How best to use redundancy payment

Joan_Gracie

There is a real possibilty that I will be made redundant in the next 8 weeks. The exact payment details haven't been released yet but based on past redundancies could be worse case 11K best case 17k. If it's the best case scenario, added to our 10K savings we could pay of our mortgage. However, this would leave us NO savings. My husband was made redundant last year and has found it impossible to find employment. Therefore we would have no savings and no income but at least we would keep our house. Is this the best option for the money or should we bank it and use it to continue to pay our outgoings in the hope that one of us will find a job in the near future.

LindsayO

I've been asking myself a similar set of questions, only my redundancy money (if it comes to that) would not cover my mortgage. I suppose it depends on a numbr of things, like what you would live if you paid off your mortgage.

Kirri

I'd keep it to use for monthly bills but if you both get to be employed then pay it off

Fash

What would happen if neither get a job and the savings are used up to pay the bills? Would it not make sense to pay off the mortgage? My understanding is that income support would help with the rest of the bills until one of them gets a job?

I'm no expert but I just have this thing that if your house is owned outright no matter how dire your circumstances you still have a roof over your head.

Good luck to you both - I really hope it doesn't come to this and you get jobs soon.
Regards

Joan_Gracie

Thinking along the same lines as Fash. Terrified to use the money to pay bills then, if the cash runs out before we get jobs end up unable to pay the rest of the mortgage, with todays job market being as dire I reckon it would probably be best to err on the side of caution and ensure we keep a roof over our heads.

Will find out the exact job situation next week then I might be able to get a proper nights sleep.........worrying times for everyone in the country (except those at the head of the banks of course).

One thing that really annoys me is how those at the head of the banks can play a major role in bringing the country to it's knees.....repocess people's property then walk away with huge pay outs.......don't know how they can sleep at night !!!!

Fash

I couldn't agree with you more Joan - that's one of the reasons I think I would pay off my mortgage so that I'd not be dependent on them to "help" me if I couldn't make my mortgage payments!

Good luck to you - hope things have been sorted to your satisfaction.
Regards

Joan_Gracie

Thanks for all the replies. Still on tenderhooks waiting to see what is going to happen !

I have another question. The company I work for, although a massive global organisation, have a well deserved reputation for being really underhanded in these situations but no one ever challenges them. The reason for this is that if the internal appeal process fails and you opt for a tribunal they still make you redundant within the timelines theyhave stipulated but with hold the redundunancy payment therfore you have no money to live on until after the hearing. They also threaten that if you go to a tribunal the enhanced package offered will be withdrawn and you will instead get the minimum payment.............. Is all this legal

Kirri

Joan_Gracie wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. Still on tenderhooks waiting to see what is going to happen !

I have another question. The company I work for, although a massive global organisation, have a well deserved reputation for being really underhanded in these situations but no one ever challenges them. The reason for this is that if the internal appeal process fails and you opt for a tribunal they still make you redundant within the timelines theyhave stipulated but with hold the redundunancy payment therfore you have no money to live on until after the hearing. They also threaten that if you go to a tribunal the enhanced package offered will be withdrawn and you will instead get the minimum payment.............. Is all this legal

I'm not sure about withholding the redundancy money - however you can go for a tribunal after leaving and getting the money so by then it's too late for them to withhold it (check the time limits) and I was advised to start tribunal proceedings after I had the letter stating the amount I was to receive as that formed a contract - but they can takeaway the enhanced package IF they get you to sign something, that I've forgotten the name of (get your staff rep if you have one to check the sample redundancy letter to see if that is included) - I looked into this last year.

I went through the appeal and was working for a really well known company and they lied basically and played nasty, they managed the appeal obviously as it was internal but I really thought it would be unbiased, to say I was shocked by the result letter was an understatement - I should have gone for tribunal but decided the stress wasn't going to be worth it.

Valli

Well - do you have mortgage protection insurance?
If you do then don't pay off the mortgage until you get another job.
If your husband is already out of work you should be claiming it anyway.

getmore4less

watch out using your savings and redundancy to pay off the mortgage and then then trying to claim benifits