Job Discussion Forums

[Jim Bigelow]

I need some help please;

I've been teaching in the Middle East for the last few years but have now been accepted onto an MA back in the UK. Problem is that I'm working out my finances and as I don't have a home (back home ) then the cost is going to be just too much for me.

I'm trying to get some clear advice (but doing it from out here in Saudi is just not getting me anywhere )on what benefits I may be entitled to if I come back to the Uk to enter the MA. There seems to be so much info on the web and confusion about what benefits you're entitled to as a post grad. student. I think if I was doing a PGCE then you're def. entitled to something but what about a straight MA student?

There's me and common law Wife (not working) and 5 children (under 10)....can anybody advise me? I figure if I can claim housing benefit and either me or my wife are entitled to some support plus the child support then we should be able to make it through the year?

Thanks for any input!

[basiltherat]

i would suggest looking into something called ''working families tax credit''. you can probably find out more about it by doing a search. might even give you stuff on how to apply. i think it might be relevant for you and family.
regards
basil

[Jim Bigelow]

Thanks Basil,

Checked it out and we need to be working at least 16 hours per week to be eligble......any other ideas?

Many thanks!

[basiltherat]

without meaning to interfere. would it not be possible to have the wife working a total of 16 hrs a week by doing some care work or something like that in the evenings after u get back fom college (at least someone, you, would be with the kids in the evening) and/or you or she fit in a few hours of work to make up the 16 on sats or suns.
Sorry if im interfering too much, but i tried successflly to get this tax credit thing last year for my ex-wife and kids. Ex-wife does 18 hours care work over every week and makes sure she gets back home before the kids get back from scool. She also has a nce neighbour who'll take care of them for a while if she can make it back in time for the kids.
I appreciate your circumstances may be very different but this is just an idea. just trying to help if i can cos i (my ex and kids) was n similar situation.
regards
basil

[basiltherat]

forgot to mention that if u do get this tax credit it can as much as double the income one gets from the 16 hours work. not bad. blair aint such a bad guy after all.
regards
basil

[Jim Bigelow]

Much appreciated Basil,
Definatly makes sense, let me check out the web site again and get back to you!

[Jim Bigelow]

Wow..just filled in an online calculator and it said that I'd be entitled to approx 200 pounds a week...That's not bad is it?

Ok..would we still be entitled to child benefit and housing benefit etc?

The times they are a changing!

[basiltherat]

yes you would also be entitled to child benefit.It gets better all the time. Now we understand y so many refugees are trying to come to the uk.
as regards housing, try shaftsbury housing association (try a search). they provide accom flat-style for a nominal sum. dont know if yud be entitled but give it go and apply. i know they have empty places in east of england; not sure about other parts of uk.
regards
basil

[Stephen Jones]

Sorry to disillusion you Jim but with the new rules you might even find they will try to charge you upfront for health care.

For many years now you have only been entitled to housing benefit and social security payment if you can prove that you have strong ties with the UK. Being a British citizen, born in Britain, and having spent most of your life there does not count.

You will be given an interview, and they will check things like do you still have a house in the UK (no, in your case), or do you still have a bankaccount in the Uk which you pay into.

I was refused benefit in 1998, and a working that summer met a colleague who had gone to work in Vietnam for a couple of years after graduation. On returning to the Uk he was told he was no longer tied to the country, was not going to be given benefits and should return to Vietnam.

Another thing to beware of is thinking that if you share a house with a relative you can claim back rent you pay him/her or pay in common. The council has a get out on that one and will refuse to pay any benefit, even if your relative had been renting out your room to somebody else until you came along.

Best be prepared.

[Jim Bigelow]

Stephen Basil
This is what was happening when surfing the net...one minute it looked great and I was about to top the fortune list, the next minute all I saw was me standing outside Mcdonalds in London... "Big Issue, Big issue"

Really need to get to the bottom of this one and if I take this step then what would I be going home to....can I even call home home now?

Oh well...always look on the bright side

[FGT]

Are your "dependants" British or not? The nationality of your common law wife and the sprogs may well have a bearing.
As far as healthcare is concerned. From personal experience, it would appear that it's very much at the discretion of the practitioner. Some carry on dispensing medicine and medical advice whilst others quote the rule book and close doors to those of us who live (or have lived) abroad.
Good luck!

[Jim Bigelow]

FGT:
Thanks, we're all British.
I wonder at one point you are considered to have been out of England for so long as to raise a question as to your entitlment for benefits?

[Stephen Jones]

You will be given an interview by somebody from the social security. They will write a report and then somebody else in the office will make the decision. You can then appeal and keep on appealing, and if there 's enough food in the soup kitchens maybe in five years or so you'll get a load of money.

I believe they will have to look after your children, and presumably the wife as well, so I wouldn't be complaining about her cooking any time soon, as if she gets annoyed you won't get passed the leftovers.

[basiltherat]

in regard to housing benefit, from our experience, thats a harder nut to crack. you may find a link to that information and the requirements you need to fulfill to get it, on the wftc page that you went to. theres absolutely no reason y you cant apply. nothing lost but they may ask u for details of income which clearly u wont have till either u or wife start working in addition to wat savings u have (if u have savings of a certain amount and over – 8000 quid I think- ur not supposed to be entitled to wftc or, if im not mistaken,housing benefit). its a bureaucratic nightmare but you just have to stay the course. the online application for wftc is fairly straightforward once one or both of u start working.
The downside to living/settling in the uk and having a job now is the f-ing council tax, whether you own a property or get it through a housing association. It ripped a big gap in my wifes budget earlier this year and only now is she coming to terms with it. Working 18 hours and getting wftc isn’t bad ,though, and my wife and kids can survive quite reasonably on the total amount she receives with even being able to afford a trip/holiday abroad here and there, but council tax is there to take a slice of it back. There are those who are exempt from paying it but im unaware of the exact conditions for being so. For instance u may well be exempt if ur receiving housing benefit but yul have to check that out.

Generally, life is very much less complicated in places like here in Syria. That’s another reason y I like it here. It might not be home but u don’t need to delve into the beauracratic nightmare above that is Britain. UK is great for a holiday/rest but ….. Love it and leave it.
regards
Basil

[basiltherat]

I still stand by what I wrote earlier. The best approach is to get work (16 hrs) to get wftc (housing during this period ? mmm let me think; do you relatives or family that can put you up for 3 or 4 weeks while getting onto wftc ?). Then most of the other benefits will be accessible you; even the more minor ones such as free school lunches for kids, help with heating bills etc. To give you some idea of comparison; I and my wife and two kids came back to the uk after 24 years in Indonesia. Indeed we were asked whether we had ties to the uk and evidence of this when i tried to open a bank account for my wife. I had had a bank account in the uk for this period and my wife was holding down a job (albeit only 18 hrs) which helped her case and within miutes she was granted an account. We never had any sort of intensive interviews either with banks or gov officials/staff when applying for benefit ;eg child benefit but maybe we were the exception rather than the rule I don’t know
Healthcare seemed to be no problem; free for our children (son-10- had to have stitches; no charge). Wife hasn’t so far required much healthcare but now that shes been working, paying tax and national insurance, one has to assume she is now entitled. For me, I’m not sure. I absolutely agree about practitioners and dispensaries (chemists) being discretionary about drugs I’ve had one experience where it was free and another where I was charged. Odd ! Imp:Get all the family NI numbers asap if they don’t have and get them all registered with a doctor and dentist in your town.
The online application for wftc (working families tax credit) does not enquire whether you have close ties to the uk and, as I said earlier, is very straightforward. The results (positive) of my wife’s application took about 2 weeks and we were never called or contacted by anyone thereafter; just a letter stating how much she was entitled to and wen it would be deposited to her account every month.
I would suggest this route rather than get a hard wftc application form which asks more complicated questions.
I stress, first and foremost I’d get yourselves working min 16 hrs a week, get onto wftc and then go from there. For example, my wife receives a total of around 900 quid a month net altogether (inc wftc but not inc child benefit)) for 18 hrs work That’s nothing to grumble about ! 16 or 18 hrs isn’t really much work to do in a week; especially wen doing something menial until something better crops up. Good luck !
Simply put, the UK policy now seems to be ….. if you make an effort to work, all benefits (wftc,housing, healthcare etc) are accessible (not necessarily guaranteed, though) to anyone, but if one is just going to sit on one’s butt and expect something (benefits or handouts), then …. sorry !
Rgrds
Basil
btw this way - by working and claiming wftc- you would likely be earning well over a thousand quid a month seeing as you have 5 kids under 10