Permanent Caravanning.

[Alex_374373826]

I think the rules changed in about 2002. Good old Gordon saw to that. I wrote to my MP about it, who confirmed it and said they had to start somewhere. From my viewpoint the MP is a high paid Jobseeker.

The annoying thing about all this is, that if you are over 50, getting a job is very hard outside of the current climate. Thus you are forced to use those savings, that you are saving for the day when you retire.

Thus Steve is right to claim if he has paid in, as the rest of us cant. In my opinion the system is utterly wrong.

 

[Gumbo]

Steve

I didn't mean it to sound as a personal attack on yourself and for that I apologise. We all have different circumstances I was having a bad day.

 

[Guest]

Evidently there are 2 Jobseeker Allownaces. The 1st is paid if you have sufficient Class 1 NI Contributions, and is not linked to savings. That was what I claimed. The other is linked to savings. The 1st one is not available to self employed however.

 

[Surfer]

Steve, I know what you are going through regarding arthritis which is the main reason why we had to stop living in the carvan permanently. Some days the pain was so bad that there was no ways I go go to work.

Unfortunately I was made redundant at the end of October 2009 and although I apply regularly for jobs, who is going to employ a 59 year old who has medical problems? If you don't declare your medical issue, if the employer finds out at a later stage, they can dismiss you without reason. Catch 22!

I still have to sign on every two weeks but I am concerned about what happens when the 6 months deadline comes about and whether I will get some sort of income. I guess that there are 1000's of others out there with similar problems and issues like myself.

 

[Rabfaetheblae]

Wow just read this thread from start to finish and found it very interesting indead...

Firstly Steve if everybody that recieved help from the goverment was like yourself the country would be a better place and i wish you all the best in a speedy recovery..

Im actually rather jealous of the permanent lifestyle because every time im in my caravan on holiday i can just feel stress lifting off me, but allas theres not enough room for my 47" telly so il have to stay with the hoose.

Rab.

 

[WilliamLX]

What can I say. I agree about how ridiculous the housing market has been, but when I take my caravan away for a weekend I do not want to see people living permanently in tourers on the site. Recently I left a site after one night when I noticed a large twin axle Hobby with a washing machine etc set up and being used (despite the rain) outside of it. When I complained to the site owner he admitted that the van was a permanent resident.

 

[Surfer]

What is the difference? Whether they are there permanent or only for a few days should not make one iota of difference.

 

[Surfer]

Also permanents are doing you a favour as they may be keeping the site going as the owner has a regular income from them. Secondly permanents are moreaware of what is going on at a site most times and will challenge an unknown visitor prowling around thus making it safer for all. Be thankful for permanents!

 

[Steve L]

First of all, Thank you Gumbo, no hard feelings, I've got broad shoulders and all that.

You know Rab, I don't get to see the telly anywhere near as much as I did when in a proper house. There is so much to see out here in the countryside. I'm dusting off the fishing rods and slowly(cos of the arthritis) sanding down and restoring a sialing dinghy I've had for 5 years and had no time to do it up.

But if I get tired (not bored)of that I can watch Sky plus on our 19" flat screen tv/monitor, or paly a DVD, or play on our PS3. We ahve the toys but noting beats a good old sunrise chiruping of birds etc.

William, most permanent caravanners don't want to be noticed and will truly look just the same as any other seasonal guest. Our awning is a 10ft deep one to give us plenty of room. With it being 18ft long as well, her in doors acn have half of it as a crafting area as she loves making handmade birthday cards etc. we have a 6ft tall garden cuboard to put our printer/scanner in. that end of the awning is left with the winter blinds permanently down to give privacey. The front half of the awning is set out as a longe area and looks just the same as any other awning. The other benifits of permanent guests is that they are a good deterant from a security point of view. Also if your caravan or awning developes a problem while your not there, there is someone on hand to report it to the site team, or do a minor repair to stop matters getting worse.

Kind regards to all.

Steve L.

 

[Steve L]

Sorry about the dislexic typo's. Should of proof read it. Doh!

 

[Steve L]

Just a quick up date of info on housing benifit.

We have succeeded in getting housing benifit to cover the ground rent for our tourer. It took a bit of explaining at the local council office, but once I'd explained the simularity btween house boat mooring fees which they pay automatically, and the pitch fee for a touring van which is our home, it became clearer to them.

As both myself and her in doors are claiming incapacity benifit as we are both awaiting orthopedic operations, we got paid a proportion of the housing benifit each.

All this was also done without a visit by the council to the site. We requested no visits as we didn't want the management to chuck us off for causing them any bother. We supplied the council with the 2009 price list for the site and a couple of recipts for fees we had already paid to proove we were staying there.

So there you have it, with a little persistance and persuasion, one can get what they are entitled to in the end.

I'm off to the doc's today to get my last quaterzone injection done in my shoulder today before the operation. Trust me arthritis in the shoulders is no joke and is very debilitating and painfull to say the least.

Regards.

Steve L.

 

[Surfer]

As I was made redundant last year at the end of October and being almost sixty, I have been battling to find any sort of employment Our savings have been exhausted and out only income is my wife's income which unfortunaltey depedniong which may you look at it, does not qualify for housing or coujncil tax benefits.

We are now entering the pit of despair and the only way forward seems to be if we move back into our caravan which will immediately give us an extra

 

[Steve L]

Hi Ian.

Seems you have a right dilema on your hands.

First of all I guess it took the 2 1/2 years of permenant caravanning to get the flat in the first place. It seems that way to us as we have been in our tourer for 16 months now and have only been eligable for one bungalow which despite being only two grades from top priority, we lost the bid on. So i would think long and hard before giving up the council flat as they might blacklist you for a later application.

However I must say that our time in our tourer has been a god send. We would of been looking at a crappy bedsit at best if we had not got our own roof over our head's sorted out.

As for your financial situation Ian, I would go to see a citizens advice centre. But under no circumstances tell them of the existance of your tourer. That way so long as it doesn't have finance against it, you will still have backup plan B to fall back on. They might well advise you to find

 

[Surfer]

Just to compound matters the OH needs n operation and she will be off work for nearly 6 weeks and on SSP! Maybe September is coming a lot quicker than expected. I will be having a word with the housing people and CAB in the very near future.

 

[john_374456861]

how do i find caravan sites that will allow me to pitch all year round and also live there on a permenant basis

 

[Steve L]

Hi John.

There are several factors that you have to think of like work, family relative locations, looking after your health etc.

First of all think more like a home owner than a tourist. While setting up near the cpoast may seem idilic, you will then have to factor in the weekly trip of upto 20 miles to the supermarket. also a coastal site would undoubtedly be much more populated and thus noisy. Whatabout income. If you work in a fixed location then within a reasonable comute is where you need to pitch. Or if you work throughout the uk like me, you have to keep your options open and have several site in mind.

Last year I chose to stay at a site local to both our parents as my wife had lost her dad the year before and we needed to be there for her mum. As it happened my father passed away last year so staying local was a good choice. But we had to pay two weeks at a time for our pitch on a nightly fee as I was working throughout the UK, and if I had a long term contract (4-6wks) we could move easily.

This year though, I've had to take a gap year as I need an operation for a bursal tear to my shoulder and removal of calcium deposits in the tendons. The arthritis gets us all eventually. So we went for a seasonal pitch to the end of October. This is very good value working out at

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Steve

I am lucky to have my own home but due to my dying dad spent 12 continuous weeks on a small CL using all our own caravan facilities. We showered in the van every day and are lucky to have a fixed bed model. There was a chemical disposal point so we were ok with the toilet. Luckily there was electric hookup so that saved on the gas. Of course I enjoyed it but I always knew we would be back in our house one day.

If I had no home of my own where on earth would I store all my "personal effects, tools etc"? Travelling light is one thing.

As for benefits, there are two types of claimant.

1.Those who have paid tax and NI all their lives who have fallen on hard times.They deserve pay back.

2. The professionals who have never done a days work in their lives. I exclude those who are disabled or have to look after disabled people 24/7.

I admire those who do it all year round. Ask those people who two years on from the floods are still living in caravans on their front drives! Some love it some hate it.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[Steve L]

Hi Dusty.

I am one of those in catagory 1 on your post and it realy bugs me that people like me are chased harder by the job center to get back to work to keep paying for the lazy bar stewards who couldn't give a s**t and just don't work/won't work for a living. Im off to a one to one today with an employment agencey contracted to the job center to get people who have been on the rocky role for 6 months now. But even they admitted to my wife who started hers before me, that once we have endured 6 months of their monthly bull****, we "drop off the raydar! So any of the scrounging "you know whats" who can waffle their way through the first year, then get away scott free and then people like you and I who have worked their way through life end up footing the bill. Another little point is that because both myself and my wife are claiming employment support allowance we fall between the cracks of whitehall and don't count into Gordons unemployment figures as we are not registered as job seekers. Besides the ESA there are atleast five other catagories that fit the same criteria, so that Gordon and the morons at Westminster can "massage" the figures to cast a "spin" on just how much of a monumental balls up they have done with our "Great Britain".

It will be a fun time taking my inch thick book of qualifications and a book another inch thick of Health & safety training records, plus my 25 years of self motivated self employment for them to teach me how to suck eggs on the topic og finding work and earning a living.

On a lighter note, dealing with all the household possessions:-

We are paying

 

[Steve L]

Just a quick update on my exploits.

I've had the operation on my shoulder, which this time was done by key hole surgery. Despite only being able to sleep for about 3 hrs a night for the first two nights I can honestly say I am more comfortable in our caravan than i ever was in our bungalow. The seating in the caravan with it's low back support cushions is just the right height to allow me to leave the sling off and relax. The relaxing countryside atmosphere is also a blessing.

The site we are on is getting busier but it hasn't been as full this year as we would of expected considering it was supposed to be "staycation year". It has had a change of warden a few weeks ago which had little affect on the park as the new lot are just a horizontal despite being shipped in by HQ to take over. There's little importance placed on improvement to maintain their 5 star status which we thought was given cheaply as they only provide a 2 year old toilet block and a one machine laundry to serve 84 statics and 40 tourers. For the last 6 weeks the access road has not had potholes filled in and the flower bed at the entrance has been devoid of flowers. they did have a splurge on extra vehicle being parked beside the vans, but that has ment that the static guys have now taken over the spare parking lot, making the reception look like a comercial van stop instead.

I tend to get more enquiries from tourists about where to go as well. Because the new team have no idea what's on offer as they haven't done their home work. You know the stuff, visiting attractions, restraunts, pubs, shops, and generally finding out how to get round the county. The type of stuff I would of done in the first couple of weeks.

Not much to report on the van front as our caravan has performed faultlessly and has not required any maintainence, which is much better than all the diy I used to have to do on the house.

We still get the discrimination from land agents once they find out about our dog as most private lets won't allow dogs. It's not only our euro cousins that get singled out you see.

Anyway best go and have another restfull day and get ready for 6 weeks of physio to get me back to work.

Steve L.

 

[Rabfaetheblae]

Hi Steve

Glad to hear your operation went well ( it must have been awkward standing next to that key hole tho lol ) anyway hope you make a speedy recovery.

All the best

Rab.

 

[Surfer]

My temporary employment contract comes to an end within the next two months and I cannot see how we can survive living in brick and mortar with all the extras that you have to pay for and at present we are deciding whether to move back in the caravan as job options are not very high at the monet for some who is sixty and has a mobility disability.

We have been putting off doing this as we do like our little rented council home, but now we are running out of options and if we were paid to be paid benefits, I don't think that they will amount to very much. Luckily my wife has a permanent job albeit not to well paid.

One of the main reasons to move back into the caravan is to have a less stressful life plus save a bit of money as previously to my current job I was unemployed for 8 months and most of our savings disappreared.

 

[Steve L]

Hi Rab.

Thanks for your support.

Feeling not too bad at the mo, got my first of may physio sessions today. Not looking forward to it too much as the last time I had physio after the same op on my other shoulder I was a lot worse pain wise, before it got better. Last time the pain got so bad it sent my neck into spasumn. But I must say it ended up being a worthwhile excercise.

Hi Ian.

You realy are in a conundrum mate, I've been there myself and it realy does drive you up the wall trying to get any help from local authorities let alone the DWP. I was told that our local council wouldn't pay any ground rent as we had made ourselves intentionally homeless by selling our place before it was confiscated. Then after I had won that battle, they decided that despite us having to move off our site to a crappy pub site for january and febuary because of the license conditions applied by the same said council,and then moving back in march to a proper site (the original one), they said they would not pay ground rent on the site as the pub site where we had no shower, laundry and had to share the toilets with the pub guests who got well bladdered from thursday to sunday was adequate. I wonder if they would like to paddle in second hand beer and chips left on the floor by those who missed their target. (got the idea, couldn't be too graffic).

We are probably lucky as both of us are on ESA and requiring surgery for our ailments. It is difficult to decide just what to do, but we have said that we would go to the social housing ladder as we are both going to need a lot of medical care in the future and I am pretty certain I won't work past 60 as I've already been told I have the bones and upper body joints of an eighty year old. Or in other words I'm 30 years old before my time. We had to look at cold hard fact and that is that if we had continued with our own property that asset would be stripped down (forced to sell) to pay for our care as you only get basic help on NHS. I had experience of that last year when my dad suffered four big strokes before the final one got him. My folks had worked hard all their lives and had a lovely bungalow in the country to show for it. After stroke number three the hospital actually started to force my very bereft mother to put their home on the market to fund care home fee's as they wanted the "bed". They even gave her advice on equity release as a quick start method of moving him to the care home. fortunately or ortherwise (depends on how you look at it)my father had his final stroke which left my mum able to live in their home for now.

So, sometimes it realy is hard to go against the grain of tradition, but one does have to wonder what they have paid their taxes for over the last 35 years when you see the reality of what you get for your Ni stamp.

 

[Steve L]

(continued from above)

In the current climate I can understand your thoughts on what work is available. I'm faced with that thought too, as I don't know yet if I can go back to building poulty units after the operation as that job is very physical. I've been used to lifting timer beams upto 100Kgs etc in sun,rain and snow.

Finding alternative work will be hard but as a self emplyed sub contractor I'll probably find something to tide me over.

Regards

Steve L.

 

[Surfer]

Over the weekend we found a site where we can site permanently for 11 months of the year at a cost of

 

[Steve L]

Hi Ian.

Sounds like you've made that difficult choice. Good luck with the packing.

I have managed to stay on a site where the seasonal fee is