Looking for some advice

Buggles

Hi,

I'm just looking for some non-judgemental advice please.

My mum, aged 50, is really health-wise. For around 3 years she has been suffering with a bad back and bad neck. The doctors didn't/don't know what caused it. She also has frozen shoulder in her left shoulder, which means she does most things with her right arm, which now means that one has started to play up. Just before Christmas, she fell at work and her back and neck are worse than ever. She had an x-ray on her neck and has discovered she has a crushed vertibrate. The doctor cant say whether it was caused by the fall at work (it was works fault, she fell on a piece of apple that had squashed into the ground - she works in a supermarket)

She works on the check-outs which mean she is constantly moving her neck/twisting her back left-right-left-right (you get the picture) to scan things through. She is in tears most nights from the agony, dreads going in in the morning etc. I hate seeing her like this. She is desperately looking for another job, but being 50, is struggling. She has tried other departments but struggles just the same.

She is seriously considering just giving up work until she can find something else. She wants to leave before she is sacked (she's had quite a lot of time off due to her back/neck/shoulder). The only problem is money. I'm currently unemployed myself and on jobseekers. We get a small amount of housing benefit.

Firstly, would my mum be entitled to jobseekers if she gave up work voluntarily? What if she was sacked?

Secondly, presumably housing benefit would pay the full rent if neither of us was working? Same with council tax?

Neither of us are proud to be on benefits, but some things cant be controlled.

We both truly believe if she could have 3 months with no work, her health would improve drastically.

Aarons_mummy

From what I have read on here, leaving a job voluntarily means she could be denied JSA for up to 26 weeks, although I'm sure I read somewhere that if a doctor could provide a note saying that the job is detrimental to her health then she could claim (I don't know this for fact, just what I've read on other threads). I'm not sure how it works if she was sacked.

Rent may be paid if you are in council it would be full (I think) LHA would pay the highest rate for her needs (ie children etc so she wouldn't get a 4 bed private rent paid for if she was just herself - as an example). Council tax I believe would be paid for as well.

Hope someone else comes along soon and can clarify the correct information.

DX2

If she is too ill to work then she should claim employment and support allowance not jobseekers.http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/esa/index.htm