I get dla . It went on my income and straight out on my expenditure. It should be offset. Also any back pay should be paid to you. Mine was with agreement of my ip
I'm finding this issue a bit difficult to get my head around. I've been mulling it over for a while.
DLA awarded to a child is theirs, not ours. We hold the appointeeship for them. To use some of the DLA to pay for our debts could be seen as some form of benefit fraud? The DWP says that you must not take a fee or payment from the allowance for acting as an appointed person. Would paying some over to the IVA be seen as payment? I don't know.
I understand that some say it should be classed as income and then straight out again on expenses. But why? If I was collecting money for a charity, paid the cash into my account and then it went out by BACS or the like to the charity, would that go down as income and expenditure? Surely the same applies to a child's DLA award?
Some understanding IP's do offset completely, but if it was standard protocol to not enter a child's DLA into the income section then NittyKitty's IP and others wouldn't feel they had a right to take any?
In relation to the extra tax credits that you get with a child who has DLA, I'm finding it difficult to understand how creditors would be happy to take additional tax credit, knowing that getting these additional amounts is in recognition of the extra costs that having a disabled child brings.
"Right, they have a child with a disability and receive extra money because of it... we'll have some of that" It doesn't sit right with me.
That's how I feel about it at the minute. Maybe I could be persuaded to think about it another way?
your dla money for your son is yours(son money) the ip/creditors have no rights to this wot so ever.
it comes in as income & then taken out as expenditure.
i know what am talking about becouse i have been there and done it to say.and as to tax credits am afaid that is class as a income so your ip/creditors will take this into account.if am right of saying as for your cooker you got a few options.your allowed to take a payment holiday with your ip but you would have to pay it back later(payment extension),or pay for a cooker with your dla money but send a receipt to your ip to get it offset.
what you are going trough we have been there (our son is classed the same but with higher rate dla)and our ip tried to take the money but we have stop them in their tracks)your not the 1st or the last.
you would have to do the income&expenditure again
In my view, DLA should be taken into account then disregarded as being needed for care or mobility aids for your son.
You may have to show why you need the money (extra clothes, taxis etc depending on what element it is). With regards to the backpay I think you should tell your IP you have used contingency funds, cutting on other budgets etc and as the benefit is for your child you would like to put it aside for future use for your son.
The thing is why should we have to prove why we need the money?! Have we not already gone through that lengthy assessment?
In my case I can't prove in monetary terms that I have to give supervision to my 15 year old son because he is vulnerable in the community or prove to my IP how I forever have to prompt him with personal hygiene snd remaining safe etc.
The list goes on.....but not with extra physical items I have to buy.
Hi Kazza, yes that's how it should be done. But it's clear from what nittykitty & bull dog have said that this isn't always happening.
There must be some IP's out there who take DLA into account but do not offset. Unless you are a member or lurker of this forum, you wouldn't necessarily know this should/could be offset.
If it is to be taken into account, then maybe it should simply be - DLA in, then DLA out, without accounting for every £. It's very difficult to quantify what each expense is in each month. I know from experience, some things change from one month to the next.
In relation to the extra tax credits, I still think that creditors thinking it's acceptable to take some of the extra award directly as a result of having a disabled child is odd at the very least.
It makes things easier all round if the DLA and disability related expenditure are captured within a single I&E for the household...not least because in some cases the benefits may not cover the needs and adequate provision can be made from the parents' salaries.
I think the previos poster has said it in a nutshell. The dla s for the child. I know that when clainminf for extra bedding etc on hehalf of clients in the past the response is the child is awarded dla for that purpose! Therefore its not really anyones but the childs to cater for the childs disabilty. Although the child will have other expenses that dla do not cover , the amount given in dla is towards this. Anything else not covered and the parents costs of caring fr the child shoud go down as expenditure as well as the dla going straight out as expenditure too. I think on a more serios note dwp would not be happy about the said dla going into an iva. Just a thought . Hope it gets sorted sooner rather than later and good luck
I am having problems understanding why people have issues putting this benefit down as an income - as the child in part of the household, it should all go down as household income - but be offset against the added extra child costs,which is likely to be above the benefit level anyway.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
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On the whole I do not see a problem with it going down as income as lon as it goes out as expenditure. I do not think . On a professional level as I come across this in my work .The dla benefit is seen "provided for the child to live as normal life as possible" the parent is the custodian .That is where the difficulty comes in. My dla went as income no problem as it is my iva. It also went down as expenditure. The iva is not the childs . Same thing as asking the question would a childs paper round money or birthday xmas gifts or even inheritance be classed as income as once again the parent is the custodian. Just think anything that is for the childs is just that. Justmy opinion. Doesn't mean it is right.
The reason I have an issue with putting it down as income is purely because of the experience of nittykitty and others who may not be aware that it can be offset.
While ever it is being put down as income, there will be IP's who will want to take some of it for the IVA. If there was a standard policy across the board of DLA in and same amount out, then I also wouldn't have a problem with it. There obviously isn't that policy at the moment.
nittykitty's IP must know that the DLA can be offset, however the IP chose not to tell nittykitty.
I think the issue here is not everyone spends the whole of their DLA on their condition. Most probably do but not everyone. Mine is not paid to me as I have a motability car.
I would say there's nothing written down legally to say an IP can or cannot take it into account. It is down to the individual when listing their income and expenditure to explain they have additional needs. Then it will be written into the proposal for creditors to agree the money can be offset.
The issue can also be whether it is legal. The government body give it as part of their "duty of care" towards disabled people. For it to be taken away by an iva as "income" without it being put down as "expenditure" especially if it is for a child has serious questions especially within " the local authority team around the child". It needs to go down as expenditure.
A household I&E may not show disability needs as a specific line in the outgoings but all the child's needs would be catered for within the expenditure. Such as higher food bills, higher entertainment allowance, higher medical allowance, higher clothing allowance, more petrol money and anything else that may be associated with each individuals condition. So it is being offset. The higher DI is likely to be from the parents salary because the DLA covers some if the petrol, food, clothing etc...
