Going back on housing benefit

[jadeybags]

Hi

Not been here for months. Been a busy bee & had a not bad year, but it's a sign of the times that all good things come to an end & I will probably have to reclaim housing benefit.

I cancelled my housing benefit back in feb when it came to light that I had been over paid by 1600 including C/T, had an interview under caution, no furhter action, I took a loan, paid them back, cancelled my claim in a strop, upped my hours at work, budgetted, started selling items I made as a hobby online & have been doing ok. I even dropped my employed work hours back down to 16 a week after 3 or 4 months as the hobby was paying off for me & I needed the time to do that.

But sales have slowed right down & I am just about paying the rent & council tax now.

I'm single, 2 kids, work 16 hours a week, bring home 430 every 4 weeks, 166 a week work & child tax credits, 270 a month CSA payments & 130 a month child benefit. And if I am lucky now 50/100 a month with the hobby.

Anyway, went on the benefits calculator for my local council & was amazed to see I would only have to pay 17 a week towards my rent & 5 towards C/T if I stop the hobby.

Has something changed this year? Or have I done something wrong on the calculator? I thought I would have to pay more myself?And the main thing I need help with is the fear of them messing my claim up again, I don't think I could go through that again.

How easy would it be for me to claim housing benefit again? And where do I go to get it checked that they have done it right?

[Nystagmite]

Those calculators may only be approximate. Your CSA money is completely ignored and there's a disregard for some money you bring home.

 

Did you put in the rate for your area or what you pay?

[jadeybags]

Those calculators may only be approximate. Your CSA money is completely ignored and there's a disregard for some money you bring home.

 

Did you put in the rate for your area or what you pay?

 

 

Yes I used the Turn2us calculator, then found my local councils one & they both came out the same. I am just finding it a bit strange that they will pay that much, because I am sure it wasn't that much when they redid my claim back in feb. And I am back to getting the exact same amount coming in as I did then. Oh, actually, thinking about it, my tax credits went down by 10 pounds a week, no idea why as when I upped my hours at work in march, they told me it wouldn't make any difference to tax credits as it was under 10k a year more? Anyway, I was back down to 16 hours a week after about 4 months.

Just wondered if anything had changed during this year in how they work it out.