everything is happening at once with car but can't afford a new one

dueinnovember

You could say we have been well and truly hit with the credit crunch! Everything has gone wrong and cost us this year(washing machine, freezer, patio windows, car to name a few!) and whilst we're not in mega debt, it's more than I want to be (about £2500 between us.) My partner has been temporarily laid off which means not required to go into work, therefore not entitled to any pay. So we have to twiddle our thumbs for four weeks whilst company decides to offer redundancy or take him back. I'm also having a baby in November and will be receiving £400 a month mat pay and apart from everything else that has gone wrong and cost us, my 2002 peugeot 206 had a service in june costing £200, then the exhaust fell off, then the engine coil went and had to be replaced, then the injector seal went, then there was a fuel leak, then the exhaust was blowing, then the exhaust broke again, then failed it's mot and now it needs a new catalyct (sp?) converter! The amount its costing me, I may aswell get a new car-and before anyone suggests a car is a luxury, I work at an airport that has very poor transport links particularly at unsociable hours, not to mention my amount of luggage when I go away, so a car is a must for us! Problem is with no income from him at present and me on £400 soon, what on earth can I do? I don't need all this stress with a baby in 5 weeks-advice would be appreciated!:mad:

pulliptears

I feel your pain

We have an 04 PT Cruiser Diesel, bought from new and its just hit 90k and seems like everything is going wrong at once. My instant reaction was "lets get rid now" but as OH points out we know the car, we know its been looked after and serviced etc and we could end up buying something much worse as we can't afford to buy new.

Paradigm

First things first, your other half needs to get down to the jobcentre/DWP & check what he's entitled to, if he's laid off for 4 weeks with no money he can claim... won't be a fortune but it's better than sod all!

As for the car, if you had a new exhaust fitted in june then take it back & get them to fix it, it should last more than 3 months!

I got an aftermarket cat for my Audi for £75 a couple of months ago, shop around

Just_Incredible

You do know that you can service your car yourself for a fraction of the £200 you spent

if you purchased a new exhaust system, it should have come with warranty, so if it failed your entitled for a new one

engine coil is easy enough to pick up and replace yourself

dueinnovember

Not sure how I could service car myself knowing sod all about them! I have been looking and it would appear a cat is gonna cost around the £150-£200 mark, but then what else will go wrong?! As for the temp lay off, we're not entitled to anything-it's like forced unpaid leave. As he is still contracted and employed by the company, they literally have us over a barrel. He can't claim anything and he doesn't ideally want to leave and miss out on 9 yrs redundancy.
To be fair, the last exhaust issue, they didn't charge me for. It's just one thing after another! Cheers for replies guys, we'll figure something out I'm sure!

Paradigm

dueinnovember wrote: »

As for the temp lay off, we're not entitled to anything-it's like forced unpaid leave. As he is still contracted and employed by the company, they literally have us over a barrel. He can't claim anything

I would like to know who told you that? Pretty sure it's wrong. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Understandingyourworkstatus/Temporarylayoff/DG_10026693

Wig

After reading that from paradigm's direct.gov link

If you are laid off whilst still under contract, (and his employer is not contracted to pay full pay or reduced pay) he is entitled to a maximum of about £107 per week "Statutory Guaranteed pay" from his employer, which is treated as "earnings" for the purposes of a jobseekers allowance claim. He can claim jobseekers allowance on the phone no. 0800 0556688. I do know that one of the questions is
"have you been laid off/on short time working or temporarily stopped from work?" Ask on our MSE benefits board for more advise on how to answer that question.

He will recieve JSA at the couples rate approx £101 per week, but his "gauranteed pay" will affect this amount and he will only be allowed to keep the first £10.00 per week of his JSA allowance. making a total per week for him of £117.00

Confirm all of this on the MSE benefits board. You also need to know if your Maternity allowance would affect a claim for JSA -when you start to recieve the MA.

And of course, contact the council for a council tax benefit claim form and if you rent, contact the council for a housing benefit claim form.

Also if you have any children already, you should be claiming child benefit and child tax credits.

Paradigm

Wig wrote: »

After reading that from paradigm direct.gov

If you are laid off whilst still under contract, he is entitled to a maximum of about £105 per week "guaranteed pay" from his employer, which is treated as "earnings" for the purposes of a jobseekers allowance claim. He can claim jobseekers allowance on the phone no. 0800 0556688. I do know that one of the questions is
"have you been laid off/on short time working or temporarily stopped from work?" Ask on our MSE benefits board for more advise on how to answer that question.

He will recieve JSA at the couples rate approx £101 per week, but his "gauranteed pay" will affect this amount and he will only be allowed to keep the first £10.00 per week of his JSA allowance. making a total per week for him of £115.00

Confirm all of this on the MSE benefits board. You also need to know if your Maternity allowance would affect a claim for JSA.

And of course, contact the council for a council tax benefit claim form and if you rent, contact the council for a housing benefit claim form.

Also if you have any children already, you should be claiming child benefit and child tax credits.

Yep Nicely done Wig

vaio

Yep, nicely done Wig, and the extra money will sort the car too so not even off topic :T :T :T

anewman

So the place that gave it a service missed the fact some exhaust hangers which cost pennies and take a minute or two to replace weren't at their best, and the exhaust fell off