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RAS

minnie

I will post a link in a minute from another forum that has a guide to economic abuse.

in the mean-time I would aks you and your sister to think on the following:

1. At the point when her BF realises she is leaving, she is at far more risk of violence than at any other time; not only immediately before but after she leaves. Are you sure that you can keep her, the child and yourself totally safe if he comes for her? If she really thinks that is the case, then she may be better getting an oder banning him from the house and staying there in the short-term. She can them claim help with the mortgage.

2. If she goes into a hostel, they will help her obtain council housing and benefit. As the joint owner of an existing property, she will not be entitled normally to either.

RAS

Minnie

Please read this: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1276963 guide to help in domestic violence situations.

Loopy_Girl

Well there must be a reason for it I guess

As Caz has said, she could move in with you and get lone parent benefits. She could also then make a move to getting a job and all the while be saving hard so that she has the rent and deposit for a place.

If she is point blank refusing to go to a hostel then that is her only option by the looks of it

Pigletto

Ok, you seem a bit confused.

Your sister can move in with you at any time. However, she won't be able to claim Housing Benefit while living with you. This is due to people living with a close relative not being entitled to HB and nothing to do with her personal situation.

You do have to have a tenancy before you can claim HB as they need to have proof that the person is a tenant and what rent they will be paying, etc. In can be hard to get a private tenancy if you will need to be on Housing Benefit but there are a lot of people who do rent privately and are on Benefits.

She will need to have the money for a deposit and the 1st month's rent as any landlord will ask for this money to be paid when the tenancy agreement is signed (before the tenant) moves in. She could always stay with you, get a job/claim the benefits she is entitled to and then save up the money needed. Also, some Councils run a deposit loan scheme for people who are on a low income. It would be worth her while speaking to someone in the Council's Homeless dept to see if there are any schemes or help that they can give. There is more they could be able to help her with (like some have lists of landlords in the local area that take on HB claimants) than just putting her in B&B or a hostel.

Edited to say: She really does need to get some advice from Women's Aid or somewhere else with a lot of experience in dealing with people coming out of an abusive relationship. Joint finances like mortgages can take awhile to sort usually never mind when the ex-partner may be unco-operative as this guy will surely be. Especially as her half owning a house will affect many means tested beneftis.

Pigletto

It's good she has someone to support her.

Jowo_2

minnie123 wrote: »

I understand what you are saying but I know she won't go into a hostel. And I don't see why she should have to when she can come to me - it makes no sense.

There are other options than a hostel. Of course she can live with you (she can't claim HB while living in the same property as a landlord who is a close relative) but can receive other benefits.

Local councils often have temporary accommodation with private landlords or social housing available to those in high priority need, about to be homeless or with children or fleeing domestic abuse (which doesn't mean just victims of physical violence as it's a lot broader than that).

If you want to help her into private accommodation, she'll need a months rent in advance and a deposit of around a months rent, plus perhaps agency fees and moving fees. The LHA Direct website will indicate the current rates for a property in the areas she is considering. Some landlords who offer accommodation to LHA tenants require a guarantor, someone who can pay the rent if the tenant defaults. Some local councils run deposit guarantee schemes for those in housing need/low income or may have a list of LHA friendly landlords.

The turn2us website is an online benefit calculator which will help you to find out her entitlements.

It is such a slog to understand the complexity of benefits, her rights and so on, this is why an organisations like Womens Aid and Shelter are invaluable - they have expert knowledge and can help facilitate her transition into single parenthood and make her aware of options you may both not know exist.

Under statutory law, the local council housing department is obliged to help her but they sometimes have the reputation of not meeting their responsibilities (due to scarce resources, lack of training etc) so that's why WA is such a good interface, in case the council try to wriggle out of offering her advice and potentially offering her housing.

Loopy_Girl

minnie123 wrote: »

Thankyou very much - Does anybody now when she has left if she gets a part time job will she be able to claim for any childcare.

Providing her childcare is through a registered source then she will get help towards her childcare through her tax credits.

AsknAnswer2

She can make a claim for HB up to 13 weeks in advance if she knows she is going to be moving to a new address, but no money will be physically paid until she moves. See Claiming in advance, here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018926

She can apply for a bond scheme. This is a scheme to help people secure a tenancy in the form of either providing a deposit or a gurantee.

If she is fleeing domestic abuse (and domestic abuse is not restricted to physical violence) she could apply for a community care grant if she is in receipt of certain benefits, in order to furnish the property but is not likely to be given priority unless there is evidence of a support plan for the purpose of fleeing domestic violence - such as involvement from Women's Aid/Refuge. She doesn't have to go into a hostel or refuge to get help from them. They do a lot of work providing support to people even where they are still living with the perpetrator and even where they have left the perpetrator several years before.

Once she has been receiving income support for more than 26 weeks, she would be eligible for a budgeting loan. She can apply for a budgeting loan for rent in advance, but not for a deposit. The maximum amount she could get as things stand at the moment for a budgeting loan is £812. That could change though.

divastrop

I just want to add that in over 10 years of renting privately on and off whilst in receipt of benefits I have never had to pay rent in advance. This could be down to where I live ; there are a lot of people who are entitled to some housing benefit and the council do process claims relatively quickly, but I have only ever had to find the deposit and admin fees for private rentals as HB is backdated to the first day of the tenancy.

I can understand your sister not wanting to go into a hostel, besides, there are not as many of them as there used to be. However, as many posters have pointed out womens aid and shelter will help regardless of whether she goes into a hostel. It is widely accepted now that domestic abuse is not just physical. Although your sister may believe that her partner is a good father and should remain in contact with the child, it is worth thinking about the effect the emotional abuse would have had on her and whether he really is a 'good father'- is he really considering his daughters needs by behaving this way?

pupsicola

Im so sorry to hear of the situation your sister is in. I left an extremely abusive relationship 4 years ago after suffering mental and physical abuse. The abuse you are describing is very typical behaviour of a control freak and it will only get worse. Effectively your sister is being cut off both financially and emotionally from normal life. This is exactlyI how her partner wants her to feel. It is an extremely frightening position to find yourself in and you can feel like you have no option but to struggle on and put up with living that way.

It took for the police to tell me that I was on their highest level of risk, that they were putting our house on immediate response and to get away from him with the kids or we would all be dead within weeks for me to see clearly.

No matter what the financial situation you never want to get to that point. Your sister will be surprised at how much support is available to her. My financial situation was rather different to your sisters but she will be able to cope. As her child is so young she will be in contact with a health visitor and they can put her in contact with all kinds of organisations to help protect them both.

I approached a solicitor and was surprised at where the law stood on abusive individuals like my ex (cant refer to him as a person after all he did).

I would also advise her to speak to CAB. I hope I haven't upset you with this post but alarm bells rang as soon as I read your post and your sister urgently needs help.