Plz help! Not entitled to benefits & kids 2 support?!

marjoriedoor

Thanks so much metalgal - that sums up just how i feel, but have so little energy left its hard to feel anything - never even tried to claim anything before now and yet always hearing of people with this & that who get evrything paid for.. This country is screwy?!

Thanks for the advice - going to spend the week scrubbing my home from top to bottom, put it on the market so hopefully it will sell (heartbreaking as it is).. think a fresh start is in order BUT I will NEVER try and put by for my and my kids futures again - just comes back to bite you when your down (I would have been better off blowing my previous fortune than investing/ going without for the future..) - just doesnt make sense to me.

Thanks so much for your support - off to CAB very soon (and fingers crossed my MP will fight on my behalf) xx

marjoriedoor

Thanks Voyager - will definately try; your post is interesting because all the so-called experts have put me off even trying and have made it sound very black & white?! Will give it a go as I really cant seem to get any work (giving up thinking something is bound to turn up) - thanks again x

suelees1

If you are taking reasonable steps to dispose of your second property it will be disregarded so should not be seen as capital. That is the law but I can't remember the actual regs. you should never have been refused benefits because of this if you were trying to sell at the time you made your claims

I've a feeling caravans aren't classed as capital but even if it was to be considered as such it would be ignored because you owe more than it's worth.

You should be entitled to help towards your current mortgage so ring the Jobcentre and ask for form MI12.

You should also get council tax benefit so put a claim in.

BUT if you're still renting out the second property it will be classed as income so could well stop you becoming entitled to means tested benefits

Vader123

marjoriedoor wrote: »

my main point is that although I have so-say 'equity' in my properties, they are NOT selling at the moment - I would gladly sell if someone would buy,

Sorry, but anything will sell at the right price.

If it is not selling, its too expensive. Lower the price by 25%+ and it will sell.

You are not in a position to hold out for the price you want. As you say, you "need cash".

Vader

suelees1

But then if she sells under value the DWP will decide she's deprived herself of capital....

bezzza

Vader123 wrote: »

Sorry, but anything will sell at the right price.

If it is not selling, its too expensive. Lower the price by 25%+ and it will sell.

You are not in a position to hold out for the price you want. As you say, you "need cash".

Vader

And I would think the company holding the mortgage might have something to say about that too! I had to let my house be repossessed as the mortgage company would not let me sell for less than the outstanding mortgage as they thought I would not be able to offer satisfactory guarantees about how I planned to make up the shortfall - as it has turned out they have sold it for even less than what I was offered originally - now paying £7 a month for the next 282 years!!!!! Knowing my luck I will live long enough to pay it all back LOL Gotta laugh :rotfl:

marjoriedoor

OMG - thanks for all the advice, its good to hear other opinions coz my heads been screwed for so long and just been building up the debt. To clarify - I do still rent out the 2nd property because this brings me 500pm which, together with the tax credits (90ish pw) covers my utility bills, food etc - it is my 1000pm interest only home mortgage (which I fixed for 5 years just before banks collapsed) that I cannot pay - I have been trying to sell my rental property for 4 months now and have reduced the price considerably - it is the cheapest in the area for the number of beds. I was advised by Housing benefit that I could NOT claim - as the equity (approx 20k?) exceeds the 16k savings threshold. When I suggested to them about reducing the market value (putting it on the market for an amount equal to my mortgage) they said they would NOT accept this because it wouldnt reflect its true value - they would only accept it if I instructed a qualified surveyor who then agreed with the valuation?? I said that I thought this was crazy - especially since I had no cash to pay a surveyor - and that I thought it was up to me what I sold it for - they did NOT agree?! If I turf the tenant out, then the only income I can provide (for the time being) for myself is gone and the house is left unoccupied - bear in mind I have had investors look at it who wanted the tenant to stay on but are waiting to sell their assets before being in a position to make an offer (my property is being marketed at a v cheap price).. My instincts tell me it would be wrong to get rid of the tenant in the meantime?

The problem I have with the caravan is that the loan outstanding is 14k and the van is worth 10k, so if I sold that I would be left with debt and no van? This, again, feels wrong to me as I would still need to pay back this loan and my kids lose out yet again..

I LOVE my home but it seems to be the only real asset I have left, as assuming it will sell I should have equity in it as I have done so much work etc on it over the years.. because I have failed to obtain income-related benefits in the form of income support or mortgage interest payments (despite being one of the credit-crunch redundancy victims that the government says it is trying to help) and have needed to cash in all my assets over the past year to pay for my own living costs (ie endowment and ex company pension) plus taken out a bank loan which I now cannot pay back (which I would not have done but I was confident that work would surface before now!) I am left with NO OPTION but to sell my home?

Dont want to repeat myself - but does this seem the only logical way forward for me (I really need to be 100% sure that I have tried everything else first)??

Thanks again - really do appreciate your time/ opinions/ advice.