Please help me im now desperate - and now sacked from my job

You need to speak to your daughters school about funding for school uniforms /lunch etc.


Also, if there is no joy in that dept, go to your cab/jobentre/benefits office and apply for a crisis loan to keep up with your rent payments and cover any living expenses that have to be covered immediately:

Rent Arrears (needs to be cleared)
Utility Arrears (needs to be cleared)

This is not a way out and other mse-ers may not agree with me but, I think you need that house and gas and electric and to get you daughter into a unform for school.

Below is something from the CAB web page:

'Crisis loans


Crisis loans provide help for people who need money quickly because of expenses in an emergency or disaster. They can also help with rent in advance in certain circumstances. Crisis loans have to be paid back to the Social Fund, but they are interest-free. This means you will not have to pay back more than the amount of the loan. Crisis loans are discretionary which means that you will not get one just because you are eligible to apply. The benefit office will decide whether to pay you anything based on how much money is in the district Social Fund budget, and how urgently you need help.



Who can apply for a crisis loan


You can apply for a crisis loan if you are 16 or over and do not have the resources to meet the immediate short-term needs of yourself and your family. You have to be in this situation at the time that a decision is made on your application for a crisis loan. You do not have to be on benefit, but you must not have any money available which you could use instead. Some people are excluded from crisis loans, so in addition, you must not be a person who is excluded from getting a crisis loan. A crisis loan cannot usually be awarded if you have applied for a Social Fund loan or grant for the same item or service within the previous 26 weeks.



Who cannot get a crisis loan


You are excluded from crisis loans and cannot be paid one if:-


you are in a care home or in hospital, unless you are going to be discharged within the next two weeks
you are a prisoner being held in prison or on home leave
you are a member of a religious order which meets all your accommodation and living costs
you are under 19 and in full-time education (unless you are getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance).

Some other groups of people can only get a crisis loan in exceptional circumstances, for example some students, people on strike and people who have been disallowed from other benefits. Your immigration status will also affect whether you can get a crisis loan or not.



If you are not sure whether you can get a crisis loan, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.



What expenses can a crisis loan be made for


A crisis loan can be paid for any specific need unless it is an excluded expense. However, the need must have arisen because of an emergency or disaster, or because you have to pay rent in advance in certain circumstances. An emergency or a disaster could be a fire or flood, or some other event which means you need something very quickly which you cannot afford. The crisis loan must be the only way that you can avoid serious damage or risk to the health or safety of you or a member of your family.



Crisis loan for rent in advance


If the crisis loan is for rent in advance, this must be payable to a private or social housing landlord, not to a local authority. You can only get a crisis loan for rent in advance if you have been awarded a community care grant to establish yourself in the community when you leave care (see under heading Community care grants), or because you need to pay the rent to avoid damage or risk to you or your family following an emergency or disaster. If you have problems paying rent in advance and these circumstances do not apply, you may be able to get help through a budgeting loan instead (see under heading Budgeting loans).



What expenses are excluded from crisis loans


Certain expenses are excluded from crisis loans. For example, you cannot get a crisis loan for any expense outside the United Kingdom, the costs of a school uniform, travelling expenses to and from school, school meals, medical costs, housing expenses or expenses that could be covered by a maternity grant or funeral payment.



If you want to check which expenses are excluded from a crisis loan, you should ask an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.



How to apply for a crisis loan


Before applying for a crisis loan, you should check whether you are eligible for a community care grant, or entitled to a maternity or funeral payment, as these do not have to be repaid.



You can apply for a crisis loan on form SF401, which is available from local benefit offices. In England, Wales and Scotland, the form is also available online on the Department for Work and Pensions website at https://www.dwp.gov.uk, although you will need to print the form in order to sign it.



Because crisis loans are discretionary, it is important to include all relevant information on the application form. If you want help applying for a crisis loan, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau.



The crisis loan decision


The benefit office will tell you whether they can pay you anything, and if so how much. There is no minimum amount which can be awarded. The maximum amount is £1,500 but there are also set maximum amounts for living expenses. For other expenses, the maximum is the reasonable cost of the item or service which you need. When deciding how much to award, the benefit office will take into account how much you can afford to repay. Loans should normally be repaid within 104 weeks (2 years).



If you are refused a crisis loan or you get less than you asked for, you can ask the benefit office to look at the decision again. If you are still not happy with the outcome you can ask for a review by the Independent Review Service for the Social Fund (IRS). This is an independent organisation completely separate from the benefit office. You can find out more about the IRS at https://www.irs-review.org.uk.



If you are unhappy with a crisis loan decision, the amount you have been offered or the repayment rate, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

carriel wrote:

can I ask about this?

"write naughty stories as you can get £50 for 500 words and £100 for 1000 words. I dont know what else i can do"

I think I might be interested in doing this for some extra pennies

I'm glad someone asked that. I didnt dare

jazzyjustlaw wrote:

Me either - although I am interested!!

Me too :rotfl:

right, I dont have any blue, our uniform is red, but I may have some grey stuff, I'll have a sort through in the morning & see what I can find.