(SMI) Support for Mortgage Interest ending

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  • nanof6
    nanof6 Community member Posts: 199 Empowering
    how come all the mp buy a house with tax payers money live in it sell it keep the proffit and get another, and another.  oh yeh one rule for them one rule for everyone else
  • SN27
    SN27 Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    Hello,
    I find myself in much the same position as others on here and just baffled how the government can be getting away with hitting the poorest and most vulnerable in society yet again. I am a single parent caring for a disabled son and am being forced into a lifetime of debt. I have written to Jeremy Corbyn and (having just read the link posted by Debbie) I will also email Debbie Abrahams. It may do absolutely nothing to help us but I feel this is all I can do, we are powerless against this ruthless government. These are the email addresses. Perhaps we should all email them and have our voices heard...
    jeremy.corbyn.mp@parliament.uk
    abrahamsd@parliament.uk
    I have also signed the 38 degrees petition, the change.org petition and the parliamentary one. However, so far the numbers are low and apart from this Mirror article, a tiny mention by Paul Lewis on BBC Breakfast today and again a short discussion about it on Radio 4 today there has been very little media coverage. This is going under the radar. Sadly.
  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Trailblazing
    SN27SN27,

    I agree, I would encourage everyone affected to write to their own MPs as well. Even if you think you don't have a sympathetic MP, they may not realise how unfair this policy is for long-term disabled people, carers and others who through no fault of their own are reliant on means-tested benefits. It will simply add debt to debt and trap people in poverty.

    The government's concerns about helping people to acquire an asset could be addressed in a different way, not through this policy.

    Here's an extract from a recent debate showing MPs are already concerned - we need to add to this as much as possible.

    Will
  • SN27
    SN27 Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    Thank you for the link Will. I have now e-mailed my MP,  Debbie Abrahams MP and also emailed the MPs in the link who challenged Kit Malthouse MP (they may take little notice though as I am not their constituent but I wanted to thank them all the same). These emails of mine will have no impact as there is more power in numbers so I would also urge everyone affected to email their MP, Debbie Abrahams MP and Jeremy Corbyn. My disabled child deserves a secure future and everyone else on here has their story to tell and grievance about this. Tell the politicians!
  • sooz
    sooz Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    Hi, I’ll try to explain my circumstances as briefly as possible.

    im disabled, ex partner left 8 years ago and lives abroad, I care for our adopted disabled son alone. I now also care for my mother who has Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia and now lives with us. I need to tackle AA for her but am struggling to focus.

    the house is still in joint names so ex will receive half upon sale of house. He pays child support but does not contribute to the mortgage.

    for the last 7 years I have received smi, income support and more recently Carers allowance. My son is awarded dla and we get child tax credits.

    we had a full term fixed rate so smi only covers half of interest only payments and I’ve been making up balance.

    having spoken to serco, I don’t need exs agreement on changing to the “loan” as it won’t affect him as he doesnt live here so anything needing to be paid back will only come out of my half. Joy.

    i did get dla for me until 2016 but lost that, and my car, when being changed to PIP. I haven’t had the mental capacity to fight that so far. Mandatory reconsideration was unsuccessful. My mother lost her driving license 3 months before I lost dla, due to her Alzheimer’s dx so she helped to buy another car but I have finance for most of it.

    i would love to get back out to work, full time, but physically cannot handle a job and care for my son and my mother and the house. My son would need specialist child care, my mother could be left for a few hours but obviously this will be changing as her disease progresses.

    if I sell I won’t have enough to buy another house once ex has taken his half (unless we all relocate a few hundred miles away). I can’t get a mortgage as I’m not working, although my ‘deposit’ would be substantial. I can’t get life insurance anyway as I had breast cancer 4 years ago.

    ive have considered an area where property is really cheap (as I say a few hundred miles away) but there are no special schools at all, I mean none....not just unsuitable ones.... I’m not prepared to send him to residential.

    The only way I’m keeping it all going is adoption allowance, which, I think, I’ll lose if I move away.

    ive agreed to continue with smi as I don’t have a choice really.... of course I could sell, rent and live off the equity! I really really want to be able to leave a home for my son, I think, with support, he’d be able to be relatively independent and at least have the security of his own home. 

    Anyone have any snippets of wisdom, or hope??
  • sooz
    sooz Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    Ps. My local mp is currently holding a fairly prominent position in the government....not sure she’d be interested!
  • sleepy1
    sleepy1 Community member Posts: 297 Empowering
    Hi sooz, just spotted your post on here......Wow you really do have some complicated things going on and you need to get some professional help to guide you on what is the best thing to do. 
    I am not qualified on any of these matters and can only give you a caring ear, a hug and bits of advice I have learned from my own experience.  I am sure much  more experienced people from Scope will be able to help a lot more than I can.

    I realize you don't have much choice with the SMI loan but do not understand why it all falls on your shoulders and why your ex as joint owner would not have to sign the loan agreement, surely any charges on a property held in joint names would be subtracted from the whole of the equity left and not just your half.

    Have you spoke to your ex about the situation because even if you did decide to sell you would need them to agree to the sale which could be very awkward if they decided otherwise.  You could take it to court to get a Judge to force a sale without them signing the contract but that would be a very long and stressful process.  You have enough going on already without another spanner in the works.

    For what it is worth and considering your situation I would just pay what you can for now and forget about this stupid loan tripe.  Let the DWP carry on with their plans and leave them to clear up the mess they leave  behind when they realize what they have done is completely illegal. 
    Its only tax payers money being wasted though so why would they care about that. 

    Meanwhile the bright spark who thought it was such a brilliant idea relaxes in a special members only club sipping the best vintage and puffing on a big fat cigar bragging and chuckling to his toff mates how much money they will gain from this.

    Grrrrr.... It is disgraceful to put people in this position and totally illogical when one considers the costs of helping with small amounts of mortgage interest as apposed to paying large amounts of rent payments.  

    Example.........From April 2018 there is no way we can any longer pay the £60 a month interest towards your mortgage, but if you would like to go through all the stress and extra costs of moving from your own property to a less suitable rented one we will be very happy to pay your landlord £500 per month or possibly more.

    As Sandra said it beggars belief..



      




  • sooz
    sooz Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    Thanks sleepy. Yes ex knows and also says it’s not his responsibility. He initially wanted to sell the house, I don’t think he’d block me selling.
  • sandraM
    sandraM Community member Posts: 31 Contributor
    Hi Sooz, You sound in more a difficult situation than most. Its terribly unfair that the money will be repaid from just your half of a loan while your ex reaps the benefit one day with house rising prices.

    We are all different and have different circumstances but I'm glad I can at least make the decision not to take the loan.  I won't have any money to decorate etc but at least I will have the satisfaction of not taking the loan.  I really do sympathise with you and can only send you hugs and hope you try seeking for some guidance from maybe a welfare officer or such.  Keep us posted please!
  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,761 Championing
    edited February 2018
    Hi @sooz, I just wanted to add my sympathies toward your situation and all that you're going through.

    I wondered whether you'd considered ringing the Scope helpline? As your situation is rather complex, they may be the best placed to offer advice. If you'd like to get in touch, they can be contacted at 0808 800 3333, or there are alternative methods of contacting them. I really hope this helps- please do keep us updated and know that we're wishing you and your family all the best.
  • sooz
    sooz Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    Thank you pippa. I think I’ll call when I can
  • sleepy1
    sleepy1 Community member Posts: 297 Empowering
    Hi all
    Sooz, sorry about my epic rant early this morning I was so fired up after reading your post and the difficulties it has left you in, along with many of us.  I am quite hardened by now but after reading about your problems I was in floods of tears and then I got angry......Still am.

    I really do think DWP are acting illegally by discriminating between people who have a mortgage and others that pay rent to a landlord.  Hopefully someone will take a case to court to prove the injustice.

    Your obviously a very strong willed person who is probably not used to asking for help but you have a lot to cope with at the moment so please accept the olive branch and call the helpline.

    Love and best wishes X Rosie   
  • sooz
    sooz Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    Ah thank you. I’m sorry you are upset. Sometimes life is a struggle but we live for the good bits! I don’t ask for help easily, plus I’ve learned that help is hard to come by these days.

    i didn’t think about the comparison between help with interest payments and help with rent..... either way it’s paying someone’s mortgage! 

    Ill write to my mp too, Andrea Leadsom has gone right down in my estimation in recent years as it is!

    onward and upward, rant away to your hearts content if you feel the need xx
  • sleepy1
    sleepy1 Community member Posts: 297 Empowering
    Did me good to have a good cry, reminded me that I was human and not just a national insurance number!  I can get a bit carried away sometimes especially when the meds kick in.  Just wish I had more energy.

    There seems to have been quite a bit on the news today about the PIP and ESA assessments so I have posted some links on other threads.

    A so called medically trained person asked someone at an assessment  "How did you catch Down's Syndrome"  if that is not enough of a wake up call to overhaul the system then I really don't know what is.

    Hope you have many good bits to come X Rosie
  • sooz
    sooz Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    Wow!

    ah energy......I remember that..... xx
  • millymoo66
    millymoo66 Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    Can I ask can you go back to contribution esa from income esa if you refuse the loan ?
    The mortgage intetest payment is the only benefit I receive that' income related
  • AlexW_Scope
    AlexW_Scope Scope Posts: 222 Empowering
    Hi

    We have put together a summary of our answers to FAQs about Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) - please let us know if we have missed anything!

    Hope this helps, Alex
  • heavenhelp
    heavenhelp Community member Posts: 24 Listener

    This is on the Government website


    Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)

    1. Overview
    2. What you'll get
    3. Eligibility
    1. How to claim
    2. Get other financial help with your housing costs

    3. Eligibility

    To qualify for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) you must be out of work or of pension age. You also usually need to be claiming one of the following:

    You might still be able to get SMI if you apply for one of the qualifying benefits but can’t get it because your income is too high. You’ll then be treated as getting the benefit you applied for.

    Contact the relevant office to check if you’re eligible for SMI.

    What type of SMI you can get

    Whether you can get SMI paid as a benefit or as a loan depends on when you get, or are treated as getting, your qualifying benefit.

    If you get Pension Credit

    Your SMI will be paid as a benefit if you get Pension Credit before 6 April 2018.

    It will be paid as a loan if you get Pension Credit on or after 6 April 2018.

    If you get another qualifying benefit

    Your SMI will be paid as a benefit if you get another qualifying benefit before 7 July 2017. You must have been getting the benefit for 39 consecutive weeks.

    It will be paid as a loan if you get the qualifying benefit on or after 7 July 2017.

    Print entire guide

    Related content

    The Most Important parts which no body seems to refer to or talk about the Information on the Government website states which has been there since January 2018 at least maybe longer?


    What type of SMI you can get

    Whether you can get SMI paid as a benefit or as a loan depends on when you get, or are treated as getting, your qualifying benefit.

    So what are the qualifying benefits?

    These are:

    It then goes on to say:

    What type of SMI you can get

    Whether you can get SMI paid as a benefit or as a loan depends on when you get, or are treated as getting, your qualifying benefit.

    It further states:

    If you get another qualifying benefit

    Your SMI will be paid as a benefit if you get another qualifying benefit before 7 July 2017. You must have been getting the benefit for 39 consecutive weeks.

    It will be paid as a loan if you get the qualifying benefit on or after 7 July 2017.

    Based on the above I understand that my SMI should remain a Benefit because I was in receipt of Income related ESA prior to 7th July 2017 for more than 39 week. Are there any other people in the same position as myself? Has anyone got in touch with their MP, a Solicitor or a Barrister?If so please get in touch. 

    Many Thanks

    Heavenhelp




  • sandraM
    sandraM Community member Posts: 31 Contributor
    @heavenhelp that is old information you have quoted and will no longer apply in April :-(
  • heavenhelp
    heavenhelp Community member Posts: 24 Listener
    If that is the case then why is that information still on the Government website now?

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