Thread: Urgent help needed regarding money being taken out of my Income Support

I get £64 per week in Income Support, I have a child living with me.

I already pay £10 a week out to the social fund so i get around £54 per week.

I was in debt with Scottish Power for my Gas & Electric and i asked the DWP to take a small amount of money out of my Income Support each week to pay Scottish Power.

I received a letter this morning saying that they are taking £25 per week out of my Income Support, So altogether £35 per week is being taken out of my Income Support leaving me with around £30 plus £20 per week in Child Benefit and a bit more in Child Tax Credits.

Bearing in mind that i have to pay £27.50 out of my Income Support each week for rent that now means i have £0 in Income Support each week.

What can i do about the £25 per week that is now being paid to Scottish Power? That is very wrong, £5 a week no problem but not £25 per week i am going to be suffering financial hardship from now on and will barely be able to afford to feed myself and my child.

Please help.

I don't see how i'm going to be able to afford to meet my basic needs.

Now that the DWP are taking £10 per week off my Income Support a week for the Social Fund and £25 per week from my Income Support for Scottish Power as well as the £27.50 i pay to my landlord every week for rent that totals £62.50 which is all of my Income Support.

That leaves me with £55 Child Tax Credits and £20 Child Benefit per week which has to pay for Food, Travel Expenses, Clothing, Water, TV Licence, Landline Phone etc etc, It's going to be one hell of a struggle, I was already finding it hard before this new £25 deduction.

I asked the DWP to setup a payment to Scottish Power out of my Income Support, However i did definitely tell them to only take a small amount, £25 is nearly 50% of my Income Support as i was receiving £54 per week in Income Support after they took their £10 a week for the Social Fund.

Child benefit is excluded when they calculate income. Did they write and tell you how much they would deduct? If so, the letter should give you a month to appeal against amount. You need to contact the dept quickly...

Originally Posted by lenamartell

Child benefit is excluded when they calculate income. Did they write and tell you how much they would deduct? If so, the letter should give you a month to appeal against amount. You need to contact the dept quickly...

I will appeal against the amount but i won't get my hopes up they will probably just keep it at that amount.

Originally Posted by thecookiemonster

I get £64 per week in Income Support, I have a child living with me.

I already pay £10 a week out to the social fund so i get around £54 per week.

I was in debt with Scottish Power for my Gas & Electric and i asked the DWP to take a small amount of money out of my Income Support each week to pay Scottish Power.

I received a letter this morning saying that they are taking £25 per week out of my Income Support, So altogether £35 per week is being taken out of my Income Support leaving me with around £30 plus £20 per week in Child Benefit and a bit more in Child Tax Credits.

Bearing in mind that i have to pay £27.50 out of my Income Support each week for rent that now means i have £0 in Income Support each week.

What can i do about the £25 per week that is now being paid to Scottish Power? That is very wrong, £5 a week no problem but not £25 per week i am going to be suffering financial hardship from now on and will barely be able to afford to feed myself and my child.

Please help.

Scottish Power have decided how much to take from your I.S, as its a third party deduction, and IS pay them what they ask.
Phone Scottish Power and query it and ask them to reduce it.

You can ask for your social fund repayments to be lowered, put it in writing, send them a full Breakdown of your outgoings and hopefully they can reduce this for you, but it will take longer to repay.
Good luck

What if Scottish Power won't reduce it? Can i get the DWP to reduce it?

Originally Posted by thecookiemonster

What if Scottish Power won't reduce it? Can i get the DWP to reduce it?

No unfortunately they cant, They can reduce your social fund payments, if you are experiencing hardship, but Scottish Power tell them what to take out of your IS.

Have you phoned Scottish Power and asked them to reduce it, you must be paying some arrears off and paying a set amount to cover the electric and gas you are currently using.. But it does sound a lot

So what are my options if Scottish Power refuse to reduce it? Surely there's someone who can get it lowered?

are you a single parent? if so you should be getting an extra 20 quid a week if ex partner is working. also i think (my opinion) that you would be better off getting pre-payment meters in, people may scoff but at the end of the day with pre-payment you are in control of how much you spend with also paying a little back in bills.

would it not be easier in the long run to get a key meter added (it does cost a little extra) but i think you could get this down to about £8.00 a week if you phone them to reduce it quoting your on IS to pay off your debt then you will only use what you can afford to put on no big bills and im sure they should replace it FOC

^^sorry jack1966 crossed posts great minds think alike

Originally Posted by jack1966

are you a single parent? if so you should be getting an extra 20 quid a week if ex partner is working. also i think (my opinion) that you would be better off getting pre-payment meters in, people may scoff but at the end of the day with pre-payment you are in control of how much you spend with also paying a little back in bills.

Yes i am a single parent, My ex partner is not working.

Regarding the pre-payment meters i don't think my landlord would allow them to be put in.

Hi cookiemonster
Im really sorry to read of your problem I too have a similar one with DWP debt collection and social fund taking money from my JSA! their now taking over £35 a fortnight not quite so serious as you bit its a big chunk out!
Crazy thing is when I was working last year they only asked for £20 a month from me and were happy with that the moment I was recieving JSA they upped it I have tried to get it lowered but with no luck
I have a debt on my electic so I have had a key meter installed they take £5 a week towards the debt Im with eon and they were very good and helpful I see this has been suggested its worth a try
Anyway good luck hope you get it sorted
regards
Mags

i cant see y the landlord wouldnt as if you move out at least he knows the gas/electric will be paid and besides the meters are the property of the gas/electric supplier and not that of a landlord