Eldest going off my universal claim

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Morning Mumsnetters

Eldest girl off to university in August. She will be going off my universal credit claim next month as far as I’m aware and off my child benefit claim. Can anyone help me figure out how much i will lose for her. It’s worrying me as google is telling me it’s quite a substantial amount 🙁 I have another 2 kids, 13 and 11

Have you tried putting your details into www.entitledto.co.uk ?

You are also losing the cost of keeping her (presumably you are not contributing to uni if on UC?) so it does balance out. I don't know how much you lose but your UC should have a breakdown of how your payment is made up so you will be able to work that out, and CB you will lose £15.90 per week. Are you in Scotland? If you get the child payment as well as your CB you would lose another £25 per week

I'm in a similar position, DS is doing an apprenticeship. I'll be losing £400 a month roughly. That is the child element of UC and CB.

I don't know how single people on low incomes manage. With kids I get a fairly decent top up amount that more than covers the amount they cost.

Op, the calculators are your best bet. Does your dd get full student loan and has she looked into bursaries? It's very expensive supporting them as well while your income reduces at the same time

Quick check on Quick Benefit Calculator says monthly Child Element will red ice to £584.58 and weekly CB to £39.90. That assumes all kids in OK health - no DLA.

If you get Housing Costs does the D leaving affect how many bedrooms you 'need' for Local Housing Allowance?

I am in N.I

Yes she should be getting full student loan
to help with uni fees and a loan for his accommodation.

just seems like a massive chunk to lose when I’m already struggling and worried.

i own my house outright

So no issues with housing benefit being cut or anything. It is a chunk to lose but your costs will also reduce with having one less person in the house.

I can’t imagine my costs reducing that much because she isn’t there

Probably not by the specific amount, no, but a significant amount all the same. My electric alone went down by £50 a month (I pay as you go) when my middle one moved out. Then the food; the clothes and everything else on top that you probably don't even think of.

I didn't find my costs reduced all that much, to be honest, just the food bill and a bit less for water.
It was difficult to adjust at first, especially though because I was still helping my kids to settle in at uni ... it's not like you really stop helping them when they head off.

I didn't find my costs reduced all that much, to be honest, just the food bill and a bit less for water.

Did you never buy your DC anything? No toiletries, clothes, phone (although OP may continue to pay the airtime), just generally spending money? Takeaways, days out, Nothing?

Can you work more to make up for the shortfall?

If you are on UC then the next eldest child will still get the higher child element as they are all born before 2017 so wouldn't be that much only £269 per month and the lower child benefit amount as next eldest child would also get the higher rate of that.

Not as much as I got in benefits, nope.

It's efficiencies of scale.

@Babyroobs that is interesting, so I might not lost as much as I am thinking?

I noticed the hit when my eldest left.
Bills, Xmas, birthdays, his phone bill, his clothes all still needed paid.

We just stopped feeding him!

@ArcticSkewer

Not as much as I got in benefits, nope.

I wasn't suggesting it would be the same amount, just that there would be a significant drop in outgoings with one less person to support.

I honestly didn't find that.

Quite possibly it's also because costs don't really disappear when they go to uni! But in terms of day to day spends, my only bill that decreased much was the water bill, no transport costs anyway, no school lunch costs anyway, they had a pt job to pay for extras and socials so I just covered basics. Holidays and phone I still fund. I'd already downsized so they shared a room - a lot of costs of a family are fairly fixed, like housing, utilities, family sized car.

And Uni still cost £££ despite full loan and bursary.

I did find it a struggle when benefits reduced

Are you working full-time?

I work 16-20 hours

I was surprised at how much my outgoings went down when my dd went to university.

Less washing was a big one. She's not a bit eater but I still found myself noticing not having to buy things she likes. She's the only one who drinks coffee for example. No school expenses, less petrol from driving her places. If we get a takeaway it's 25% cheaper,

Plenty of scope to increase earnings then which is good unless you have ill health or something.

My costs went down a lot when Ds went to uni

Far less hot water (showers & washing machine)
He took over his own phone contract
Food bill went down
no travel costs (bus fayres and petrol to college/activities)
He now buys all his own clothes.
no pocket money to give him

i reckon it amounts to about £150-200 per month saved

Maybe you should explore working more hours, or get a better, higher paid job?