Free school meals - not if your skint!

[shirlthegirl43]

Methinks you need to do a letter too - that is way out of order!

[SlugLobber]

Surely something like this is worthy of National Media attention? This must be affected thousands of families across the UK!

[slooky]

school my daughter goes to has recently changed meal provider. All going well kids loving the meals so much more than the last company (who were awful). Till yesterday when they turned up with sandwiches and a letter saying they had ceased trading and gone into admin. We all paid last on tues for the next 2 weeks so no idea if we will get a refund rumour in the playground is the chef ran off with the money.....We live in strange times

[ixi1456]

sure glad my kids are all grown up i have been on incapacity benifit for the last 4 years due to health problems i am on the top payment (£84) i cant get any more help with any other benifits and i cant change being on this benifit (if i was on job seekers i would qualify for other benifits and be better off i have to take 3 types of medicine daily at which i have to pay for out of the 84 quid and i dont even qualify for a crisis loan as i am not covered by being on incapacity benifit cannot work again in my trade as my lungs are failing and i cannot pass the lung function test every six months the job centre cannot help me get work and will not retrain me and have told me if i stop claiming incapacity benifit i will not be able to claim job seekers as i have no credits now (after working from 16 till i was 49 without claiming anything) so somthing must be done but i doubt it will

[Hilary B]

The system certainly stinks, but making employers pay according to the needs of the employee's family wouldn't work, and for SOME people (with minimum outgoings) the minimum wage is just about enough. Also not all jobs, even at minimum wage, increase the employer's income after paying everything that goes with it. The result of this is one less job, and one more person out of work. The purpose of top-ups to income is to balance the equation of paying people according to what they produce, but still providing for their needs. Great idea in principle, but lousy in the detail......

[SarzWix]

Ixi, if you don't pass the lung function test then you should qualify for Disability Living Allowance, at least for the mobility component as I'm sure you cannot walk far without struggling? Get someone to help you apply, and if they turn you down, do appeal as I'm sure they do this to put people off. Also, if your problems were caused at/by work, you may qualify for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit? Try and get some help from the CAB, they will be able to help you work out if you qualify for anything else, and help with a DLA claim.
Check with your Energy Suppliers, you should qualify for any "Social Tarriff" they might have, which they don't advertise very well, and can save you a few hundred pounds a year on your bills.

This is a good website for help with DLA claims Benefits and Health Information Service

[quark1]

For all who are trying to see what they are entitled to try and locate an independant - preferably free - specialist who will be able to advise on the best way to work round the system for your particular circumstances. This is not a fiddle - but it simply maximises your entitlements and perhaps informs you of others you are currently unaware of. Your local yellow pages or thompsons will probably help or CAB.

Also try

Start Calculation

where you can enter all your bits and bobs and it will provide a 'guideline' on whether you are entitled to even the smallest allowance/s.

Of course we have our glorious leader who, in his former job, well and truly cobbled up the tax system that even those who audit the system find huge errors of overpayment and bombshell those who were overpaid - even when they had asked SEVERAL times - is this right - reply yes - for the whole lot back as a lump sum.

I am also one who did not endorse their tenure!