Q: I get rebates on my rent and Council Tax and after paying my share I am left with £75.71. Yet the benefits section say I need £78.45 to live on. Why the gap?

A: Your rent probably includes extras like water or heating charges, for which you cannot get a rebate.

Q: I cannot get Income based Jobseeker's Allowance because my savings are above £8,000. If I take a foreign holiday which reduces it below this can I qualify then?

A: It all depends on the circumstances. If the Jobcentre thinks you spent the money so that you could qualify for benefit they could treat you as still having it.

Q: We are comfortably off pensioners who would like to give some money to our son and his family to buy themselves a car. Could this affect our residential care benefits in future years?

A: Like the previous writer the test is whether your actions would be regarded as reasonable and what your motives were for parting with the money.

Q: My savings are just below £11,000. When working out my Housing Benefit my Council says this adds up to a figure of £32 a week. How do they make that out?

A: For savings between £3,000 and £16,000, each £250 is treated as the equivalent of income of £1 a week.

Q. My wife had a Retirement pension of £17.64 a week because of her own contributions. Now I am 65 she gets £40.40 because of my contributions. This is exactly the same as if she had never paid anything. Surely her £17.64 should be added to the figure of £40.40?

A: She cannot have both. Only whichever is greater.

Q: My mother in Scotland has a War Widows Pension and gets full rebates on rent and Council Tax. If she moves near to me will she still get the same help?

A: It depends upon how your Council treats War Widows Pensions when working out benefits. They have discretion to ignore them as I imagine your mother's council is at present. Check on your council's policy