Breakdown of marriage

elaina79

My husband has decided that he wants to leave. We live in a private rent house and have 3 children.
I have been told that I have autoimmune disease which is causing me alot of pain and fatigue. I am having treatment finally but life is going to be alot tougher bringing up 3 children on my own.

I'm not sure if there is any help that I can get to make things more managable for me.

We also need to sort out our finances.
Currently we get;
CB
CTC
IS
DLA (hubby)
CA (me)
LHA

When he leaves obviously I will stop my CA claim. So I will then take over the claims for the CB, CTC, LHA, IS.
Given my health I have been thinking about putting in a claim for DLA, would I also be able to claim IB or ESA as it now is.

DX2

Your current IS award is a carer premium and since you won't be claiming CA you won't get the IS.

You can claim IS as a lone parent depending on the age of the children, however I would probably suggest you apply for ESA.

nad1611

HI First I just wanted to say how I feel for you my children were very young when I became ill and I couldn't have coped without my husband, so my thoughts are with you. Anyway yes I receive both DLA and Incapacity Benefit. DLA is not counted when considering CB or CTC etc. As you say a new claim would be ESA. Which of you gets the IS then.

Furthermore, when I became ill I had at school 7 and 9 and one about 2, my health visitor put me in touch with Social Services who arranged for my youngest daughter to have a couple of days subsidised at a locak nursery, giving me time to rest and go to appts etc.So I would certainly contact your GP and Health visitor and let them know the situation, better to get a few things into place so that you feel supported. I'm sure someone else will be able to tell you exactly what you need to hear, so good luck.

elaina79

DX2 wrote: »

Your current IS award is a carer premium and since you won't be claiming CA you won't get the IS.

You can claim IS as a lone parent depending on the age of the children, however I would probably suggest you apply for ESA.

What would be the difference between claiming IS or ESA. At the moment I claim IS as I'm classed as a carer. If I was awarded DLA in the future would this have an effect on the ESA rate as it does on the IS rate.

elaina79

nad1611 wrote: »

HI First I just wanted to say how I feel for you my children were very young when I became ill and I couldn't have coped without my husband, so my thoughts are with you. Anyway yes I receive both DLA and Incapacity Benefit. DLA is not counted when considering CB or CTC etc. As you say a new claim would be ESA. Which of you gets the IS then.

Furthermore, when I became ill I had at school 7 and 9 and one about 2, my health visitor put me in touch with Social Services who arranged for my youngest daughter to have a couple of days subsidised at a locak nursery, giving me time to rest and go to appts etc.So I would certainly contact your GP and Health visitor and let them know the situation, better to get a few things into place so that you feel supported. I'm sure someone else will be able to tell you exactly what you need to hear, so good luck.

Thank you.

I did rely on my husband alot but he cannot cope with me being ill anymore.

I never thought about going to my health visitor I will try that. My children are 7,6 and 17 months. That was my biggest worry was trying to get to my appointments. Its taken over a year to get the referal I needed and I dont want to miss any appointments.

dmg24

OP, on a thread yesterday you pointed out that some of us had a misunderstanding of LHA, but did not elaborate. Would it be possible to update that thread please, so we can check if we really are mistaken?

elaina79

dmg24 wrote: »

OP, on a thread yesterday you pointed out that some of us had a misunderstanding of LHA, but did not elaborate. Would it be possible to update that thread please, so we can check if we really are mistaken?

I can bearly remember what I did this morning let alone yesterday.:o

I'm a bit muddled at the moment:(

nad1611

elaina79 wrote: »

Thank you.

I did rely on my husband alot but he cannot cope with me being ill anymore.

I never thought about going to my health visitor I will try that. My children are 7,6 and 17 months. That was my biggest worry was trying to get to my appointments. Its taken over a year to get the referal I needed and I dont want to miss any appointments.

The more people you get involved in this early stage the better you'll be at coping and your children won't be too affected by the changes. As difficult as it can be sometimes you have to swallow your pride and accept what's on offer, more often or not you have to find things out for yourself. As said the more you're able to find support now you'll find you cope with the illness side of things that much better.

Might also be worth asking your Consultant if there are any support groups attached to your type of auto immune disease, you never know they may be able to help too.

I believe I'm right in saying DLA won't have any impact on ESA.

Indie_Kid

nad1611 wrote: »

I believe I'm right in saying DLA won't have any impact on ESA.

DLA is ignored when it comes to income based benefits. However, DLA does give you disability premiums within income based benefits.

nad1611

sh1305 wrote: »

DLA is ignored when it comes to income based benefits. However, DLA does give you disability premiums within income based benefits.

I think those premiums only apply if you're receving the Higher rate care component and not the Higher rate mobility.

elaina79

nad1611 wrote: »

I think those premiums only apply if you're receving the Higher rate care component and not the Higher rate mobility.

We get the premiums on LHA and IS at the moment with husbands DLA, he gets MRC, LRM.

So if I for example got the same rate for DLA would I get the premium with the ESA.

I'm trying not to uproot the kids so I really want to keep things as normal as i can for them.