please can u help me help my mum?

jo1972

Just wanted to send you best wishes and hugs, you have been through an awful time and your poor mum, I really feel for her. Good for you helping her, I hope your Christmas is a good one xx

Wannabedebtfree

Cloverfan

My deepest sympathy for you and your family.

I am going to assume that the mortgage and secured loan would have had some type of life insurance attached, so that would need to be one of the long list of priority things to find as this in theory will cover the mortgage etc. Also speak to the bank about the life insurance that they have arranged.

Speak to the companies explaining the situation, and hopefully they will be able to explain the usage, and in theory be able to provide previous consumption figures, and suggest ways forward etc.

Direct Gov

Also look at the direct gov website for any assistance that may be available.

You will all come out the other side, I can't say how long that will take, but it will become a little easier with time.

My families and my thoughts are with you this christmas x

CRANKY40

Sorry for your loss. Due to my own personal circumstances, I have the phone number for the bereavement allowance office if you want to chase them up. It's 0845 6088602. Your mum may qualify for the one off bereavement payment of £2000 also. Will the life assurance pay off your mum's mortgage? It seems quite high. My husband was an electrician, working with high voltage electrics, and I'm asthmatic. Our combined insurance on a mortgage of £80K was £52.79 per month. Now there is just me, it's £13 p/mth.

QueenBeruthiel

Cloverfan, I am sorry for your trouble. Generally, when one party to a joint mortgage dies, there is life assurance attached which pays off the rest. I would make checked this out a priority, busy and upset as you must be, as it would make a huge difference to your mother's situation. More - if she wants to sell the house she will have to establish title to the property.

Your local Welfare Rights Service should be able to assist and advice. Check your local council's website.

Oneday77

Hi Cloverfan,
I am really sorry to hear about your dad it is never easy but time is a great healer. It will be hard but by the sounds of it your family is very supportive of each other and you will get through it. You will be given nothing but support from here
Just a few things from your SoA to add an extra voice. The utilities do seem high and it would be worth contacting them all to give you actaul usage over the last year. I reckon the monthly payments just need adjusted.
You have life assurance down as £70pm if you mum is paying that then your dad will have been paying one as well, I suspect the £70 is actually for both of them. With it all being a shock has your mum approached the Life Insurance for a payout. This will pay off the mortgage and possibly leave her a sum over that too, she can use towards clearing debts.
Make sure your mum is claiming council tax benefits for your sister, I know £41 is low but that still maybe reduced by 25% as I think you mum will qualify for single persons rate.
What kind of pension was your dad getting, some are transferable to spouses, worth looking into this. If you mum is also your sister's carer she is possibly due a carers allowance. Even mobility allowance, dependent on your sisters disability, doesn't have to be used for a car it can be claimed for getting travel for your sister.
Make sure you use the entitled too link posted above.
There will be a way for your mum to carry on through this, just look down every possibile alley for help. There are lots of MSE's hiding

MrsTinks

I would suggest your mum tries to get an appointment with CAB...
Also get her to check the mortgage insurance policy etc and if she should be getting a widows pension or something from your dads pension?
The life insurance she has seems grossly expensive - usually you should NEVER buy these from a bank or the mortgage provider as they as far as I know never work out either cheapest OR good value for money...

MrsTinks

Oh and the water definitely seems wrong - can you help her check her water meter? We're 2 adults and a baby and we both have a shower and sometimes a bath a day - not to mention washing for 3 people, dishwasher etc all adds up. My monthly water cost (and this has been over 2 years steady now) is about £11 a month... So definitely check that!
Again get readings for the electricity meter too and check that!

MarsdenCuckoo

Sincere condolences from me too; not an easy time for you all.

Sure others have already mentioned but if you ring your Mum's local Benefits Office you will hopefully find they are very helpful. Your Mum may be entitled to lots of things that never occurred to you or her. For those in true need then the UK is a good place to be - least that's what I found last year when I had a similar personal experience. I didn't have a clue but found my way, eventually, through the mist of it all.

Widow's pension, carer's allowance, pension credit, bereavement allowance, etc. - all very complicated to the layman but the knack is to 'click' into whichever one is most appropriate and then a lot of other benefits follow. You'll be asked some very personal financial questions but once the details are provided then, hopefully, things will get easier.

Good luck.

RAS

cloverfan

Sorry to hear about your situation. You have some excellent advice above.
First thing I would say is not to do anything too hasty. Certainly mum need to find out what extra help she can get in different ways. One thing would be to check www.entitledto.com and maybe contact Cruise to see if they can help her identify extra benefts.

The second point is that you have listed £70 worth of life insurance but mum is still paying the mortgage? I am very surprised hat neither dad's pension fund or his life insurance have paid out enought to cover the mortgage.

So you need to go to the bank who organised the life insurance and to his pension fund and find out what lump sums are due.