When to apply??

Merry_Gentry

Hi, wonder if you guys can help me.

My husband and I are splitting up. At the moment, we are 3 months into a 1 year lease which we both want to honour (his sister signed up as our guarantor and we don't want to cause her any grief).

I have calculated how much benefits, etc I will get once we are living apart - at the moment due to his salary I am not getting most benefits as the assumption is that he is paying towards my outgoings.

But I am trying to work out when to apply for these benefits. I have no savings to fall back on to pay rent, etc while waiting for benefits to come through, so basically need to know I am getting the money before I move on my own. But as long as he is here, then I can't claim, can I?

Any rough estimates on how long it takes for benefits to be approved/come through so I can work out when I need to apply?

Any help appreciated, thanks

damo73_2

hi there,

if you are no longer a couple you can make a claim for yourself now but the JCP will do a LTAHAW home visit to validate the seperation and they will need to speak to both of u. i need some more info to advise you of which benefits to claim eg. do you have children, are u sick, is it a legal seperation

sorry not being nosey need the info so i can give u the correct advise. the PA in your local JCP could also advise u.

hope this helps

Damo73
IS DM

justthisonce_2

Will you be a single claimant without dependents? Or are there children involved?

Merry_Gentry

Thanks for the replies.

I have three DDs : 13, 11 and 4. The elder two are from previous marriage, youngest is ours. Ex H pays towards the upkeep of the elder two.

Current ex has a daughter from previous marriage who he pays for through the CSA.

I work 20 hours per week, and all three DDs will be in school from September (4 year old just starting).

I checked out entitledto, but was also told not to take it as gospel as sometimes it can be a bit out. The main thing is when to apply...

...thanks in advance.

Kimitatsu

As a single parent you are entitled to access the lone parent adviser at the Job Centre. Make an appointment to see them as soon as possible and they can fast track your applications for you.

There is sometimes a delay on the benefits that come through such as LHA and council tax benefit but if you go through the Lone Parent Adviser then they are usually through in less than 4 weeks.

As you are already working 20 hours a week, are you in receipt of WTC as well as CTC, so you need to ring HMRC and ask to end your joint claim and put in an individual claim. Again this can be done through the Lone parent Adviser, which is sometimes quicker, but as we have got over the silly season for HMRC and renewals then that should be through to you in around 21 days or less.

Your ex will also have to pay maintenance for your daughter, as of October this is not taken into account as income for LHA.

HTH

Loopy_Girl

I think you should apply whenever you feel you ARE single. Even if you are living in the same house, if you feel you are no longer a couple and are living seperate lives and would be comfortable proving this to any agency that would question it, then you should apply. If you are becoming a lone parent then you are entitled to apply for the benefits that you are able to access.

Merry_Gentry

Kimitatsu wrote: »

As you are already working 20 hours a week, are you in receipt of WTC as well as CTC, so you need to ring HMRC and ask to end your joint claim and put in an individual claim. Again this can be done through the Lone parent Adviser, which is sometimes quicker, but as we have got over the silly season for HMRC and renewals then that should be through to you in around 21 days or less.

I don't get WTC as he earns quite a large salary and the assumption is that he subsidises me (not the the case, but anyway :rolleyes: ) Will make some calls on Monday - thanks very much.

Merry_Gentry

Loopy_Girl wrote: »

I think you should apply whenever you feel you ARE single. Even if you are living in the same house, if you feel you are no longer a couple and are living seperate lives and would be comfortable proving this to any agency that would question it, then you should apply. If you are becoming a lone parent then you are entitled to apply for the benefits that you are able to access.

Thanks Loopygirl - I wasn't sure if this would be frowned upon or not.

Loopy_Girl

Merry_Gentry wrote: »

Thanks Loopygirl - I wasn't sure if this would be frowned upon or not.

There may be questions but as I say, providing you know you are single and can prove that you and ex are living seperate lives albeit under the same roof for a while then there shouldn't be any problem in my opinion.

Lemon_Corkscrew

So even if living in same house but separated, you can actually apply for all of this?? As long as you can show that you run the household separately?

Kimitatsu

Lemon_Corkscrew wrote: »

So even if living in same house but separated, you can actually apply for all of this?? As long as you can show that you run the household separately?

Yes you can, but you do have to be prepared to show that you live entirely seperately, so you both have seperate living spaces, do your own shopping etc. Some councils will insist on a home visit for this others will jsut write to you both, unfortunately an increasing number of people are finding that they cannot afford to move out of the marital home.