the shortfall.

I know that really this is none of my business but she was crying and saying they have just signed a new contract with virgin media and how will they pay the electric bill now. I suggested that she go online and try and get some advice because I don't really know enough to advise her. It's my own fault for mentioning it all those months ago I suppose.

She clearly needs to talk to someone so I am happy to be a listening ear at a socially appropriate distance if there is no-one else but I am a bit useless when it comes to giving any advice because I really don't have much experience as I been in the same job since I was 24.

To be frank I am a bit shocked that she seemed to think that she would continue to get these benefits forever and it wasn't until she told me how much CTT she gets each month that I realised that it is a large chunk of their income gone which they have presumably come to rely on.

As I said, if anyone knows of any online help that is available right now then I will pass the information on (I can text her) but I am a bit shocked that she didn't anticipate this as even with my fairly basic knowledge I knew that the CB wasn't going to continue forever and accepted and planned for that.

Presumably the way forward is to try and look for work as even on a basic wage you could then claim WTT. But I appreciate that in the current environment that isn't going to be easy.

Clearly people rely quite heavily on child related benefits more than I ever realised.

Yes I think you are right. I'm an adoptive parent in receipt of several benefits related to my son.
He is 16 and will be going to college in September so I will still receive child benefit. I will also still receive an adoption allowance whilst he is is full time education.
However he has made so much progress over the last few years that I'm expecting when he is assessed for PIP, he will lose some if not all of the DLA he has received, this has an impact on my tax credits.
I've spent the last year planning for this, I have always worked, albeit part time, so I have already increased my hours, I extended my mortgage by a year to reduce my payments and I will be cashing in a small private pension over the next two years.
The mistake people make is not working. If I has stayed out of work over the last 8 years I would be stuffed. Continuing to work has given me options.

At 16 or 17 her children won’t be able to claim benefits in their own right unless they are unable to work due to ill health or disability. (There are a few other circumstances but I don’t think they’d apply either). Really her children need to be in education for benefits to continue, or in employment.

If the kids aren't working they should be in education. If they take an apprentiship the Uc child elements will usually stop also as they get paid a small wage. It is a huge chunk of money to lose - for two kids it would be about £630 a month they will lose including child benefit but the good thing on UC is that they won't lose money from their rent element until the kids turn 21. They need to look for jobs asap.

Look on money saving expert website lots of info on there

Lots of good information here and have already texted her about Money Saving Expert. They seem to have a forum specifically for benefit related queries.

Didn't realise that it would be as much as £630 a month they would lose. That is quite massive. I don't think her boys are in much of a hurry to find work, every time I was round they always seemed to be in bed or on the Playstation/Switch/Xbox with Dad.

I came back from Tesco earlier and she was in the garden on the phone to someone. I ashamed to say I stopped and listened to see if she had stopped crying and was finally managing to get some professional advice. Then I remembered it was a Sunday and probably unlikely. DH and I were in the kitchen having a cup of tea and putting the shopping away and because we are terraced housing we could hear every word through the fence. She was telling her Mum that she is going to call them up and demand that they reinstate her benefits because how else is she going to feed them all, they can't possibly exist on jobseekers alone. Apparently that money is "her right". Then a load of stuff about she is already behind on the payments for the TV. DH quite rightly shut the window at that point and we stuck the radio on.

As many have already pointed out, she should be encouraging her boys to find an apprenticement work or a training placement. And hopefully after next week when lockdown begins to ease up in Scotland it will get easier. I am hoping that DD will be able to get some part time work over the summer to tide her over until whenever the Universities open so she can have some money behind her. It isn't going to be easy. There's going to be a lot of competition for places. But DD's friend works in a takeaway and we know they are hiring for people to take orders. So she has already put in an application for that.

Universal credit standard element has already been increased by £83 a month so they will be benefiting from that. She will need to check whether the kids can claim UC themselves. Maybe the whole family can do a family job search together once lock down lifts?

Don't children have to be in some form.of Education untill .they are 18 now ,so they shouldn't just stop? I find it surprising however that neither parent has been made to look for work ,given that even single parents have to start looking for work when their youngest child reaches school age ,?

Actually, were they 16 this school year, or will they be 17 this school year? Assuming the former then child benefit (and therefore the child element of uc) won’t stop until 31/08/20. www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19

Has she told uc that the children have left education because the School has closed and that’s why they’ve stopped?

@x2boys ds1 will be 16 this academic year and ive recently received a letter telling me CB will stop unless I inform them he is staying in education.

Don't most children stay in in education ( in some form) though @PorpentiaScamander?Or do an apprentice ? although admittedly I don't how stringently these things are regulated ?

Yes I think so. But I think the CB dept hasnt caught up with the fact that most children now stay in education. Seems like a waste of a letter to me.

I got a letter this week advising me that DS’s child benefit would stop in early September following his 16th birthday. Since I don’t claim anyway,I have filed it, but how could she not know.

@x2boys We are in Scotland so kids can leave school as soon as they are 16.

I think (regardless of whether you are Scotland/England) that child benefit payments stop on 31 August, on or after your child's 16th birthday unless they choose to stay in "approved" education or training.

When DD was 16 they sent me a letter asking if she was going to be staying in some form of education. I got a letter from the school saying she was staying on for Sixth Form, sent it off and CB continued. When she left school (at 17) I phoned them and they asked what she would be doing next and I said she'd been accepted into Uni but of course that isn't "approved" education because of course they get funding through the Scottish Awards Agency (SAAS). So told me they would continue to pay until August which they did and then she started Uni in September with her loan.

Not very clear on UC rules regarding looking for work but my best friend's DP has been out of work since being "let go" from his job last September and he has to evidence that he is looking for work and also attend training courses to improve his skills and do work experience as and when required. So I expect next door are having to do the same. But to my knowledge neither of them has worked in over 6 years so I can only presume they are applying and just not getting interviews? DD applied for a job last summer where they had 300 applicants for 6 jobs so she wasn't really surprised when she didn't get it. Post Corona it is going to be harder with so many firms going bust or letting people go.

Could there be any disabilities? Someone claiming carers allowance for example wouldn't be required to look for work ,they would have to be caring for someone who was in receipt of PIP or DLA though

They will have to get a job. Why do they both claim job seekers allowance anyway, surely one of them can work

There are some churches that offer free money management advice by volunteers. I look at church websites near you.

Child related benefits continue while children are in education up til 19 (not uni courses) but they need to be updated yearly at that point to confirm the child is still in education.

I miss CTC a lot from my older children, still get them for two but it was a significant decrease when they stopped for the older two. I’ve been doing training courses etc and preparing for what I’ll do once my younger children stop being eligible. At the moment TC are my ‘second income’ as I’m a single parent and they make a significant potion of my monthly income. Unfortunately low wages jobs don’t cover the basics any more without help.

No obvious physical disabilities that I am aware of. And no-one else staying in the property they could be caring for. One of the boys talked about joining the army at one point so must be physically fit. Possible there could be mental health issues preventing Mum and Dad from working? Don’t drive. Use a lot of taxis. Could be going to and from hospital I suppose. Can’t imagine why else they’d need them as Tesco and Asda deliver several times a week.

£630 is half my monthly salary - it's a lot to lose. But if they're getting that on top of getting housing and council tax paid then it's a pretty good deal. Rent and council tax would be at least £700 a month even in a cheap area. I work hard to make that amount of money.

They all need to find jobs - that's what most other people do! I wouldn't feel too sorry for them. I'm amazed she thought it would be a never ending payment tbh.

I'm sure someone will accuse me of benefit bashing & make jokes about goats and so on. But she was clearly getting enough to pay for virgin media. I personally don't think tax payers should have to fund things like this.

Maybe there are mental health issues- certainly sounds like it. Well done for helping them op.

I'm not helping so much as listening. They are sticking to lockdown and not having family round. She Facetimes her Mum. If I had her problems I imagine I would in normal circumstances go visit my friend and we'd mull it over a pot of tea. And maybe go see one of the many debt counsellors that operate around here. That isn't really possible right now. Everything is done by phone and you can't easily go out, so there's not a lot of privacy. I worked in a Bank branch years ago and sometimes people just need to talk out their frustration to find a way forward. You are possibly right that there might be mental health issues. I think we are going to see an awful lot more debt related mental health issues as we come out of this awful, awful situation.

I will just say that virgin media recently dug up the roads to put in cable and just before lockdown they were like locusts round banging on doors. Sky have had a stranglehold in this area for years, so its rich and easy pickings, particularly for the vulnerable so aren't that financially savvy.

I agree with everyone on here that finding jobs would be the easiest way out of this. Because they could then claim WTT. Unfortunately I think its very easy to get lost in the benefits spiral. When you go out and actually earn the money that goes on your rent/mortgage and council tax, you have a much more realistic idea of what things cost than if it is all taken care of for you month after month. My DH says that if something is given for free then it is much less valued than if you have to go out and earn it. Whatever your view on benefits, I can understand some people's reluctance to get a job when it must seem so much easier to do nothing in the assurance that many things the rest of us have to pay for will either be discounted or taken care of.

Forgive me for saying, OP, but there is a subtly nasty undercurrent to your 'concern' here.

There's always one isn't there?

If she doesn't bring it up again I'm not going to go out of my way to discuss it with her. She's the one who keeps calling me over whenever I take the rubbish out. I've passed on the information suggested here. I don't see there's much else I can do. But I go for walks twice a day and short teleporting to the park I can't exactly ignore her when she's clearly so upset.

I notice you didn't call out any of the people who questioned the virgin media or stated they HAD to get a job. And something about benefit bashing and goats which I didn't quite understand...?

I don't disagree with the suggested solutions, I was just pointing out that it might be a bit difficult to waltz into a job in the current climate and they DID sign up for Virgin media before lockdown, so presumably didn't realise they'd be losing CTC. And yes, it is generally known that child related benefits end at 16, but with all the exceptions that can apply and my only knowing what I'm told, it's quite possible they genuinely didn't realise.

She's not the sharpest tool in the shed at the best of times. I'm trying to be as supportive as I can. But I work very long hours to pay my bills so if I seem a bit bitter then I'm sorry. It's very hard to hear someone describe benefits as a "right" when I work a 60 week and still struggle. Only today she was telling me her husband is possibly going to be sanctioned for not signing in and replying to an email about job searches or something. She called it something I probably can't mention on here but referenced Adolph Hitler and survelliance. If she thinks that's bad she ought to try working a call centre. Very long shifts and you have to ask permission to go to the loo.

Hopefully she will find a way out of this.