Friend Husband Left and She's left on her own with 2 kids, advise needed

DX2

calash wrote: »

Just wondered if anyone could help a friend of mine husband left 3 weeks ago, he has no job due to be extremely ill last year and cannot go back for a while, she has been left with 2 kids (4 and 1). At the moment she lives in a council house (which gets paid), and receives a bit of disability benefit, she also gets her council tax paid for.

Does anyone know if she can claim for anything else, its just that she has absolutely nothing to live on

She would be entitled to Income Support, child tax credits, housing benefit and council tax benefit.

Valli wrote: »

If her husband isn't working there'll be not much to come from him but she probably does need to contact the CSA (child support agency) to claim anyway if she is claiming benefits (unless the rules have changed since I was in this situation).

Yes the rules have changed a PWC no longer needs to contact the csa.

dmg24

Valli wrote: »

this was TAX ALLOWANCE (ie an L code was being applied to both sets of wages when one of them should have had an H code.not tax credits...proper tax allowances had not been set againsts income and tax claims can, I believe, go back 7 years...I presume it works both ways!

Tax Credits are a whole different ball game - I have YET to discover (a) how my CTC and WFTC are calcluated and (b) if it's correct!

Yes, I know that. I was explaining that, in the OP's case, she would not be able to get her claim backdated several years.

calash

I have just got off the phone with H&M apparently at the time years ago, they know they made a mistake (I think) and said that on Friday that sent me out a new claim form, so it sounds positive

Yeap my friend still needs help can she must be able to get other benefits being on her own

dmg24

calash wrote: »

I have just got off the phone with H&M apparently at the time years ago, they know they made a mistake (I think) and said that on Friday that sent me out a new claim form, so it sounds positive

Yeap my friend still needs help can she must be able to get other benefits being on her own

That is good news.

If you answer the questions we asked, we may be able to help her!

AnxiousMum

calash wrote: »

But if I haven't claim anything for so long, I would still be paying that off, is that right?

Have you sent in renewal notices each year? If not, they will only backdate it for 3 months - so you will not have been paying it off. It's in your best interest to get in touch with them, file a claim, and start getting the overpayment taken off over a time frame that you can manage. Otherwise, you will go all these years without the tax credit, and still end up with a bill of £6K in overpayments!

pupsicola

I would suggest that she speaks to citizens advice. She can give a trained adviser a clear picture of her exact financial situation and they can tell her what she is entitled to and how to claim it.

She may be able to apply for council tax benefit, income support, child tax credit, carers allowance if the disabilitly living allowance is for one of her children.

Income support would mean she could claim free school meals when the children start school, free prescriptions and dental care.

I wish her alot of luck. I was left on my own with 2 small children around the same age a few years ago. Its terrifying, but their is help available to her.

dmg24

pupsicola wrote: »

I would suggest that she speaks to citizens advice. She can give a trained adviser a clear picture of her exact financial situation and they can tell her what she is entitled to and how to claim it.

She may be able to apply for council tax benefit, income support, child tax credit, carers allowance if the disabilitly living allowance is for one of her children.

Income support would mean she could claim free school meals when the children start school, free prescriptions and dental care.

I wish her alot of luck. I was left on my own with 2 small children around the same age a few years ago. Its terrifying, but their is help available to her.

If she tells us what she is currently receiving we could easily tell her what she is entitled to!

seven-day-weekend

karenx wrote: »

she doesn't have nothing to live on, she has her disability, child benefit and tax credits

And her house paid for.

Although I don't think she is getting Child Tax Credits yet? Also as a single parent maybe she can claim Income Support? (I'm not very well up on Benefits for people with children).

dmg24

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

And her house paid for.

Although I don't think she is getting Child Tax Credits yet? Also as a single parent maybe she can claim Income Support? (I'm not very well up on Benefits for people with children).

We don't know if she is claiming CTC, and her eligibility for IS would depend on what disability benefits she currently receives. The OP went off at a tangent and we never heard anything more of her friend!

sunnyone

dmg24 wrote: »

We don't know if she is claiming CTC, and her eligibility for IS would depend on what disability benefits she currently receives. The OP went off at a tangent and we never heard anything more of her friend!

The kids are 4 and 1 so she can claim IS as a single parent.