charleygirl

Actually it is not irrelevant to everyone else, the same rule applies.. 65% of any money earnt over the Job Seeker allowance is taken of any rent benefit.

formula

I was asking what you answered on the UK benefits claim form to the question that asked if you have ever owned a house in the UK or in a foreign country. It isn't asked only in the present tense, but covers the past tense also.

I know you said you signed your US house over to your OH? before you moved to the UK, so I wondered how you managed to get UK benefits when you had done this? Signing over a property is seen as deprivation of capital and will usually stop people from getting UK benefits.

charleygirl

will have to check that out then.

BristolUK

Came as a surprise to me too. I'm not sure when it went to £5 (£15 for lone parents) but maybe in 1988 when Income Support replaced Supplementary Benefit.

Usually being a key word and, maybe you're making an assumption.

Deprivation of capital rules (unless changed recently) allowed for people to be treated as still having capital but disposing of it, spending, giving away etc was not the only consideration.

It had to have been done so as to qualify for benefits (or a higher rate) that would otherwise not be due and that's not always easy to prove.

Someone who has a claim refused because of capital and then reapplies having spent it is one thing. Someone without a claim - say someone returning from abroad, having sold up, splitting any proceeds between them and a remaining partner, paying debts, paying for their return to the UK, paying deposits, buying a car for work, living on proceeds initially and then, at some point, applying for benefits...good luck in deciding with certainty that it was done to qualify for benefits rather than a logical plan in returning and re-establishing oneself in one's home country.

charleygirl

Thanks Bristol, I got divorced and the house went to my husband as the children stayed with him... plus we could not sell as we were in neg equity with it They all stayed in the states.. although it is none of Formulas business I would like to clarify and just because I am a nice person and those that know me on here will know this, they know my story...i paid 6 months rent up front but when I realised i could not get a job applied for help after 3 months, not like i got of the plane and went straight to Housing for help.
But there are always people who only see the bad in everyone.

Gabgoeshome

Exactly!

You are doing really well...its tough starting over...

Jay Bird

[/QUOTE
There will always be those that abuse the system in the UK, I don't think most ex-pats do though.They have a right to come home and start over![/QUOTE]

Of course not all expats abuse the system...but I do know of several who have. Unfortunately we have a system that is open to abuse, and many thousands of families who are "benefit families" whose children have never known anything else.

Jay Bird

My apologies for getting that wrong. What I meant was that although the same rules apply, individual circumstamces....cost of rent, number of dependants etc, will have an effect on the amount paid out on the government payroll.
Maybe my view is somewhat tarnished as I used to work in what was known as The Department of Employment many years ago, and I know how the system can be used and abused.

Jay Bird

Unfortunately coming on BE, and especially asking for help and advice, often makes what you say everyone's business......that's the nature of the beast

charleygirl

Thanks jaybird, but I have never asked for help or advice about benefits i think formula must have been reading my posts somewhere where I talked of how my move was going. I dont even recall telling anyone I signed over my home because that simply is not true. As part of the divorce my husband kept it. Anyway never mind moving on now.

Sally Redux

Sure the system can be abused and I certainly know people who do, however how can you be sure you personally will never need assistance? I'm glad to know that help is there for those who need it. I don't like the US attitude and I don't even think it saves money overall.

UkWinds5353

It does not save money. I will also add that for a country which supposely believes in religion, to not care for the least among us is not a very christain attitude. I love my country but America has serious problems!

Bermudashorts

It could be said that it is pretty rude of someone to think that other people should go to work so that they have X pounds per week, yet they don't think they should have to go to work themselves in order to get X pounds per week because it is not worth the trouble.

It *is* a sad indictment of the state of the country and of yourself.

You aren't ever going to move up and better yourself if you won't take the first step because you are almost as well off on benefits. It suggests to me that benefits are too generous if people are refusing to work because benefits is preferable.

Karrie72

Blimey, poor Charleygirl. I'm glad and proud of the fact that there is a safety net for people in their time of need. You never know when you you might need a helping hand. It's weird that no sooner do some people leave the U.K they become rabid right-wingers devoid of any simple compassion. There just aren't that many jobs around right now, what are people supposed to do, starve?

Jay Bird

It's not that there aren't "many jobs around" it's that people are very picky and won't do this or won't do that. I tell you what, if we didn't have this so-called "safety net" they'd soon learn not to be so darned picky! I have always worked hard, and continue to do so even though I could have retired a couple of years ago, and yes, I do resent that I'm still paying into the system so that others, many of whom are a heck of a lot younger than me, can stay at home because it's doesn't pay to work. I feel this way not because I am a "rabid right-winger devoid of compassion", but because I was brought up to believe that one's self-esteem is important, and one way to achieve this is to do something constructive with our lives.....not sit on our bums doing nothing and getting paid for it. I think the current attitude of "it's not worth my while to work when I can get money for doing nothing" absolutely stinks. These people obviously have no scruples and no pride.
Rant over for now...