by Gareth Morgan on December 29, 2025
There might almost seem to be a deliberate campaign by some of the press to mislead or distort the rules and rates around benefits entitlements. In particular, there seems to be a trend, amongst the usual suspects, to compare those in low paid, or no, work with those earning more in a way which implies […]
by Gareth Morgan on December 1, 2025
“Working families £18k worse off than benefit claimants after Budget” Telegraph November 29th 2025 The abolition of the two-child benefit limit in the budget attracted a lot of comment. From the Government and its supporters came a stream of articles and postings lauding the action at the number of families and children that it will […]
by Gareth Morgan on October 31, 2025
The DWP have published some analysis, for the first time, which looks at Pension Credit take-up in a much more detailed manner. For the first time it’s possible to see local authority and Westminster constituency take-up rates, both by numbers of households and by the annual amounts of benefit claimed and unclaimed. The differences between […]
by Gareth Morgan on October 25, 2025
The real winner from a National Living Wage increase is the Treasury which can take over 90% of the extra paid. The biggest losers are employers. I have written, for several years, in my blog about the real money transfer effects of increases in the National Living Wage (NLW) for many low earners. The message […]
by Gareth Morgan on October 17, 2025
The amount of notional income from untaken pension savings, which reduces benefits for those over state pension age, has changed. This is because a new set of GAD tables has been issued. These are the notional annuity rates which, together with age and pension savings amount, determine the amount taken into account as income in […]
by Gareth Morgan on October 31, 2024
My annual updated version of the blogs which were posted here in April 2021, November 2022, and November 2023. This now uses the NLW figure of £12.21 an hour, and the changes to employers NI announced in the Budget of 30th October. The content is still the same examination of the questionable claim that the […]
by Gareth Morgan on April 24, 2024
This is a plea for help ( perhaps that’s a bit dramatic?) As well as Ferret’s core benefits and other calculation systems and models (see https://www.ferret.co.uk/) we produce a number of more task focused ‘reckoners’. These little helpers tackle the odd calculations or assessments you might need when you’re dealing with different scenarios. They include […]
by Gareth Morgan on December 11, 2023
I’ve been told that ChatGPT and its equivalents will mean that there will be no need for benefits calculators or advisers in future. Not only will they provide an easy path through the complicated morass of benefits law and practice but they’ll also be able to find the loopholes and the best options for maximising […]
by Gareth Morgan on November 22, 2023
An updated version of the blogs which were posted here in November 2022 and April 2022. This now uses the NLW figure of £11.44 an hour and the 10% employee NI rate, announced in the Autumn Statement of 22nd November. The message is the same. The real winner from the NLW increase is the Treasury. […]
by Gareth Morgan on June 21, 2023
Those with long memories may remember the days when the means-tested benefits system offered real help to those with mortgages. Payments to lenders contributed, sometimes generously, to the liability of borrowers for interest payments. There has never been any help towards capital repayments within the benefit system. Things changed in 2018. Mortgage interest help, as […]