Accommodation Supplement
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Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
Forum Description: For mums, dads, parents-to-be, grandparents, friends -- you name it! And you name the topic you want to chat about!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=37916
Printed Date: 27 August 2025 at 11:16pm
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Topic: Accommodation Supplement
Posted By: 1st_Time_Preggies
Subject: Accommodation Supplement
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 1:47pm
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Just in case some of you weren't aware, WINZ offers an accommodation supplement. It involves a LOT of paperwork, but can be worth it! My DH doesn't earn a MASSIVE amount of money, but we have a mortgage, rates, bills etc. They take it all in to consideration (not sure how they work it out exactly though) and then can help supplement your income. For us it worked out to about $80 a week, which isn't a HUGE amount, but certainly helps!!
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Replies:
Posted By: Mucky_Tiger
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 1:58pm
i applied and got declined as i didnt earn enough.
and some bull story about my income (being my living costs that go onto my student loan so not real income as they finished in november and only restart at the end of this month) is too high as it leaves me with $36 for me to spend after ive paid for all my bills  but they didnt care that with that $36 i had to pay life insurance, and food and buy soy milk at like $3 a litre 
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Posted By: lilfatty
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 2:18pm
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There is actually a calculator online from the working for families website for anyone who wants to check if they are eligible.
We are not because apparently I earn too much .. *sigh* .. id be even more bummed to be declined because I didnt earn enough lol. ------------- Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months) I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year  http://www.femininefitness.co.nz/category/blog - LFs weight blog
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Posted By: Mucky_Tiger
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 2:31pm
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when i applied my income was my student loan which isnt real income if that makes sense, so they said its not enough to qualify. and then turned around and said but i get enough from that to live off so i still dont qualify.
I'd love to know how $163 a week is enought to live off. Bearing in mind DP's income is the mortgage and the majority of the bills |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 4:47pm
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Is the mortgage under your name as well as DP's?
If your income is not classed as a real income then he still should get the AS if he does not earn too much. |
Posted By: Mucky_Tiger
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 5:03pm
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its in his name only.
and they don't deem us as in a relationship as he does not support me financially (as he cant as his income goes to the mortgage). and he cant get it either as they deem him as earning too much becasue we have a flatmate who pays him $90 a week...and that puts him over the limit by $50. im sure they do it to screw people over |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 5:21pm
| so do you pay rent? & does the student loan include accommodation in it? I am not sure how it works but if it doesn't & if you are not working you should be entitled to something. Can your DP not change the amounts, like drop the board for the flatmate down enough to be eligible & then get him a bill to pay so it is not include...like the phone or something, that would be legal. |
Posted By: Mucky_Tiger
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 5:28pm
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out of my 163 a week i pay 130 a week board.
it covers 90 rent and 40 that does towards the bills and groceries. our flatmate pays this too. winz see us paying him as income and it puts him over the limit. if he said we dont pay him it works but as winz know what he was getting if he suddenly gets $260 a week less they will know exactly how he has made that happen |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 5:47pm
wow you are not left with much, are you sure you are not entitled to more somewhere? 
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Posted By: Mucky_Tiger
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 6:03pm
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nope none. i've tried everything.
im just glad the bank lets me have an overdraft |
Posted By: HoneybunsMa
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 6:17pm
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We got an accomodation supplement. It was $13 a week ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: Whateversville
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 6:33pm
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Before moving home I got one, I was entiled to $40 odd a week.
Now that I'm home I don't need it and so didn't apply for it. I'm on the DPB now, so depending on the price of rent etc when I do move out I will get it again.. Sometimes it mightn't be much, but it's something. Suck that you & your DP don't qualify Mucky_Tiger. In my place where I got said $40 odd I was paying very similar to you. $160p/w - $90 rent, $20 power, phone & $50 groceries..I was on the sickness benefit however. Strange. Have you phoned and spoken to someone about all your living costs etc? Maybe you're entitled to a temporary additional support or something? If your last $$ is paying another bill surely they can help in some way? |
Posted By: Mucky_Tiger
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 6:47pm
| Ive been in and talked to them about it |
Posted By: kellie
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 8:12pm
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Winz don't count board as income. So if the flatmate is paying board and not rent this shouldn't affect it.
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Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 8:44pm
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@MT I wonder if you guys could structure your costs differently to then qualify. You and the flatmate could both pay $90 for board and the grocery expense could be $40 each...either you all go get your own or put it in a jar and you do the shopping. But it doesn't go as "income" for your DP.
Then DP puts $90+$90 plus most of his income onto the mortgage but surely there is something left that he can use to pay towards your share of the groceries or perhaps a joint phone bill or something like that? I doubt the bank would have approved him on a mortgage loan where it takes everything he earns. For everyone else...re all the paperwork, I find it helpful to keep all that stuff in a clear file so that every time I visit WINZ and they want more copies of the same stuff again, it's all together. -------------  |
Posted By: rachelsea
Date Posted: 08 February 2011 at 8:58pm
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We don't qualify for the accommodation supplement because we have savings, according to the online calculator. Stink coz would be nice to get a bit more for week to week stuff without having to dip into savings... ------------- DD 4yrs DS 2yrs http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: kellie
Date Posted: 09 February 2011 at 8:26am
Open up a raboplus account in your kids name? JOKES lol. -------------
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rachelsea wrote:Posted By: Babykatnz
Date Posted: 09 February 2011 at 9:33am
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We get about $90 p/week (not including the $20p/w they take from my half to pay back an old loan, but last payment next week, yippee!!) and some weeks that money has meant we've been able to pay a bill or even just buy essentials that we forgot we needed when I did the groceries (my WFF money covers groceries, and leaves me with F all for much else)
I was under the impression that if the boarder pays more than $80 p/w then it affects any entitlement?? When i was boarding with my friends mum a few years back, she was charging me $70 p/w to get around that 'rule' and I got $10p/w in acccom supplement lol (giving me a grand total of $130p/w on unemployment while trying to sort custody of DS out). If you're paying board rather than rent, they will take a % of what you are paying, call that your 'rent' and base the entitlement on that, rather than the whole amount. If that portion is less than a certain % of your whole income, then you wouldnt qualify as you are seen to be earning enough to cover living expenses. ------------- Brandon - 05/12/2003  
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Posted By: Hopes
Date Posted: 09 February 2011 at 9:44am
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Apparently we're not eligible because DH is a student?? Weird. -------------   
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