Am I entitled to Housing and Council Tax Benefit?

[Faythe]

OK so I lost my job 2 weeks ago and am currently claiming JSA whilst I look for work.

Me and my DF live together but our outgoings are quite high so his wages and my JSA won't cover it all.

Am I entitled to Housing & Council Tax Benefit?

Someone said I wasn't as I live with my partner who works full time but his salary just won't stretch far enough.

I don't want to waste mine and the councils time filling out forms etc if I am not entitled to it.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[anti]

if i were you id apply. I was made redundant early this year and was JSA and I got Housing benefit. Just try and see what they say. I was also living with OH at the time but they ask how much you are responsible for - so I said half - and they paid me 80% of what i was responsible for

 

[Faythe]

Thank you!

 

[xxembobxx]

I thought they would take the joint income into consideration not just half of your partners.
Working people can be entitled to some HB and CTB although it would depend upon income but it's definitely worth filling out a claim form as you won't be in any worse a position than you are now.

 

[My_First]

Smae thing happened to me, and they will take the whole of your partners income into consideration. My OH earnt too much, regardless of what his and my expenses were, and so I didnt get anything other than JSA.

He was earning over 40k mind, so I dont really know what the threshold is. Also they take any savings over 6k (I think) into consideration.

 

[xxembobxx]

He was earning over 40k mind, so I dont really know what the threshold is.

It used to be that they work out how much you would get on benefits then allow you an extra £20 each week for working and anything after that was taken into account as income but they do change these things a lot.

To the OP a lot of councils have a HB estimator on their website - perhaps you should see if yours has one?

 

[xCookieDough]

Isn't it over 16k then they would take it into consideration?

 

[littleblonde]

you dont have to worry about wasting your time with the forms. you have to ring them and they ask you questions on the phone. then tell you if you qualify or not. they then send you out a form. Its worth making the call.

 

[Faythe]

you dont have to worry about wasting your time with the forms. you have to ring them and they ask you questions on the phone. then tell you if you qualify or not. they then send you out a form. Its worth making the call.

Who am I supposed to phone?

I spoke to my local council today who said I have to go down and fill them out. I'll get them to post it all out then as I am busy over the next few days with interviews etc.

 

[xCookieDough]

Can't you do a online calculations form? That's what they use anyway isn't it to sort it out? Directgov.

 

[Faythe]

I have no idea! This is all new to me

 

[My_First]

When I claimed JSA, I called the Job centre to see what benfits I could get, 0800 055 6688. Then they gave me a number for my local council to see if I could claim HB. Although they did say that I couldnt as my OH earnt too much.