Benefit cap of £26k?

[Eternal]

I know people who have claimed disability for literally decades and yet they can dance round a festival, type away on the net all day, go to protests...

Incap has a lot of failings!

I know, my my is in kidney failure, liver failure, lung failure, she is on weekly chemo to suppress her immune system and high dose steriod from time to time, her spine has crumbled, her hips and knees are so bad she CANT have replacements, and has yearly IV drugs to try and help her bones, she has stokes, she falls over all the time, I actually cant think of something that isnt wrong with her lol! she is in a bad way. Anyway, she said she doenst think she will get the benefit as she isnt sick enough according to the forum, is she cant get it, when she cant walk more than a few feet (she should be in her wheelchair but most of the time refuses due to pride and the fact she hurts more sitting in that for an extended period) how can all these others have it? It seems like every 5th person has a mobility scooter due to obesity and therefore need benefit! craziness.

 

[feeble]

ohhhh obese people on mobility scooters are a REAL bug bear of mine, i used to do care work and there was a woman i cared for who was 30 stone!

she was given 150 a week in incap benefit after having all her rent and council tax paid

she used to spent the whole lot on sweets and cakes

she got a free mobility scooter, free car, just everything you can imagine so she didnt have to walk anywhere and could just eat cake.

terrible, to do that to a person, its an addiction and she needed help not money!

 

[lhancock90]

I'm with Kitty, i know people who have child after child because they know their money will be cut it they don't, when they are at an age where they are past having kids, they start to claim disbility, yet still manage to go on the ride at Alton Towers or walk quite a distance for a weed fix. Or those who work cash in hand and claim at the same time. Its not fair on those who actually need the benefit and its not fair on those who work.
These people don't spend their money on their kids, it goes on weed, fags, alcohol etc. Some places will accept vouchers for allsorts. Its so so wrong, the whole system needs an overhaul!

 

[KaceysMummy]

26k? That is more than enough IMO.

OH earns 16k a year, and that's before tax.
We get by perfectly fine on just his wage.

No wonder the country is in so much financial difficulty...

 

[Nibblenic]

Thing is we are comparing it to 26k a year salary. It would be the equivalent to earning about 35k a year. So yet again people living solely on benefits will be better off than the average family. It still doesnt make much sense to me, I do feel its a move in the right direction.

Also for everyone who wont be able to afford to live in London any more, there is a whole country to live in. I cant afford to live in london. Tbh I couldnt afford to live anywhere other than northern england. So I do.

I was made redundant in the later part of last year, I HATE claiming benefits and Im not even claiming all im 'entitled' to. Simply because i cannot bring myself to do it. We've got enough money coming in with the basic amount that is offered by the government. So that will do me. Its a huge shame that everyone doesnt have the same attitude though.

 

[lindseymw]

Also for everyone who wont be able to afford to live in London any more, there is a whole country to live in. I cant afford to live in london. Tbh I couldnt afford to live anywhere other than northern england. So I do.
.

I completely agree with.

If you can't afford the rent, then move. Simple.

I would love to live in a £500k house, but can't afford the mortgage so I don't live in it. I wouldn't expect tax payers to pay my mortgage....

 

[feeble]

there are people working in London who spend hours commuting because they cannot afford to live there... why so much preference is given to those who just 'want' to remain in the most expensive part of the country is beyond me...

 

[TennisGal]

But London still needs people to work there?! Not everyone lives in a beautiful townhouse and works in a high paid job? There are hospitals, shops, cleaning jobs etc that all need to be done for the city to function! If you are a low-income earner working in London, how do you either afford the commute or afford the housing? We can't shunt everyone into one area for the 'low income'. That's essentially why there are so many little ghettos already in existence in London...and the very poor areas, I can honestly say, no one would choose to live there.

If you have been made redundant, are you expected to uproot your entire family? Or should you get some help until you are back on your feet?

However, for the long term unemployed...and those not seeking work...I fully agree. Move.

 

[feeble]

Isnt the cap Just for those who are not in any employment? So those people performing the jobs you mention are already protected...

In any case, this will force the rents to go down, if people cannot afford to live in properties, the landlords will reduce rents, there Has to be a cap

 

[TennisGal]

Oh, ok. That is fair enough.

 

[smelly07]

Some people really do amaze me!! The kind of people in the above stories, I mean! I'm counting down the days till either my older children are old enough to not need childcare, or til the babies can start pre-school, so that I can get out to work without childcare costs that I can't afford!!! lol!

Whats more disgusting than benefit cheats I think.. is the absent fathers of these large families, or even small familes for that matter.. the government need to put a LOT more effort into making them help provide for their children, rather than benefits doing it all!!

totally agree,

too generous imo but anything they can do to prevent people having children they cant afford/or get off their backsides and work can only be a good thing and more should be done about the scum who play the system x

 

[Yammas]

I think that £500 a week is more than enough when i worked i didnt even get that in a month and my OH makes not even half of that and we survive on just his wage. I dont see how people can moan about what they are given for free the phrase 'never look a gift horse im the mouth' comes to mind here. Benefits were supposed to be a temporsry measure for those who were having a hard time and enough to cover the essentials not luxuries the fact that there are people getting the same in benefits as a full time highly paid job is a slap in the face to working people.

 

[Nibblenic]

If you have been made redundant, are you expected to uproot your entire family? Or should you get some help until you are back on your feet?
.

When I was made redundant in June, I as a home owner with one person working could not claim anything to help with my mortgage. We sold our house at a 10k loss 6 months later after owning it for 7 years. So yeah my sympathy for people getting housing benefits is extremely limited.
As a disabled person I knew on loosing my job it was going to be extremely difficult in this climate to find another suitable one, especially one willing to spend the £1.5k+ for the equipment I need straight off.
So far Ive hand no help to get back on our feet. However if me and Oh had never bothered working and he stayed home as my FT carer, which he could. We'd have a 2-3 bedroom house paid for by the government and most likely be slightly financially better off. When I did work, I was one of those better off on benefits and I hated it and now I hate claim benefits. Rock and a very hard place.

But ive lost my home and had to get a lease car selling a car i almost owned outright. I sometimes feel like if Id never tried and played the system from the start I would have been better off. I would like to feel in a few years time that at the very least the path we chose which was to work hard regardless was worth it. I dont know if we'll ever get to that place though.

 

[Yammas]

Regarding housing benefit and the london rent argument you have to ask if they were working and vouldnt afford the rent would they still live there no, theyd find somewhere they could afford to live instead so moaning that they wont be able to get enough housing benefit doesnt wash with me ...

Also as corrupt as the system is with landlords and high rent they should have a limit on how much they can charge for the property e.g. £200 for a flat studio, £300 for a 1 bed etc.

 

[feeble]

Rental caps are something this country SORELY needs, even America have rental caps! That we dont is just shocking.

 

[Yammas]

Wow I didnt know america had them they're on the ball imo this country could do with putting a cap on the price of a lot of things like car insurance but thats another debate!!!

 

[TennisGal]

If you have been made redundant, are you expected to uproot your entire family? Or should you get some help until you are back on your feet?
.

When I was made redundant in June, I as a home owner with one person working could not claim anything to help with my mortgage. We sold our house at a 10k loss 6 months later after owning it for 7 years. So yeah my sympathy for people getting housing benefits is extremely limited.
As a disabled person I knew on loosing my job it was going to be extremely difficult in this climate to find another suitable one, especially one willing to spend the £1.5k+ for the equipment I need straight off.
So far Ive hand no help to get back on our feet. However if me and Oh had never bothered working and he stayed home as my FT carer, which he could. We'd have a 2-3 bedroom house paid for by the government and most likely be slightly financially better off. When I did work, I was one of those better off on benefits and I hated it and now I hate claim benefits. Rock and a very hard place.

But ive lost my home and had to get a lease car selling a car i almost owned outright. I sometimes feel like if Id never tried and played the system from the start I would have been better off. I would like to feel in a few years time that at the very least the path we chose which was to work hard regardless was worth it. I dont know if we'll ever get to that place though.

I hope you do...it sounds like you've been through a hard time. I can't believe you didn't get anything to help with your mortgage that is completely unfair. I hate this side of benefits. Totally nonsensical.

 

[Lydiarose]

Too me 26k is an extortonate amount of money!!

were on £18,000 and dan works full time!?

Really really unfair and it actually makes me angry!

 

[Nibblenic]

Thats what I was saying earlier. As a couple OH is on 18k but we do get some benefits on top of that.
However not only would 26k mean we would be claiming no benefits but to have a take home wage of 26k after tax you need a gross income of 34k
So I think if they are making a basis on the average income, which is 26k they should be capping benefits to that after tax

I think the problem has come that you can have a lifestyle on benefits afford to smoke, do drugs, have Tv's consoles, a good sized home and trips out to places even a holiday.
They have stopped being a stop gap and become an option. An option that can actually make you better off, not worse