# Too Many Benefits?



## bloodbinds

So today i had a massive ring around all the benefit people i could find to find out around abouts what i will be getting in benefits once my little angel is born. I've displayed it below (per month)... But does it seem a little too good to be true? :-S


Child tax credit: £252
Maternity Allowance: £492
Income Support: £256
Child Benefit: £80
Child Maintanance: £80
Housing Allowance: £500
Council Tax: All of it

So even with my rent and council tax being completely paid for me, i will have £1160 a month?!

I've had to double, then triple check this with several people, including my job centre and local council, i've told them all over and over again what i've been quoted for everything, and they are all just saying 'yes, that's right'

I still don't quite believe it though. I don't think i'll believe it until the money is coming into my account every month, lol.


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## purpledahlia

well maternity allowance will start from when you start it for x amount of months and so not jsut when the baby is born... and you wont get CM ( if your going thru CSA) for quite a few months, it takes ages to sort out usually, but it will be backdated.. 
your so lucky tho,
mine totals 130 a week,
CTC 
IS and
CB 

pants!


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## Perdita

I think I'm going to have to do some asking around as it looks at the moment like my £1400 four wekkly pay packet will be reduced to £600!!! That won't even cover my mortgage and bills and that's an interest only mortgage!
I need help!!


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## bloodbinds

Well me and FOB are setting up a private agreement to begin the week the baby is born, so luckily i dont have to worry about that. And i'm already getting my maternity allowance 
I think im just lucky i dont have many outgoing bills to worry about!


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## FierceAngel

you wont get income support and mat allowance at the same time i dont think?

and hb tend to use your mat allowance and ctc as income so it reduces your hb 

xx


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## purpledahlia

what i meant was mat allowance doesnt last forever and if youve already started getting it it will stop after 6 months i think. maybe its 9 now but still. 

perdita, im sure theres some kind of help available, have you spoken 2 the jobcentre?


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## purpledahlia

oh and your private agreement will cut into your benefits if its more than 20 a week..


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## DizzyMoo

A private agreement is ok but if he pays you anything over £20 a week they will deduct that extra out of your income support hun. 
Look at the maintenance as bonus extra money not as an income hun just in case he doesn't pay then you ain't relying on it.


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## FEDup1981

u wont get income support and maternity allowance at the same time.


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## bloodbinds

Just had a letter from Income support today, saying they won't pay me anything until i move into my own place! :-( (currently living at my mums you see) But they have asked me to re-apply when i'm in my own place - i move next month so not difficult i suppose. They said i'm only going to get £50 a week until babies born then it increases to about £64 i think it is. But they confirmed i'm definitly entitled, even with my maternity allowance! :-D

Also only getting £20 a week off FOB as any more than that cuts into my other benefits.
And my maternity allowance stops when baby is 6 months old, but thats ok as am planning to get a part time job then, so will get money from that and also working tax credits, so will be better off anyway! 

Why do people think you wont get maternity allowance and income support? :-S I think it just depends on your situations.

And Housing Benefit doesn't use maternity allowance as income, but i think it does take the CTC into account though - though they haven't confirmed that, they have just confirmed that i'm entitled to the full amount - so now too sure about that!


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## Lexi's Mummy

income support wont pay while you live with your parents??? X


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## bloodbinds

Well, what they have told me is that apprently because i am living with my mother then they have guessed that i only need £50 something a week to live on - and im currently earning £123 a week with maternity allowance.

They have told me when i move into my flat, i will need more to live on as they take into account my rent, plus bills etc that i will be paying on my own, therefore i will need more a week to live on (my rent will be £550 so will be needing at least £137.50 a week to live on!!) so therefore they will be able to give me income support!

I have told them that i pay rent to my mum and help out with bills, also have car, phone etc to pay for, so do actually need more than £50 a week to live on at the moment. But they said according to the council and what they decide i need to live on, that i dont need to pay rent to my mother as shes brought the house and owns it completely, so they dont take into consideration that i pay rent to her (which is ridiculous!) and also said that phone, car etc is extra luxerys(sp?) so they wont count that as needing money to live off! Ridiculous.

But its ok, i'll just reapply when im in my own place and get it in, it's just fustrating!


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## Lexi's Mummy

ah right, i get u. thought u meant without maternity pay. my mistake.. im sure youll manage either way though hun... us single mums are magic lmao x


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## suzanne108

Ooooh can I be nosy and ask why you get rent and council tax paid for?? 

I'm hoping I've missed something and can get mine paid for too!!! xx


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## purpledahlia

you can apply for housing benefit and council tax benefit if your a lone parent and dont work or work under a certain amount of hours, maybe 16.. 

they usually will pay a certain amount for a single person for a single room, and it goes up with circumstance,
for example, where i am looking at flats will cover 390 in rent for a single person on benefits, but 500 for a single mother on benefits.. its diff for a couple again and also a couple with a child etc....

council tax i think you get a large discont but u do have to make some sort of contribution but its small...


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## purpledahlia

As you start working they pay less aswell.. so the more you earn the less u can qualify for..


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## purpledahlia

why wont you get income support while at your mums?? ive not been told i cant... ive been told to apply in 2 weeks to change from jsa to income support, and nobodys said anything about it being an issue if i live here.. if i cant get that then that means me and baby will have 50 to live of.. how does that work?


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## bloodbinds

purpledahlia said:


> why wont you get income support while at your mums?? ive not been told i cant... ive been told to apply in 2 weeks to change from jsa to income support, and nobodys said anything about it being an issue if i live here.. if i cant get that then that means me and baby will have 50 to live of.. how does that work?



Because i already get £123 a week from maternity allowance, so while i'm not at my mums, im not expected to pay bills, therefore i'm only entitled to £50 a week to live off, and get enough to cover that. When i move out i will need a lot more than that to live off as i will be paying for rent and bills etc so am allowed to recieve it then. 

I get full housing benefit and full council tax paid for in my area once LO is here (only get half of it paid for before she's here though) - i think i get it all paid because im a lone parent that doesnt work i suppose?
When im working over 16 hours they will cut my council tax and housing benefit by around half - but i will get paid from work and working tax credits which will more than make up for it, so that doesnt worry me.


And yes, us single mums are magic, so we will all be able to cope! Hopefully looking at this will make some mums realise that we can cope, and we can recieve help - just apply for everything and anything and hope for the best! Haha.


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## purpledahlia

right so i dont get maternity allowance so i can still get income support right?? i live with my parents but im expected to help.. and of couse pay for me and baby


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## bloodbinds

Well Income Support people told me that because i dont have an actual written agreement with my mum then im not expected to help?! Which is stupid but i think they are just trying to be awkward. But you will be fine as your not getting the maternity allowance, so they will say, oh, you only need £50 a week to live on at your folks, and you dont have any other income, so will give you the income support. You'll be fine, dont worry. Its just me they have something against i think, lol.


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## purpledahlia

woah i got scared there, im panicking enough worrying about managing on 130 with a baby never mind trying to manage on 50! i get 50 now and its almost pushing me into a depression, i cant DO ANYTHING. i live in the middle of nowhere and cant get anywhere or do anything, cant have that with a baby.


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## bloodbinds

That is my problem at the moment. I live in the middle of no where!!! Which is why i'm moving next month!!


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## purpledahlia

lucky!!! Ive just moved back up here from London.. i really had no choice tho!! I am at my parents and there is 6 houses next to us.. some fields.. a bunch of highland cows ( were not in the highlands tho) and a road!? lol. There is a few shops and little village up the road but its a good 10-15 min walk and my hips too sore to walk it. Thats where the doc surgery etc is. *sigh*

Altho when i told someone i dindt have a car my mum did shout '' YET '' in the background (she was evesdropping! but i let her off cos she hint dropped too ) hahaa! :rofl: if i get a car it would make my life ten times easier... but not if i have to live on 50!!


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## Lexi's Mummy

purpledahlia said:


> right so i dont get maternity allowance so i can still get income support right?? i live with my parents but im expected to help.. and of couse pay for me and baby

same situation as me :D still have to pay my way at home, but as its not a written tennancy agreement so to speak, it has to come out of our income support money :growlmad: lol x


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## HannahGraceee

purpledahlia said:


> right so i dont get maternity allowance so i can still get income support right?? i live with my parents but im expected to help.. and of couse pay for me and baby

I live with my parents and i get income surport :) x x


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## purpledahlia

PHEW bloobblinds u SCARED me!! 
yeah bummer i wish we COULD get hb to give to our parents, shame. oh well. im pretty lukcy my parekts wont take too much but iv got to help and if were out of milk for example i got get next time mum does type of thing, i am still allowed to use their stuff but i have to keep the whole kitchen and tv room clean everyday so my mum comes home to a nice clean house!! and help generally, and cook a few meals a week so they can ''relax'' ugh.. its annoying but its fine, luckily, otherwise id be on the street really!


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## HannahGraceee

purpledahlia said:


> PHEW bloobblinds u SCARED me!!
> yeah bummer i wish we COULD get hb to give to our parents, shame. oh well. im pretty lukcy my parekts wont take too much but iv got to help and if were out of milk for example i got get next time mum does type of thing, i am still allowed to use their stuff but i have to keep the whole kitchen and tv room clean everyday so my mum comes home to a nice clean house!! and help generally, and cook a few meals a week so they can ''relax'' ugh.. its annoying but its fine, luckily, otherwise id be on the street really!


Haha you have the same thing i have to do! for my rent i do the housework :) pretty fair if you tell me, it takes like 10 mins and its done for the day :) - if you want me to tell you what benifits i get so you know how much your be getting once your had bubs ill let you know as me and you are in basically the same situation x x x


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## bloodbinds

Sorry, didnt mean to scare anyone! You can get income support while living at your parents - i am not entitled while i live here though due to my maternity allowance! But i will be claiming my income support once i'm out of here!

I live on a road of houses. And thats it. For miles. Lol. We're surrounded my fields. No bus stop, no trains for ages, got to go to the nearest village to see any intelligent life forms, and even that only has one pub and one post office! Lol.
I do have a car luckily so i can get around - but i am having to give that up before christmas as it's an added expense i wont really use :-/


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## purpledahlia

oh, well i think i may get my mums old car for xmas, but i will only have to pay the petrol and any repairs or mot etc so thats not so often, they pay my brothers car insurance so hopefully mine too and thats the expensive part!!! 

hanahgraceee - i worked out ill get 130 a week.. that about right?? income support, child benefit and child tax credit? i might get child maintenence for 20 a week btu im not sure yet and if i do wont be straight away, x


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## HannahGraceee

i get 148 :) (I think) £64 income surport - £64 child tax & 20 child benifit


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## purpledahlia

:D excellent, 18 quid more than i thought, every little helps! x


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## HannahGraceee

exactly!! plus you get your child tax backed dated!!


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## purpledahlia

what dya mean? u mean child maintenence?


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## HannahGraceee

No your child tax credits

it gets backdated for 3 months - so your get about £600ish :)


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## purpledahlia

how come? like from before the baby was born? or dont u get it till theyre 3 months? :wacko:


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## HannahGraceee

Ohh i didnt think :dohh:

Well if you applie as ssoon as your get all the infomation you need they will back date it till the baby was born for 3 months 

so if your baby was born for example 18/9/2009 but didnt apply till 17/12/09 it will get backdated till date the baby was born but no further :)


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## purpledahlia

i dont get it. 
I was gonna apply the same week as i need the money ?


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## bloodbinds

PD, as long as you apply right away then thats fine. She just means if you forgot to do it right away, or it took you a while to get forms in, then they will backdate the payments to you from when the baby was born.


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## purpledahlia

ooh, okie, sorry guys, my brain just officially doesnt work anymore!!


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## HannahGraceee

Plus the forms can take up to 6 weeks to process :) so atleast you know there gonna be backdated 

and when you recive your child tax sometimes they dont back date it automaticly so ring up and they will backdate it for you :) x x x

dont worry i had the worse pregnancy brain EVER!! x x


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## suzanne108

This thread TOTALLY confuses me every time I check it :wacko: 

hehe xx


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## Aimees/Mummy

I used to work within the job centre and the information you have been given by the job centre previously is pretty incorrect.

You cant get maternity allowance and income support. Income support is a top up benefit and if you get more than £60.50 in maternity pay then you are not entitled to income support. They don't take ever take into account personal circumstances so they don't care how much you think that you need to live on. It's £60.50 and that's it. You can't get full housing benefit and council tax on maternity allowance either. It is based on how much you get and with £120 a week Mat allowance..it is only likely that you will get 75% paid. And you will more than likely need to pay the majority of your council tax. It is tough living off income support but tax credits should help and you should get the maximum amount of £59.00 a week plus child benefit at £20 per week.

Sorry if I seem a bit rude...just get annoyed when people who are supposed to know the system give people false information on the money they will get then they are in real financial difficulty when they realise what they are actually getting. When you move into your own house you will get income support, tax credits and child benefit plus healthy start vouchers. So your total income will be around £140 per week but you won't have any rent or council tax to pay.

Hope this helps xxx

I[/COLOR]


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## purpledahlia

yup thats what i understood my situation to be when i move out..... And i actually thot id only get 130 so few pounds extra always help. 
Once you go back to work the HB and CTB all go down aswell dont they.. whats the thresholds for these? if i worked 2 or 3 days a week how much of the rent and council tax would i be looking at paying? x


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## bloodbinds

Aimees/Mummy said:


> I used to work within the job centre and the information you have been given by the job centre previously is pretty incorrect.
> 
> You cant get maternity allowance and income support. Income support is a top up benefit and if you get more than £60.50 in maternity pay then you are not entitled to income support. They don't take ever take into account personal circumstances so they don't care how much you think that you need to live on. It's £60.50 and that's it. You can't get full housing benefit and council tax on maternity allowance either. It is based on how much you get and with £120 a week Mat allowance..it is only likely that you will get 75% paid. And you will more than likely need to pay the majority of your council tax. It is tough living off income support but tax credits should help and you should get the maximum amount of £59.00 a week plus child benefit at £20 per week.
> 
> Sorry if I seem a bit rude...just get annoyed when people who are supposed to know the system give people false information on the money they will get then they are in real financial difficulty when they realise what they are actually getting. When you move into your own house you will get income support, tax credits and child benefit plus healthy start vouchers. So your total income will be around £140 per week but you won't have any rent or council tax to pay.
> 
> Hope this helps xxx
> 
> I[/COLOR]


Ohh, that's pretty interesting. At the moment though i'm just going off what my job centre and council are telling me. Also what my Aunt is telling me, she's work at the job centre, though not at my one unfortunatly, otherwise i would get her to do everything, lol.

But i have now got them to send me everything that have told me in writing, so if they do say later on 'oh no, actually, you're not entitled' i will send them a copy of the letter they've sent me saying 'well, actually, you have stated here i am. so there.' lol.

But thanks for your input!


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## FierceAngel

bloodbinds said:


> Aimees/Mummy said:
> 
> 
> I used to work within the job centre and the information you have been given by the job centre previously is pretty incorrect.
> 
> You cant get maternity allowance and income support. Income support is a top up benefit and if you get more than £60.50 in maternity pay then you are not entitled to income support. They don't take ever take into account personal circumstances so they don't care how much you think that you need to live on. It's £60.50 and that's it. You can't get full housing benefit and council tax on maternity allowance either. It is based on how much you get and with £120 a week Mat allowance..it is only likely that you will get 75% paid. And you will more than likely need to pay the majority of your council tax. It is tough living off income support but tax credits should help and you should get the maximum amount of £59.00 a week plus child benefit at £20 per week.
> 
> Sorry if I seem a bit rude...just get annoyed when people who are supposed to know the system give people false information on the money they will get then they are in real financial difficulty when they realise what they are actually getting. When you move into your own house you will get income support, tax credits and child benefit plus healthy start vouchers. So your total income will be around £140 per week but you won't have any rent or council tax to pay.
> 
> Hope this helps xxx
> 
> I[/COLOR]
> 
> 
> Ohh, that's pretty interesting. At the moment though i'm just going off what my job centre and council are telling me. Also what my Aunt is telling me, she's work at the job centre, though not at my one unfortunatly, otherwise i would get her to do everything, lol.
> 
> But i have now got them to send me everything that have told me in writing, so if they do say later on 'oh no, actually, you're not entitled' i will send them a copy of the letter they've sent me saying 'well, actually, you have stated here i am. so there.' lol.
> 
> But thanks for your input!Click to expand...

i was reading this through and about to tell you exactly what aimees mummy said

wen you recieve any written infor from job cewntre or job centre they will always say the final amount depends on circumstances etc.. a bit like a subtract to contract sort of thing... th3e only thing that is guarenteed is your descion notice.. and even then they can screw tht up (esp tax credits)

every council is different but i doubt they differ so much.. i work with homeless applications for tenants in 3 different boroughs.. and all of them will take into account the following

income from job
mat allowance
incap benefit 
maintenance
child benefit
ctc
wtc
income from another source (another tenant, partner etc)

the rules differ for income support


please dont think im being rude its just ive seen it too many times were council/job centre miss inform and then tenants are let down and panic...

from my own experience.. i was on incap benefit from 20 weeks of pregnancy until my mat allowance kicked in at 29 weeks.. im due to go back on it wen my mat allowance finishes until im well enough to return to work..

a lady called me from the job centre last week and told me there is no reason why i cant get both (mat allowance and IB) so i completed my forms etc.. 

guess what i just had a descion notice stating i cant get it while im on mat allowance :dohh:

there are plenty of single mummies on here hun whom have come off mat allowance onto income support and im sure will confirm they didnt recieve both... 

i would reccomend maybe starting a thread asking this as many might not have seen this 

like i said pls dont think im being rude i just know first hand the problems it can cause wen the money doesnt come through 


xxxxx


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## Aimees/Mummy

The threshold is around £12,000 but the baby element takes it to £15,000. If you work 16hours plus per week you get working tax credits which can be quite a lot depending on how much you earn.

If you work 2/3 days a week (depending on your hourly rate) you could be looking at paying full rent and council tax. I earn £11.98 an hour and work full time but I get £290 per week in CTC and WTC of which £230 goes to nursery fees. But even after rent I am still better off working financially.

Your local job centre can do an income check for you and find out if you are better on benefits than working but it is rarely the case no matter how much you earn. WTC really helps out. Plus if you have been on income support for 25 weeks you get a lump sum payment of £250 when you sign off.


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## Aimees/Mummy

FierceAngel...thanks for posting. I thought I was being rude when I posted mine but yours wasn't rude at all. I completely understand what you mean about misinformation. :) xx


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## FierceAngel

*The Income Support calculation*
Step 1: Work out the amount the Government says you need to live on  the applicable amount.

The applicable amount is made up of the following:

personal allowances (which depend on your age);
personal allowances for children if you were getting Income Support, including an amount for children, before April 2004. New claimants after that date wont have personal allowances for children as they will claim Child Tax Credit instead.
premiums (these depend on your particular circumstances, see below); and
housing costs (mainly towards the cost of home-ownership). If you rent your home, you apply to your local authority for Housing Benefit.
Step 2: Calculate your income, see How income affects the amount of Income Support.

Step 3: Take away your total income from the applicable amount to get the Income Support you will receive 

*Income Support personal allowances*
If you are a lone parent aged 18 or over, your personal allowance is £57.45. If you are 16 or 17, your personal allowance will usually be £34.60, but there is a higher rate (£45.50) in certain circumstances, for example, if you qualify for the disability premium (see Who are Income Support premiums paid to?) or you are living away from your parents because your relationship with them has broken down.

If you receive Child Tax Credit, you do not receive personal allowances for your children.

*Who are Income Support premiums paid to?*
Premiums are added to your allowances and intended to help with extra expenses, for example caused by disability, caring responsibilities or the cost of bringing up children. The following premiums can be paid on top of any other premiums.

Family Premium is payable if you are responsible for a child (but not if you are claiming Child Tax Credit).
Disabled Child Premium is payable where a child in the family gets Disability Living Allowance or is blind (but not if you are claiming Child Tax Credit).
Severe Disability Premium is payable to people who receive Attendance Allowance or the middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance, do not live with another adult and who do not have a carer receiving Carers Allowance for looking after them.
Enhanced Disability Premium is payable for an adult and/or child (but not for a child if you are claiming Child Tax Credit) in the family who receives the higher rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance. It is paid in addition to any other disability premiums that are being paid. 
Carers Premium is payable if you are getting or are treated as getting Carers Allowance because you are caring for a person who receives Attendance Allowance or the middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance. 
Only one of the following premiums can be paid. You get whichever is highest:

Family Premium  lone parent increase: A higher rate of the Family Premium is payable to lone parents who were entitled to it before 9 April 1998 (or for some cases, within 12 weeks of that date) but not for new claims made after that date.
Disability Premium is payable if you are under 60 and in receipt of a qualifying benefit, such as Disability Living Allowance or Incapacity Benefit paid at the long-term rate, or if you are blind. You are also entitled to this premium if you have made a claim for Incapacity Benefit (even if you are not entitled to it) and have satisfied Jobcentre Plus that you have been incapable of work due to sickness for 52 weeks (or 26 weeks if you have a terminal illness). You will be asked to submit medical certificates from your GP to cover the whole of this period. 

How income affects the amount of Income Support
Most income is taken into account and reduces the amount of Income Support you can get. This includes earnings, and most benefits, the take home amount of Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance and any maintenance you receive.

Note: If you are receiving Child Tax Credit and Income Support, any income you receive for your child (excluding child maintenance), for example, Child Benefit will not affect the amount of Income Support. Child Benefit and maintenance do not affect your Child Tax Credit.

Jobcentre Plus will calculate a weekly amount of the income you receive. The income will not necessarily be taken into account for the same period for which it was paid. This depends on when it is due to be paid to you and the type of income it is. 

Part of the following types of income are ignored
£20 of your take-home pay if you are working part-time (under 16 hours). There are different rules for childminders  see Income Support for childminders.
The part of a student grant, loan or bursary that is to cover expenses for travelling and books or equipment.
Part of payments received from lodgers and tenants. The amounts that are disregarded depend on what is provided in the charge. 
£10 of Widowed Mothers or Widowed Parents Allowance and certain war widows and widowers pensions.
If you have a child under one, £10.50 of your Child Benefit is ignored.
If you receive child maintenance assessed under the new child support scheme (see Which child support scheme do I come under?) up to £10 a week of that maintenance is ignored.
If a child has capital of less than £3,000, their income usually counts as yours, subject to certain disregards. If the child has earnings while at school or college, their earnings are usually ignored, but if they start to work full-time (16 hours or more a week) after leaving school or college and they are still part of your benefit claim, their earnings count. £5 is ignored or £20 if they qualify for Disabled Child Premium.
Income that is completely ignored
Child Tax Credit.
Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance, regardless of which member of the family they are payable to.
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
Some payments you receive that are paid to a third party, for example, towards mortgage payments that are not covered by Income Support or towards rent that is not covered by Housing Benefit.
How capital affects the amount of Income Support
You will not be entitled to Income Support if your savings or other capital assets are worth more than £16,000. Capital of over £6,000 will reduce your benefit by £1 a week for every £250 savings you have between £6,000 and £16,000. 

Jobcentre Plus call this tariff income.


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## FierceAngel

hope the above helps 

basically say you are entitled to THE LONE PARENT RATE OF £57 this is you applicable amount

you then need to take away the 
amount of income you recieve from your applicaple amount (see red text)

calculate your income as stated in the highlighted pink section.. which includes mat allowance so min income is £123 

take 123 away from £57.. is a negative figure hence you will recieve no IS


mat allowance is worked out on 90% of your average income for the testing period up to a max of £123
if your average income was only say £30 per week (the min for mat allowance) then you would recieve £27 per week mat allowance.. you could then be entitled to IS as a top up 
basic entitlement of £57 minus £27 recieved from MA = £30 IS

hope that makes sense!

xx


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## FierceAngel

Aimees/Mummy said:


> FierceAngel...thanks for posting. I thought I was being rude when I posted mine but yours wasn't rude at all. I completely understand what you mean about misinformation. :) xx

np hun xx you wasnt rude 

the problem with the way benefits work is tht they get you to apply for everything saying you might be entitled and always give you the max!


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## bloodbinds

Ohh, thanks guys, this is a big help! And of course no one thinks your being rude, you are just helping, that is why we're all here isn't it?! Lol.

Well, with or without income support i'll be ok it looks like. Plus it means i get more maintenance off FOB if i'm not on income support! Lol. So that is also something.

I have been told that my decision of income support has been based on how much they think i can live off, not on me getting maternity allowance, and because i am living with my mother, they think i dont need a lot to live off, but that will chance once i'm living on my own etc. 

But what i will do when i'm doing all my sums and benefits and working out what i can and can not afford, i won't counter in income support, just in case, and then if i do end up getting it, then it's just an added bonus then! 

But thanks for all your help, and the information! x


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## purpledahlia

Aimees/Mummy said:


> The threshold is around £12,000 but the baby element takes it to £15,000. If you work 16hours plus per week you get working tax credits which can be quite a lot depending on how much you earn.
> 
> If you work 2/3 days a week (depending on your hourly rate) you could be looking at paying full rent and council tax. I earn £11.98 an hour and work full time but I get £290 per week in CTC and WTC of which £230 goes to nursery fees. But even after rent I am still better off working financially.
> 
> Your local job centre can do an income check for you and find out if you are better on benefits than working but it is rarely the case no matter how much you earn. WTC really helps out. Plus if you have been on income support for 25 weeks you get a lump sum payment of £250 when you sign off.


i dont really understand all the elements and stuff, All i know is i will get what.. 140?? whilst im at my mums and living in a flat on my own, IS, CTC, and CB, Then soon as i can i want to get a job, part time at first and then full time eventually, but i know for sure i need a job and cant sit around and live off that amount for the next year. even if i only get a job 2 or 3 days a week im sure id be better off... Didnt know you get 250 to sign off IS! brill!


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