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benefits available to boaters, any resources and help.

lexicon

By lexicon
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lexicon Rising Star

lexicon

Posted
Posted

Need the forums knowledge.

after years of working i currently find myself without employment.

does anyone know of any place i can look up what i may be entitled to. Any any help with who to contact for advice support specific to boaters.

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Phil Ambrose Veteran II

Phil Ambrose

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Posted

If you live aboard your "rent" is effectively your license and mooring fees combined as this compulsary for you to keep your "home" on the water and so your "rent" becomes a legitimate item for which you can claim housing benefit.

I think the Waterways Chaplaincy may be of assistance to you.

Phil

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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

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It looks like if your boat is worth over £16k and is yours, ie an 'asset' then you may not be entitled to HB.

 

I'm perpetually confused by this subject but looking it up it seems that 'anything that belongs to you' is taken as an asset.

 

Maybe if the boat is the -only home - this does not apply?

So if one had a boat worth £500k but no other assets or cash HB could be claimed.

 

Interesting (to me :rolleyes:

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Phil Ambrose Veteran II

Phil Ambrose

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And insurance

Not sure if insurance can be claimed, woth asking though.

Phil

It looks like if your boat is worth over £16k and is yours, ie an 'asset' then you may not be entitled to HB.

 

I'm perpetually confused by this subject but looking it up it seems that 'anything that belongs to you' is taken as an asset.

 

Maybe if the boat is the -only home - this does not apply?

So if one had a boat worth £500k but no other assets or cash HB could be claimed.

 

Interesting (to me :rolleyes:

I don't think the value of ones home figures in the equation, afterall many people have houses worth many £kkkk but are still entitled to claim HB so just because someones home floats it does not mean it is any the less a home and they are still allowed to claim HB.

Phil

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ditchcrawler Veteran II

ditchcrawlerDonate to Canal World

Posted
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Thanks for the advice many thanks

I was chatting to one of the Waterways Chaplin's this afternoon. he is northern so out of your area but their email address is workplace.ministry@stalbans.anglican.org I am sure they can put you in touch with someone local. The chap I was talking to was a very easy chap to speak with, he walks the towing path around Lapworth every week introducing himself to boaters.

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canals are us? Rising Star

canals are us?Donate to Canal World

Posted
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When I claimed HB I had to see a staff member at my local council offices after I had applied and was successful for JSA.

Brought this letter to show them I was receiving JSA and filled in the forms. I had no savings but owned my 25k narrowboat and showed them my quarterly residential mooring fee of £525.00 plus my CRT Licence, BSC certificate which they photocopied.

 

The Council messed me about every week requesting the above or other details as they hadn't got it on file etc and I felt they were just being awkward, hoping I would tell them to leave it. They kept asking to see my boat length on the invoice from CART but even when I said it does not have that info on it they kept asking, even when I sent a letter from CRT they still didn't relent. In the end they were satisfied with my BSC certificate as this also had the boat name on it, but also more importantly the boat length.

 

It culminated when after going in to see how my claim was going after around 11 weeks, only to be told "we don't have a claim under that name, and you will have to re-apply and please come in tomorrow to see an advisor to make a new claim"!!

Went in and kept calm, and explained the situation and after a phone call to the office they had found my claim!!

 

It took nearly 5 months for a decision, and the decision was £45 per week, to pay £40.38 per week mooring fee and the rest as a contribution to the CRT Licence.

It was seriously a worrying time as had to get my Nan to pay my mooring fee and then had to also pay over £500 to pay the shortfall in the Licence fee. I have been claiming HB & JSA for 18 months and have been in my current job 10 weeks.

The jobcentre do not care if you starve and have no money or housing, so long as they cross the T's and dot the I's then that's it.

I'm glad to be rid of them, but certainly appreciate the welfare system, but in my case they seem to try to make it a battle and generally no kindness or compassion shown.

 

Jamescheers.gif

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don't think the value of ones home figures in the equation, afterall many people have houses worth many £kkkk but are still entitled to claim HB so just because someones home floats it does not mean it is any the less a home and they are still allowed to claim HB.

Phil

That's the ridiculous thing about it in my opinion. You can have a half million pound house and claim benefits as long as your liquid assets are low, but if you live in a rented room in a shared house, or live on a boat and you happen to have over £16k in savings then you can't claim a penny.

Edited by blackrose
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lexicon Rising Star

lexicon

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Have you any interest in asking about suitable employment to get you back on track?

i have already applied for several jobs and hope to fond something soon but may need a stopgap to survive

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cotswoldsman Veteran II

cotswoldsman

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Have you any interest in asking about suitable employment to get you back on track?

I am lost for words what has this to do with you? The OP has stated "after years of work I find myself unemployed" now this might come as a surprise to you but the Benefit System was set up just for cases like this and for many other reasons. Now you and the Daily Mail might like to knock those less fortunate than yourself but hey I like the idea that the state has a duty to help thos unemployed though the present lot of toffs are trying to do everything to stop this.

i have already applied for several jobs and hope to fond something soon but may need a stopgap to survive

You have no need to justify yourself to anyone

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KevMc Rising Star

KevMc

Posted
Posted

Have you any interest in asking about suitable employment to get you back on track?

 

if you bothered to read the post properly you will see that James has been in a job for the last 10 weeks .... it's harldy his fault that is pays so little that he is entitled to benefit payments

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ETS Jess Engager

ETS Jess

Posted
Posted

Just last week I was wondering about how I could get help, I work full time but i'm on low income. I am entitled to Working Tax Credit (£600 a year!) but i'm not sure where I stand on claiming it as I don't pay Council Tax

 

I live aboard, I have a permanent mooring but can/do move about, so i'm in the grey area as to whether or not I need to pay.

 

And if it turns out I do need to pay, and council tax is more expensive than the value of the working tax credit I would receive, then it's a bit of wrong move to make!

 

I don't know what to do :(

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homer2911 Rising Star

homer2911

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

if you bothered to read the post properly you will see that James has been in a job for the last 10 weeks .... it's harldy his fault that is pays so little that he is entitled to benefit payments

Original post: Need the forums knowledge. after years of working i currently find myself without employment. does anyone know of any place i can look up what i may be entitled to. Any any help with who to contact for advice support specific to boaters.

 

Forgive me, but where is the post about being in employment for 10 weeks?

 

Someone asks about obtaining benefits - in a free country, why should I not enquire about his intentions or otherwise about finding a job? Why should I be accused of knocking the unemployed? Christ on a bike - judgmental or what Cotswoldsman?

Have you any interest in offering a job?

 

Sadly no, but I do have an interest in knowing where my taxes go - and that isn't being judgmental of anyone unfortunate enough to be unemployed. If I could help with a job, I would. If I thought I could add anything to the advice on benefits already given, I would be happy to do that too, but not if I thought the OP had given up on the idea of finding work. Happily, he has confirmed that this isn't the case. Anyone interested in an open discussion, free of pre-conceived ideas of the politics and newspaper reading habits of Forum contributors?

Edited by homer2911
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