do housing benefit/council benefit ask why you left your job when you start a new claim?

[rosiejoy]

cant seem to find this info (and dont really know where to start looking!)

basically dp and i both working full time, is too much so we have decided dp will leave job and i will reduce hours to 24per week.

have been on entitledto and got figures and we think we can do it. we would be entitled to some housing benefit and counciltax benefit. however dp is concerned they would want to know why they left his job before they pay anything?

i thought that as long as one person is working, is fine to have one person home with kids (both too young for school yet)and so now not sure what to do. will they ask lots of questions? will they refuse to pay because dp left his job to stay home with kids?

any help much appreciated!!

irrc they don't ask that.

But why are you cutting your hours to 24 and him stopping totally? I'm sure you'll lose your tax credits and it's unlikely to be that much you get for the housing benefit and council tax benefit

why would we lose tax credits? he has to travel a lot, the kids are sufferring, they are always at childminders because im working fulltime. i dont 'like' the idea of being on benefits, but for the moment it seems like the solution to best siut our family. are kids still very little, had lots of change in their lives, feel like they need one of us home, and dps job so stressful more important for him to leave than me.

i read on taxcredits website that as long as one of you working 16= hours get tax credits.

i wouldnt want to reduce to 16hrs, but 24hrs seems like good balance for the moment

ahh - you must be under 25 sorry.

If you're over 25 it's 30hrs a week I'm sure

I wouldn't have thought they would ask to be honest.Its a form that you fill in,you would just have to put the hours that you are working and any other money you have coming in.If they do ask all you have to say is that DH is going to be a sahd.
I don't think you would lose your tax credits and i'm sure you can ask for them to work it out again with the new household earning.

You can get wtc/ctc if you work 16 hrs or more at any age over 18.I think.

Just checked you have to work at least 16 hrs and have at least one child.You can claim from the age of 16.HTH

alwayslooking, not under 25, i wish!

easymover, yes, i thought would have to ring tax credits with the changes and just fill in forms for th other bits, i think dp thinks its like jobseekers...

if both partners work 16+hours get lot more tax credits (i spose thats when woking tcs kick in)and the ideal would be to both work part time so someone always home with kids. ultimately plan is that dp would find work part time, but just need to know we could get by in between him giving up work and finding something new!

hild Tax Credit is for people who are responsible for at least one child or qualifying young person. Child Tax Credit is paid direct to the person who is mainly responsible for caring for the child or children. If you are a lone parent you will receive the payment. Child Tax Credit can be paid to workers who continue to pay UK National Insurance Contributions when posted from the UK to work in another country in the European Economic Area.

Working Tax Credit is for people who are employed or self-employed (either on their own or in a partnership), who

• usually work 16 hours or more a week
• are paid for that work, and
• expect to work for at least 4 weeks

and who are

• aged 16 or over and responsible for at least one child, or
• aged 16 or over and disabled, or
• aged 25 or over and usually work at least 30 hours a week

So if you're over 25 you'll still get CTC but not working tax credits according to that.

thanks always, im doing 32hrs at the mo, so looks like i have to stick to that until dp finds something

You only have to do 16+ hours if you have children its childless people who have to work 30+ hours so you can cut your hours to 24 and get working tax credits

hmm odd - I was told that it was 16hrs for lone parents, but 30hrs for couples (as was DH).

there's definitely something in there about 30hrs anyway!

i was under the impression that it might be something to do with the level of working tax credits they give you? eg. more for working 30hrs than 16hrs?

You get up to an extra £775 per year if you work over 30 hours per week between you, as long as one of you works at least 16 hours per week.

you are kidding me that's "all" it is with the 30hrs. Oh god I could scream at the twats at the job centre. DH wasn't applying for/looking at jobs under 30hrs as we were both under the impression that to get any tax credits he would have to be working over 30hrs (as I'm not working).

We could have got by with £70 a month less in tax credits, and we might not have ended up where we are now if we'd have known that as the job opportunities would have been greater.

alwayslooking

im not sure what your circumstances are, but i know that we as a family have really suffered due to the amount of hours we have to work (or think we have to)

however, i wonder if would be £70less in tax credits, plus the extra 14hours wages? numbers not my thing, make me feel very flustered maybe someone else will be able to work out if thats how it works?

rosie - no sat last night after reading that post and worked it out - we could still have done it even with less hours. Some of the part time jobs we've "rejected" have been better paid than some of the full time ones he's applied for.

I think its really sad that people have been sold the myth that Tax Credits are some mysterious, moving, entity that you have to be degree qualified to understand.

There is a list here of all the different rates and allowances in tax credits.

All you have to do is add up the ones that apply to you, and that gives you the maximum rate for your family. Then take £6420 away from your income, because this is 'free'. Whatever is left, work out 39%, and take that away from the maximum rate for your family. The remainder is your tax credit amount.

Basically, once you earn over £8420, you have lost the 30 hour element already.

sorry lou you've lost me there - why would you automatically lose the 30hrs element earning over that amount??

That table makes sod all sense to me - a I can't get the current CTC we're getting to add up to what we get using it.

Simply because if you earn £2000, you lose £780 in tax credits (2000*39/100). The 30 hrs element is £775.

With the table, you get the child element x number of children.