Support for Mortgage Interest Discussion Area

SLS_2

I have been reading this article with great interest. My husband was made redundant in May and we are rapidly coming to the end of our savings in order to stay afloat, we have even had to return one of our cars to the HP company. I work 23.5 hours a week and earn approx £16K per year. We have applied for all the benefits that we can think of and one that we have been turned down for is the govt help with mortgage interest.

My husband is claiming contribution based job seekers allowance (it was decided that this would give him the best income), but as they can only sustain this for 6 months, the last claim will be made in approx 1 months time. A couple of months ago we asked through the benefits line given to us by the Job Centre Plus, if we could apply to claim for the mortgage interest help, but we were told that we did not qualilfy for this as my husband would need to be on income based job seekers allowance. However, we did not qualify for the income based jobseekers allowance because I was working and in order to make the payout from the income based job seekers allowance reasonable, I would need to be earning less than £40.00 per week, and in order to make it worth while, I would need to be earning less than £20.00 per week. Without claiming the income based job seekers allowance, we cannot get help with the mortgage interest payments.

Why does it feel as if we are being told that to be eligable for this help we both need to be unemployed?

dmg24

SLS wrote: »

I have been reading this article with great interest. My husband was made redundant in May and we are rapidly coming to the end of our savings in order to stay afloat, we have even had to return one of our cars to the HP company. I work 23.5 hours a week and earn approx £16K per year. We have applied for all the benefits that we can think of and one that we have been turned down for is the govt help with mortgage interest.

My husband is claiming contribution based job seekers allowance (it was decided that this would give him the best income), but as they can only sustain this for 6 months, the last claim will be made in approx 1 months time. A couple of months ago we asked through the benefits line given to us by the Job Centre Plus, if we could apply to claim for the mortgage interest help, but we were told that we did not qualilfy for this as my husband would need to be on income based job seekers allowance. However, we did not qualify for the income based jobseekers allowance because I was working and in order to make the payout from the income based job seekers allowance reasonable, I would need to be earning less than £40.00 per week, and in order to make it worth while, I would need to be earning less than £20.00 per week. Without claiming the income based job seekers allowance, we cannot get help with the mortgage interest payments.

Why does it feel as if we are being told that to be eligable for this help we both need to be unemployed?

Based on your income, it is very unlikely that you would qualify for SMI. How much is your mortgage amount (minus any additional borrowing)?

SLS_2

Mortgage is 170k - interest alone is nearly £800 per month.... not a lot left for anything else such as bills & food!

Leesmom

Am putting this here to see if anyone can help please.......

How long AFTER the 13 week qualifying period do we need to wait for payments to be made to the mortgage company?

So far we have waited around 9 weeks with still no payments made and even more worryingly recieved a call back finally after many phone calls and was told i couldnt be given any definate date for payments to be made due to increased demand and that people who were recieveing repossession orders were being dealt with as a matter of priority (rightly so in my opinion!) but it makes it extremely difficult for us to negotiate with our mortgage lender as we cannot give any definate dates for payments to commence.

Has anyone got any experienece of dealing with the mortgage support scheme? How can i get them to tell me when payments will be made?
Will payments be back dated to the start of my claim i.e 9 weeks ago?

Getting increasingly worried about the possibilty of repossession now.

Edited to add hubby was made redundant jan 09, myself april 09, have been claiming jobseekers i.b for past 9 weeks, cont based jsa before this for 13 weeks if this helps.

UnhappyofSuffolk

I was getting Working Tax Credit as working for 16 hours a week but in June was told that from July my hours were being cut to just 6 a week and also my ex was made redundent so child maintenance payments stopped. I put in a claim for Income Support at the beginning of July and got a letter saying that I was entitled to a one month run on of Working Tax Credit even though my hours were less that 16 a week, so that my claim for income suppport started in August. I got a letter saying that I could get my mortgage interest paid after 13 weeks. I expected this and my mortgage company said they would wait for this payment to start. I should have got it at the beginning of December but on Wednesday I got a letter from the Benefits agency which said that as I was getting money from Working Tax Credit at the beginning of my claim I could not get the mortgage interest for 39 weeks not 13 weeks as they previously stated. They also said that it is the current law that says payment for mortgage interest is paid after 39 weeks. I rang them straight away and the lady told me that this was a government loop hole to stop them paying out after 13 weeks. I have looked at all the web sites and they all say that the new rules say you can get it after 13 weeks. I have put in an appeal but dont hold out much hope. Has anyone else been told this?

Ays_2

My query is slightly diffrent but has to do with this. My daughter and me had a joint mortgage on my main residence and she was the one working and paying for half the mortgage and i would with my benefits as i have 4 kids but recently my daughter has purchased her own property to live at with her husband and is not paying mortgage any longer with me and has taken name of the mortgage. I know cant pay this on my own so am i entiteld to any benefits please let me know ASAP....

[Deleted User]

this years pre-budget statement will be next weds 9th dec,if he wanted the chancellor could return smi to what it should be and thats 1.58%.Hopefully he will see sense and keep it somewhere nearer 5%

dmg24

Ays wrote: »

My query is slightly diffrent but has to do with this. My daughter and me had a joint mortgage on my main residence and she was the one working and paying for half the mortgage and i would with my benefits as i have 4 kids but recently my daughter has purchased her own property to live at with her husband and is not paying mortgage any longer with me and has taken name of the mortgage. I know cant pay this on my own so am i entiteld to any benefits please let me know ASAP....

Are you already in receipt of SMI for your half of the mortgage? How has she taken her name off the mortgage - the bank will not do this without checking that you could afford to pay the full amount?

themusicliveson

I was made redundant august 2008.
I thought my protection was covered if I was out of work .
I notified the Jobcentreplus about everything.
I put a claim in almost straight away in aug 08 and had to wait 39weeks to get anything.
I have just read it is for 2 years only. I did put a claim in right away but had to wait. So will this 2 years include myself even if i did put a claim in 2008 and had to wait til 09 for it to start.
Im just so confused.
My wife is worried about the whole situation as we have a young child.
Any help or support would be grateful.
J

andy_12_2

Hi there!

Do you need to be in mortgage arrears to claim SMI?
We are struggling to make our monthly mortgage repayments but are trying our best not to go into arrears. We are struggling as my wife lost her job due to illness. She is currently applying for ESA.
We've moved in with parents (to save money) and are considering letting our property out, as there is no chance we'll sell it at present.

Is she gets ESA, could we claim for SMI?
Your advice would be greatly appreciated!
Andy