out of work benefits

mumnotplusone

Hi, I am new and looking for advice. I am currently going through a separation and am trying to sort out my finances. I have sorted things if my current financial position remains. However I obviously have to look into life insurance, mortgage cover and sickness and critical illness cover.

I urge been dealing with mortgage broker mentioned on main site who also advise on insurance cover however i'm not sure if there would be benefits available to help me if I became sick or critically ill?
Could anyone advise me where i could find such information?
Many thanks in advance.

allen35

There are benefits for illness such as Employment & Support Allowance and Disability Living Allowance.

There are also benefits which can help with mortgage interest payments.

Without knowing your financial position it's hard for anyone to give any guidance.

Take a look at money and benefits section of directgov website.

mumnotplusone

Thank you, I have 2 children, buying family home. Modest income, entitled to wtc and ctc at the moment. Husband will be paying minimum maintenance. Thank you for the advice. Will have a look.
Grateful for anything further.

allen35

Make sure you contact tax credits and cease your joint claim and start a fresh claim as a single parent.

You may be able to use an estimate of your own income for this year to increase your tax credits.

Child maintenance is disregarded for benefits purposes. Visit the CSA website, there's a calculator to which you can base what rates you should be getting depending on husbands current income.

Contact your local authority to receive the 25% reduction in council tax for a single person.

When you change to a single claim ensure you change all bills into your name to avoid problems in the future.

Ask husband to change address with GP/creditors/driving licence/passport etc, once again to avoid possible investigations in the future (you'd be surprised how many people after splitting still allow ex to receive credit cards/loans/mail from the family home once he's left and then be accused of fraud)

Have a look at your budget and remember your bills such as elec', gas, food will decrease as one less adult in the home.

I also urge people to open a credit union account as a top up for life insurance due to paying double savings on death, access to money saved and lower interest loans for emergencies which are also covered by the free insurance.