They refused ESA please help!!!!!!

crystaljoan

Hi
we are young family with 1 child .i am expecting another one in October.I am working 36 hours a week and my husband is self employed and having bad and good in come on and off.unfortunately on Friday he broke his leg(02/07/2010)he had an operation and being signed off 6 weeks.After going through application for ESA they said he wont get esa as his contribution for ni 2008/2009 was not enough ,with mortgage 2 cars and nursery fees we cant survive august and September .even if they gave us 6 weeks help it will be good.not I am not sure what to do.housing benefits and council tax benefits were only agreed if he receive esa.we don't have savings no personal injury insurance only life.
do you:( think if i pay L200 towards his NI they will do application again or everything is lost.please please time is ticking.
thanx

angel81

Hi

I'm sure someone better informed will be along soon, but paying to top up his NI contributions won't help I'm afraid. The best thing to do is put your details in https://www.entitledto.co.uk to check what benefits you might be entitled to - you may get tax credits etc

Also, post on the debt free wannabe forum to get help cutting back your expenses. For example can you sell one of the cars? Does your child need to go to nursery while your husband if off sick, especially as you will be on maternity soon?

crystaljoan

well

regarding cars we only just bought one 3 weeks ago as my husband need for work he hopes to return it so he will need it.regarding nursery we are getting help with working tax credits etc.the problem is bills etc.

idvi

i dont think there is much you can do for esa - at the end of the day because your house income is too high he doesnt qualify for income based and as you already know, he doesnt qualify for controbution based either


if hes going to probably be okay in just 6 weeks cant you just 'wing it' and try and get by?

if he was to claim esa it would take a few weeks to get the money anyway, and you would only get assessment rate of £65 a week anyway as his claim wouldnt have gone on longer than 13 weeks. housing benefit takes weeks and weeks (7 weeks for me) so by the time youd get it, he'd be back on his feet anyway

it wouldnt be worth claiming for 6 weeks


if you have a high value luxury item like a laptop you could sell it on ebay for an injection of £400 or so - and once hes back to earning a decent wedge he could buy another??

if your already claiming tax credits there isnt much more you can get i dont think

Robbie64

You can't claim Housing Benefit if you have a mortgage.

NASA_2

There is a six week penalty for paying Class 2 NIC's late so by the time the penalty is up he will be fit for work again - in all likelyhood.

nad1611

What a terrible situation to find yourself in and I feel for you especially with a baby on the way. If I were you as there doesn't seem to be much practical help here why not contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS).
Make a list of all your essential expenditure, food clothing shelter rates etc. Match that against your income the surplus is what you can pay your creditors. Although this may seem scary it will help you see exactly where you are. Then get in contact with all your non essential/Creditors and write to them explaining your situation and tell them you can afford to pay them £? a month. Send them a break down of your income and outgoings and explain exactly your situation and when you expect your situation to change.
The CCCS are excellent very sympathetic and very practical, they can look at your finances in a very objective way. As your situation is likely to change I don't know how much they'll do in the long term but they might enable you to see the wood for the trees. Good Luck

KxMx

If he's suffered a broken leg then you'll only need the one car, sell one and you can get by a bit better. Also is he fit enough to do some childcare so you don't have to pay so much in Nursery fees? Maybes a relative could help with that too.

Jowo_2

The Debt Free Wannabee board might be the best place to ask for tips to avoid or manage debt due to your households temporary drop in income since it looks like benefits will not make up the shortfall.

Any chance of the bank granting a temporary overdraft?

Obviously I expect that when he resumes work, it would be wise to sort out some kind of accident/illness insurance and build up your savings since it looks like your household has the potential to go into debt within weeks of your husband stopping employment which shows very little contingency for a rainy day event, not enough enough money in the kitty to last 6 weeks.

Hammyman

He cannot claim contributions based ESA even if you put in the £200 as it is based on the previous financial 2 years and not the current one. He qualifies for income based but would get no money however would get NI credits.

I hope this serves as a cautionary tale for you and your husband stops spending every invoice that gets paid instead of putting some away to cover such eventualities. Had I been in the same boat, there's sufficient in my business to pay me for 6 weeks because I don't spend all the profit.

NASA_2

Hammyman wrote: »

He cannot claim contributions based ESA even if you put in the £200 as it is based on the previous financial 2 years and not the current one. He qualifies for income based but would get no money however would get NI credits.

I hope this serves as a cautionary tale for you and your husband stops spending every invoice that gets paid instead of putting some away to cover such eventualities. Had I been in the same boat, there's sufficient in my business to pay me for 6 weeks because I don't spend all the profit.

That's not entirely correct.

S/E workers can pay their NIC's late in most cases and they can then become entitled to ESA(C). Subject to the six week penalty I mentioned above.