can i claim financial hardship yet?

mattalex2008

hi all
sorry if i haven't done this right it is my first time posting.
to cut a long story short,the halifax have just charged me £196 for going £12 overdrawn. couple of transactions.
i was made redundant from woolworths in jan,tho i was om mat leave being paid mat allowance from job centre plus.
just sent the letter off this sight to halifax, and got the bog standard reply.then looking at the financial hardship route,i wondered if i qualified yet? i can send them my redundancy details but i have 1 more maternity payment to come in july. do i wait till then or apply now?
reason i'm asking is they have taken it all out this month leaving me to support 2 children on £200 in child benefit and tax credit, for the month,and bills to pay, and expect me not to go overdrawn again.
my mat allowance pay is only £200 for 4 weeks so i was struggling anyway.
can anyone advise me on whether to wait until after my last payment in july or go for it now?
thanks in advance.
mattalex2008. x x x

ally663

Hi, have a look at the bills you say you need to pay. Are any of these things like rent/mortgage/council arrears, council tax, court fines, electricity bills. What they will be looking for is what they call priority debts, priority debts beings things that can cause you significant hardship. for example accomodation arrears - you could be made homeless, electricity arrears - you could be cut off. (Water arrears do not count as they cannot cut you off anymore), council tax arrears - bailiffs and in extreme cases prison. This is the sort of thing I am told they are looking for. As well as priority debts they will be looking for a sufficient shortfall between income and expenditure. I dont know where you stand with not having a claim in place before everything was put on hold. maybe there will be someone else along to check I have the above correct and clarify your position with the claim process. All the best.