Need advice on what benefits to apply for

chicchac49

My husband will very shortly be having a bone marrow transplant and will need a year off work for all the treatment involved. I do agency work, so my hours vary, but will not be able to work as many hours whilst taking my husband in and out of hospital. He did not have a life insurance policy, and we were just about managing financially as it was before this. We don't have any children, but we do have a mortgage to pay. Neither of us has ever claimed benefits before, so would be grateful for any advice as how to proceed.

Sam____2

Will he be getting any kind of pay from his employer whilst he's off?

Indie_Kid

How old are you both/ Savings over 6k and savings over 16k?

GlasweJen

I would say ESA for starters, this can be contribution based if your partner has worked for the last 2 years (so this version doesn't depend on your income or any savings), income based ESA does take your earnings into account.

If your partner has care/mobility needs for 3 months (and expected to have them for another 6 months) he could claim DLA.

I don't want to sound insensitive but if your partner has cancer you should ask to speak to a macmillan nurse, they are very knowledgable with the benefits side of this illness. Failing that welfare rights at the local council will be able to help.

Sam____2

It sounds like he will still be employed but taking time off to recover, so it really depends on what kind of payments if any he will get from his current employer whilst he's off. I don't think there will be anything the OP herself can claim benefits wise as she's able to work. the average recovery time for bone marrow transplant is 6 to 8 months so I don't think DLA will be paid either.

chicchac49

My husband is 45, and will not be getting anything from his employer - just statutory sick pay.

chicchac49

I'm 36 and my husband is 45. We don't have £6000 savings between us. He will only get SSP, and nothing extra from his employer. Thanks for replying.

chicchac49

Sorry, what is ESA?

Sam____2

If he's getting SSP then he won't be able to claim ESA as well (Employment Support ALlowance) SSP is £79.15 a week.
That means as your not on any income based benefits you can't claim SMI (Support for Mortgage interest)
I think your only alternative is to try and work as much as you can and ask family and friends to help with hospital trips etc.
For benefits purposes you can't really claim anything if your not looking for work and not ill or disabled.

GlasweJen

Hmm, SSP disqualifies you from claiming ESA.

If you're on a low income with no savings you should get an HC1 form from your local pharmacy/optician/doctor/jobcentre. Fill this out and you may get help towards travel to your nearest hospital (you take receipts and your HC2 certificate to the hospital reception and they'd help you from there). Different hospitals have different rules on what they'll refund so check with the hospital before going to see how much you'd get back.

chicchac49

Thanks very much for the advise. I do agency work for the NHS, and it is getting increasingly difficult to find enough shifts/ hours. If If I can't get more than say 15 hours work per week, would this alter anything in terms of possible finacial assistance?