Issues with income support

[redredlisa69]

Hi there,

I wonder if someone will be able to help.
My sister currently gets income support she is a lone parent and lives alone, over the last 6 months her money has been going down and is now at £75 every 2 weeks she has had loans and she understands these need to be paid. she has just recieved a letter advising that as of 19th january her money will go down to £34 every 2 weeks which is £17 a week this is what she has been told she has to live on. when she called benefits they advised this was correct and if she was not happy had to write in but could take upto 3 months to sort this is mad she will be calling every week for a crisis loan so she can eat as she uses £17 a week for gas and electric.

Anyone got any ideas ?

[di30]

Re: Issues with income support

Hi and welcome to LB.

I'm sure someone will be along to help on this one soon, but why is the money coming down?
Is this what happens when on Income support then?

Is there any insurance on the loans?
Just a thought, because if the loans was sold with ppi (insurance) while on Income support your sister would not be able to make a claim, for eg' unemployment/sickness etc, so therefore the policy would be worthless.

If this is the case, then your sister can make a reclaim on the PPI and it can be used towards the loan debt to bring the balance down, and cancel the PPI at the same time, once resolved.


Its just a thought really - just in case.

[Amethyst]

Re: Issues with income support

Has she been sanctioned for some reason ? (not attending job centre meeting / social fund loan / owns a property ?)

Do her children live with her ?
Is her youngest child over 7 ? (ie should she be moving to JobSeekers)

Does she receive her child benefit and child tax credits okay ? How many children does she have ?

There must be a reason it's being reduced and she should have letters outlining this.

For an example if she had three children (youngest under 7) she should be getting approx £139 child tax credits, £47 child benefit, £64 income support plus full council tax benefit and housing benefit to pay the rent.

Does she receive any sort of child maintenance payments ?

[Blue]

Re: Issues with income support

Hi there,

I wonder if someone will be able to help.
My sister currently gets income support she is a lone parent and lives alone, over the last 6 months her money has been going down and is now at £75 every 2 weeks she has had loans and she understands these need to be paid. she has just recieved a letter advising that as of 19th january her money will go down to £34 every 2 weeks which is £17 a week this is what she has been told she has to live on. when she called benefits they advised this was correct and if she was not happy had to write in but could take upto 3 months to sort this is mad she will be calling every week for a crisis loan so she can eat as she uses £17 a week for gas and electric.

Anyone got any ideas ?

Are these loans social fund loans?