Confessions of a Single Mum

Archive for the ‘Single Mum and Money’ Category

Being on income support as I was working under 16 hours and my youngest now ten, I was called into the Job Centre to update my details. The recent changes mean I can no longer be on income support, but this was no hardship as my work is getting busier and can now switch to being over 16hours a week.

Being a single mum you get a special department to deal with it all as they are supposed to be geared up for single parents – Lone Parent Advisors. I saw supposed to be as I wouldn’t really call it geared up. They can do lots of what if calculations and can talk through what is your best situation but when I talked about the changed to free school meal entitlement that will be changing in some parts in September they knew nothing about it. At the moment you can’t be in receipt of Tax Credits to qualify for free school meals and when you have two bottomless pits to feed the £20 a week, that it is worth to me, does get counted on. In September and February this is changing so check with your local school meals office to see if it might affect you.

One other thing that was alarming to say the least with the ‘Lone Parent Advisor’ set up is how much information they got wrong. To help they do an electronic service where they notify all the relevant offices that you have changed your details. For me this was tax credits and housing benefit. I thought it would save me lots of phone calls and providing proof. I was wrong. Yes the information was sent to all the correct places but some of the information was incorrect. This has a knock on effect and was slightly worrying when the rent was due to go out. I was suddenly faced with not being able to pay my rent only because they received the wrong information and had to recalculate it all and whilst the computers where doing there calculation they couldn’t tell me what was actually going to be paid and when.

I only found out they had the wrong information because I rang all the departments to check they had received all the information. Never using the job centres tell them all service I wasn’t convinced it would work. When you’re in the situation that every penny is counted for, this sort of error can be stressful to say the least.

So my advice when dealing with anything benefit related is check and check again. Don’t worry your becoming a nuisance by calling every day. If I hadn’t if called I would be explain to my landlord why his rent wasn’t paid.

Being a single mum means one of favourite words is save. Save as in electric, water, petrol, food …I try and save anything that will mean more for my money. But it’s starting to dawn on me that some of this saving is actually turning me a bit green. Now I don’t claim to be a full blown eco warrior of the sandals and hippy kind, but if I am saving money and doing a small bit for the planet then it must be good. I don’t recommend suddenly turning green unless you have plenty of energy and can answer all their questions plus the children might revolt at the idea of sudden change.

The effects on saving on electricity are not only green but saves money too but if you’re on water meter, wasted water is not just wasted water but money down the drain too.

So here I have pulled together some of being a bit greener and saving money along the way. Read the rest of this entry »

The HM Revenue & Customs quote that 9 out of 10 families with children are entitled to tax credits. The basic requirement is looking after at least one child; you may qualify for Child Tax Credit. If you work more than 16 hours and earn low wages then you may qualify for Tax Credits as well. How much you get depends on things like: Read the rest of this entry »

What is child maintenance?

Child maintenance is regular, reliable financial support which helps towards a child’s everyday living costs. The parent who does not have main day-to-day care of the child provides child maintenance to the parent who does.

There are three ways you can arrange to pay or receive child maintenance:

1). through a private arrangement

2). through the statutory system, provided by the Child Support Agency (CSA)

3). through a court order

Child Maintenance Options

A good place to get information about your maintenance choices is from the Child Maintenance Options service. It is a government-funded online and telephone service which gives parents information and support about child maintenance so that they can decide for themselves which arrangement best suits their circumstances.

The Options service is free and confidential. It is separate from the Child Support Agency and completely impartial.

The website is simple to use and can signpost you to practical support for any other issues you may face as a single mum such as housing and benefits. You can visit www.cmoptions.org or call the free helpline number 0800 988 0988 and speak to a specialist. Lines are open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 4pm Saturday.

Option 1 – Private Arrangement

Separated and separating parents can set up a private arrangement to sort out child maintenance, without using the courts or the CSA. There are lots of benefits to having a private arrangement:

• It can be quick and easy to set up
• There’s little paperwork to do
• It could help keep things friendly between you and the other parent
• There are no set rules so you can be more flexible. For example:

- You can agree between yourselves on how much payments should be and when they should be made.
- If either parent’s circumstances change your arrangement can change straight away if you both agree to it.
- You could agree to offer or receive financial support in kind; for example the parent with the main day to day care could pay for clothes, music lessons or school trips.

However, a private arrangement is not legally binding and therefore parents will have to rely on each other to stick to the agreed terms as well as be honest about any change in circumstances.

Option 2 – CSA Arrangement

If you feel a private arrangement wouldn’t work in your situation, the government’s statutory child maintenance service, currently run by the Child Support Agency, can collect child maintenance for you.

It can do the following:

• Try to trace the other parent if their address is unknown
• Collect and enforce payments
• Allow you to avoid any contact with the other parent

Either parent can make an application to the CSA. The CSA isn’t as flexible as a private arrangement. If circumstances change it can take a while for the payments to be adjusted.

The CSA also offers ‘Maintenance Direct’, which is where child maintenance is calculated by the CSA but not collected. The parent without the main day-to-day care makes payments directly to the other parent. Maintenance Direct allows parents to be more flexible; you can agree between yourselves how and when money is paid and the amounts can be varied if circumstances change. The CSA is still available if a new calculation needs to be made or to step in if the non-resident parent doesn’t make the payments that are due.

You can get an idea of how much child maintenance you might pay or receive through the CSA by using this link https://secureonline.dwp.gov.uk/csa/v2/en/calculate-maintenance.asp

Option 3 – Consent Order

An alternative way of sorting out child maintenance is through the courts, but this varies depending on where you live.

Consent order (in England and Wales)

This is an official ruling made by a court. It is normally used when parents are deciding a divorce settlement or sharing assets. Both parents normally have to work with solicitors to agree the amount of child maintenance to be paid. They then apply to the court to turn the agreement into a consent order.

A consent order means the court can enforce payment if the parent without main day-to-day care of the child fails to pay. However, getting a consent order can be expensive. Legal aid won’t cover these costs if you are only going to court to get a consent order for child maintenance.

Minute of agreement (in Scotland)

If you live in Scotland, a child maintenance arrangement can be made into a legally binding contract called a ‘minute of agreement’. The sheriff officer can collect and enforce payments if the parent without main day-to-day care of the child breaks the agreement.

For more information it is best to call the Options service or visit the website.

In work credit is a fixed tax free payment of £40 per week (£60 per week in London).

You need to be:

• Bringing up children on your own
• Starting work of at least 16 hours per week
• Expect the work to last 5 weeks or more

You must also have been getting Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance (or a combination of these benefits) for at least 52 weeks or more without a break.

If you’re entitled to In Work Credit you need to claim it before you start work.

Job grant is a one off tax free payment when you start work and stop getting benefits. You can claim Job Grant if you take up work and will be working  at least 16 hours a week with the job expecting to last 5 weeks or more. You must have been claiming one of the following for at least 26 weeks before starting your new job:

• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income Support
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Jobcentre Plus / New Deal Allowance
• Employment Zone payments

The amount available is £250 for lone parents (£100 for single people without children). There is no need to claim this grant as you automatically receive it if you are eligible. You just need to inform your local Jobcentre Plus Office that you are starting work and i is paid the same way as you were paid benefits.

As Job Grant is tax free it won’t reduce other benefits or tax credits that you may be entitled to once you start work.

If you qualify for the Job Grant you will also be eligible for Extended Council Tax Credits and Extended Housing Benefit.

You normally qualify for Child Benefit if you live in the UK and have children aged 16 and under or 20 and under and they are in certain types of education or training.

The only way to claim this benefit is to fill in a Child Benefit claim form and send it to the Child Benefit Office along with your child’s birth or adoption certificate. It cannot be claimed over the phone or via the internet. The claim form is supplied with the Bounty Pack that’s given to new mothers in hospital or is available to print off online. (You will still need to send the completed for to the Child Benefit Office)

You get a higher rate for your eldest child or only child, then a lower rate for additional children.

Current rates until April 2010 are:

• Eldest or only child £20.00 weekly
• Additional children £13.20 weekly

April 2010-02-06 :

• Eldest or only child £20.30 weekly
• Additional children £13.40 weekly

There is normally a small increase each April but letters are sent out before hand to notify you.

Child Benefit can be paid direct into a bank account every 4 weeks, you can request for it to be paid weekly if you are on income support, income-based jobseekers allowance, income related employment and support allowances or if you are a single parent.

Claiming child benefit can also protect your State Pension entitlement. You can read more about this at the Direct Gov web site.

Qualifying for this benefit isn’t limited to just being out of work. If you are in work it could be worth checking to see if you are able to make a claim.

You won’t be able to claim though if you:

• Have savings over £16,000
• You live in a home of a close relative
• You’re a full time student unless you are disabled or have children

If you rent your property from a private landlord, your Housing Benefit will be calculated with the Local Housing Allowance rules.  

If you live in council accommodation or other social housing, the most Housing Benefit you can get is the same as your ‘eligible‘rent. (Eligible rent includes rent for the accommodation, charges for some services like lifts, communal laundry etc. Even if water charges, heating, hot water and lighting are included in your rent you won’t get housing benefit on these elements)

How much you get depends on:

• Money coming in
• Your savings
• Your circumstances: age, size of family and their ages, disablement.
• The amount of rent is reasonable for your home and the area you live
• The home is reasonable size for your family

If you are a council tenant, housing benefit will be paid direct to your rent account.

If you’re not a council tenant it is paid to you by cheque or direct into your bank account every 4 weeks.

Council Tax benefit is taken directly off your council tax bill. Once its worked out and applied you then receive a revised bill.

Housing benefit doesn’t affect any other benefits you get.

If you know you are about to move, you can claim up to 13 weeks before you move. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will get any money before you move in, it just organises everything beforehand.