Anyone a lone single parent and willing to talk to me about benefits?

[SuePurblybilt]

My housing department have just informed me I am entitled to 50% of my rent paid as housing benefit. They have also given me a council tax discount as a single adult.

Does that sound right? I get the max loan/grant but it comes to around £6,000 pa I think, plus £50pw CTC. And I thought I would be let off council tax altogether (my DD is 4 and I live alone with her). Any ideas or does it sound right? I confess I was kind of hoping for more of my rent paid. It's not a LHA/cap issue as I'm in a HA house so at least my rent is low.

Thread title was meant to read "lone student parent" btw. Makes sense .

Have you def applied for means tested council tax benefit in addition to housing benefit?

Where I live they are on the same form but that may not be the same for you?

Yes, same form and same letter, i get about 30% of the council tax paid by council tax benefit and 25% off for being single. I was hoping for 100% off for being a student.

I can ring them on Monday but I wondered if this and the housing amount sounded roughly right to people in similar situations.

Are you a full time student? I think you're entitled to more help if you're full time rather than part time iyswim

I am. Full time degree, final year.
It's a bloody minefield to be honest, I don't really understand all the benefits but I am sure I am entitled to council tax exemption.

tbh, if you have no other income, you should be entitled to full council tax exemption and full housing benefit. The only thing you can't claim is income support iirc. The council were rubbish at dealing with me when I was a student though, they don't know their own rules so it's worth getting everything checked out at the CAB as generally they are far more savvy about what you are entitled to

You'd think so wouldn't you Boo? But it could get worse, I am due some bursary payments so if I get it reassessed and they've come through then it could go even lower.
It's so frustrating, it's not like I'm stupid. Nobody seems to get the same treatment or know the rules, you're right, even in the housing dept!

"If you are a full-time student, you will probably not have to pay Council Tax. If you and your children live in a house with no other adults then your house will be exempt as long as your children are below the age of 18. If you have previously been entitled to Council Tax Benefit (as distinct from an exemption), you will need to arrange for this to be cancelled. "

www.uwe.ac.uk/advice/money/studentparents.shtml

So you need to double check that.

Thanks Lougle, that's what my paperwork said too.
What frustrates me is that you never know for sure that you're not being overpaid or underpaid by anyone. I was overpaid by student finance in year one so had a hugely restricted grant in year 2. Then if I let this slide I'll be underpaid - how many people just accept it? Grrrrr.

you are entitled to council tax exemption if you are the only adult. i think you need to get a form from the council and get it stamped by the uni or similar but you are definitely entitled. i dunno what this 50% business - news to me!

you should also be entitled to all your housing benefit during term time iirc

also you will be entitled to apply for non repayable help from the uni. access fund i think its called. go to your finance office and ask. my lone parent colleague got £2k twice a year through that.

you can also claim is but only during the summer break

They've seen all my SF documents so they're in no doubt I am a FT student: they refer to it in the letter.
I'll ring them on Monday. I can apply for the bursary suntan but I would have to declare that if I get it wouldn't I?

sue - nope because you cant apply for it until all your other finance is in place anyway. its a hardship grant and you dont have to declre it as income same as other student funding. my single parent friend gets it each time and she claims for things like ballet lessons for her dd's. please apply - don't miss out on free money!

Are you on a course which attracts a bursery, ie. Teaching/nursing/OT etc? That is seen differently to a student loan

we got bursaries - still got is/hb/ctc/access fund

we are social workers btw - nhs bursary

No to the bursary sadly. I will apply for the hardship fund.

I have never had to get this stamped form before (was claiming CTC before but not HB) but then again I don't remember everything. Good to know though, thank you. I will be calling them prepared on Monday.

The bursary payment I referred to btw is a standard college one - everyone that gets the full grant gets it. Its a couple of hundred in late November I think.

ohhh i get you sue - we had it and it was called the plymouth bursary and it was £300 - sure you don't have to declare that

suntan, that's the one. I'm PLymouth too.
Ringing them tomorrow and hopefully the council tax issue at least will be sorted out.

Definitely ask you uni for the council tax exemption certificate. This is not handed into the benefits department but to the council tax department and they make you exempt, not the council tax benefit people if that makes sense.

Are you getting your full student loan, childcare grant, special support grant and parents learning allowance?

The HB is assessed on any student support you should be receiving, even if you dont take out the maximum loan or anything.

THanks messy. They called me this morning and were very snitty that I "hadn't informed them I was a student". Stupid ol' me thought that providing 3 years worth of proof, declaring I was on their huge forms and getting a letter detaling CTbenefit from the housing dept meant that I had. No wonder people get in a muddle - how on earth am I supposed to know which department does what?

Anyway, letter is on its way and all is sorted.

I haven't queried the amount of HB entitlement (50%) as yet as the breakdown they have given me looks right - when they take my loan and grant into account with Child tax credit I get £180 a week net income which is £40 more than the poverty line. So I can use that £40 to pay £34 difference in rent, then they're happy I'm right back there in poverty again. Regardless of the fact that most of that is a repayable loan accruing interest as we speak. But I may be on a losing battle there.

sue - i reckon you need to contest it. if you are full time student. my lone parent friend, in plymouth, gets the full hb allowance for a 3 bed LHA - she rents a bigger house and pays the difference but thats her choice. i have done uni finance apps with my service users loads of them and they all qulaified for hb. only thing i can think of which might affect it is CSA payments. unless rules have changed but she was getting it all for academic year 09/10

I called them and they say that the 6k I get for the academic year plus £50 a week child tax credit takes me to the £180. The amount they say I need to live on is £140. That's literally all my income - no csa - apart from child benefit which doesn't count.

I'll call the university student support people and see what they say.

I've just done the direct.gov calculation and the entitled to one I had saved and they agree with the housing people.
I guess the only way forward is to query whether they should take a loan into account. But I'm sure I know people as you say sungirltan who get the full shebang. I'm just no good at this benefit malarkey