child ill off work

McKneff

I'm sure we're all only too glad we have been of help.
Hope everything works okay and please keep us posted.

robpw2

hey , i hope you get things sorted.
are your sons work paying any sickness pay ?
your son could claim incapacity benefit if not .

alwaysonthego_2

Hi, if you leave your job then you could possibly be sactioned for claiming JSA, but depending on your national insurance contributions will make a difference to what you can claim. If you are up to date with your NI then you could claim for contribution based JSA which does not take in account of the household income etc. If you are not up to date with NI then you can claim income based JSA but entitlement to this is dependent on household income and savings. Also to claim JSA you need to be actively looking for a job and if you're caring for your son this might not be possible. I very much doubt that you will be entitled to income support if your husband is working full time.

You should contact tax credits and inform them if your circumstances change because you might be entitledc to a rise in ctc and wtc payments. Please put your details in to www.entitledto.com for a estimated guide on what you could claim.

As Conor mentioned you could claim DLA but your son needs to have had the condition for three months or more and you need to be awarded middle care or high rate care component to be entitled to carers allowance. I would highly recommend you visit your local cab for a quick benefits check and help with the dla claim because it is more complicated for children.

McKneff

you didnt say how old your son was

helpinghands_3

If you live in West Lancs and are having problems with finances and its affecting your home/tenancy you could be eligibile for the floating support thats available in West Lancs.
PM me for details and i will forward them to you.

zozot

hi annie and everybody else
sorry my posts are so spaced out but laptop broke at hospital so just doing a quick check when i pop home
i've asked to see hospital social worker , i've also got a charity called head injury support coming seeing us at hosp tomorrow they help with all this sort of stuff am also going to see work today (scary) to see what they can do to help flex hrs etc my son is nearly 15. as for tax credits we are in a mess due to suposed over payment so dont think that will be any help to us thank you all for yr sound advice i'll keep you posted

churchrat

hi
very sorry to hear about your son, I know that when you are faced with this sort of situation the last thing you want to do is worry about money.
Our daughter became v ill about 9-10 yrs ago and was in-out of hospital for several yrs. We are v lucky as she is well now, with only a few problems, nothing she can't deal with BUT the money was a huge problem.
I left work to look after her, tried to claim jsa but was told that as I couldn't work I couldn't claim it. All the insurances etc we had only paid out on the illness of myself or oh. We did not qualify for most of the benefits help that was available at the time and ended up in a great deal of debt.
I think we could have avoided some of this by accepting that things were not going to get better quickly, and by making huge adjustments to our life style as soon as possible, instead of waiting until we had no chioce. Hndsight is a wonderful thing!
My advice would be--
-take all the help that is offered (even if you think you don't need it at the time)
-make a claim for everything (even if you think you won't qualify)
-beg at work for them to keep you on any terms and don't resign
-look at any debts etc you may have at the moment and prioritise rent etc, even if it means not paying the credit card
-don't take out more credit

do you have any other children??

good luck with all of this, I hope he is getting a bit better evryday. nothing is more important than your children.

zozot

hi churchrat and all
well went to see work yesterday and managed to buy myself some time there so i'm ok till end of month so thats a start and said they will look at various options for me. my son is doing amazingly well considering this time last month we were told he wouldnt make it, our 1 month anniversery so to speak! waiting for charity to come and see us later today and thanks for the advice it seems that apply for all and see where you get too is the way to go

zozot

sorry forgot to answer yes i also have a younger son who is 9

FROSTYFRECKLE

Hi Zozot,

Sorry no advice re benefits but want to point you towards Headway, the UK's brain injury charity.

www.headway.org.uk

Headway runs support groups and can point you in the right direction for rehab. Certain groups give benefits advice, as well. Good luck and best wishes for the future. There will be local group near you. From personal experience they have been life-saving.