Can I claim any benefits

nettiesimon

Hi I am on low rate PIP. My husband is self employed and earns a low wage so we get help with our rent and council tax. Is there any other benefits we should be claiming please

CockneyRebel

Hello nettiesimon and welcome

Try putting your details into one of the online benefit calculators

www.entitledto.co.uk
or similar


Please come back if we can help further

CR

Sam_Alumni

Hi @nettiesimon we have another benefits calculator here too.

BenefitsTrainingCo

nettiesimon,

I recommend trying a benefits calculator. If you worked in the recent past, perhaps you should be getting a contributory benefit (contributory employment and support allowance, for example). Depending on the number of hours your husband is working, you might be entitled to Working Tax Credit. However, I'd be careful before applying for this, because in some areas you have to claim universal credit instead, and that would stop your housing benefit and replace it with universal credit, which could take a while to be paid. 

You can put your postcode into this webtool to check whether Universal Credit would affect you. If it says it's available to 'some people' then you don't have to claim Universal Credit. If it says it's available, without using the words 'some people', then you would have to claim it and it might be a good idea to get advice first (eg from a CAB), as you don't want to lose your housing benefit unless universal credit is going to be worth more overall.

I've assumed in this advice that you don't have dependent children living with you at the moment and that you are under pension age. It's always best to use the calculator anyway, because it will ask you for all the information needed to do a comprehensive benefits check. 

Will