Possible redundancy....any advice appreciated!

mjc23

Hi,

Hoping someone can give me some advice.

I am 26 years old and have been in a job for 5 years since leaving university, but have only had 1 year contracts at a time. All staff received a letter last week stating company could not afford to give everyone a contract for next year and as we only have about 15 employees on contracts we're not looking forward to it!

My wife gave up work in September as had to start for a family asap for other reasons. Well we are expecting out first next month (both very excited) but as I am the sole bread winner am a bit concerned about finances.

I earn about £26k. Mortgage is about £670 a month and all outgoings total to about £1200 including the mortgage.

Am i entitled to redundancy if worse came to worse?

Also would me and wife be entitled to any financial aid? At the moment we dont receive any benefits and wife cant work as expecting first child next month.

Any help is gratefully received.

Thanks

allen35

You should be entitled to redundancy if you have worked continuously, i have worked for the same organisation on different projects for the past 4 years and yes when my current contract runs it's course i would be entitled to redundancy.

Have you got MPPI, it may be a good idea to start checking your insurance policies to see if there is anything you can claim whilst out of work.

When and if you finish work you will be entitled to claim contribution based Jobseekers Allowance for 6 months regardless of partners income or savings and then income based as long as you have savings less than £16,000 (benefits are reduced from £6,000 upwards at £1 per £250). If you meet the criteria for income based from the outset you should receive a top up as it will be a joint claim, current rates are £105.95 per week and you will receive full council tax benefit and you may apply for assistance with mortgage interest costs after an initial waiting period of 13 weeks.

When your child is born you will be entitled to Child Benefit at £20.30 per week and Child Tax Credits administered by HMRC and you should receive details of these 2 benefits in your bounty pack at the hospital.

if you don't have insurance (MPPI) speak to your mortgage provider as there are schemes where they can help because of your circumstances, they may be able to offer a break in your mortgage payments for up to 12 months.

I hope you are one of the lucky ones who keep their job and if not it isn't long before you are back in work.