Please advice?

lily-ella

Hello, I hope someone can help me. My partner has left me, leaving me with the rent to pay which is £500 and all the bills etc, he has moved out, leaving me with nothing. I have a 3 year old, and only earn £140 a month working part time. What can I do to pay the rent? and its christmas too so all the offices will be closed. We had a joint tax credit claim, so I presume they will cancel that and Ill have to claim again on my own? We do get some housing benefit (about £50 a month) but I think thats in his name. Will I have to make a fresh claim?
I really dont know what to do right now, I cant ask anyone for money. The rent is due in roughly 2 weeks, Im right royally freaking out :eek:
Thank you for reading.

kelloggs36

You need to get down to the Council ASAP and make a new claim for HB in your name only which will be more as you earn a low wage. Also, ring up the Tax credit office ASAP and explain your change in circumstances. If you explain to the HB your situation they will be sympathetic, but they can't perform miracles and get a payment out superquick. Contact the CSA aswell, I know they are notoriously difficult, but if your ex works, he will be liable to pay 15% of his net income to you which will help too.

I am so sorry that this is happening to you at Christmas - my thoughts are with you.

kelloggs36

Oh, and Council Tax benefits too!

kelloggs36

There won't be anything you can do until Wednesday - they will be open then as both Christmas and Boxing days are weekdays and so are Bank holidays, which is better than if they fall at the weekend when the next 2 days are bank holidays to compensate! The only thing I can suggest for the immediate, is to ask your family (assuming you have any) to help you out either directly by lending you some money, or by allowing you and your child to stay with them for a few days? Honestly, whilst it may feel like it at the moment, the situation will be resolved and it isn't the end of the world. I have been in similar situation a few years ago, and when I look back I realise that it wasn't as drastic as I thought. Yes it feels desparate now because you can't sort it immediately, but you will in the end. Good Luckxxxx

cattie

Oh what a terrible situation to find yourself in. My ex husband did the same to me many years ago when my son was 3yrs old.

As others have mentioned, as soon as council & dwp offices are openend on Tuesday, get in touch. Many offices will be running on reduced staff levels, so you may have to hang on for a while if phoning.

It's possible you can ask for a crisis loan from the dwp to see you over if you qualify for income support or another means tested benefit.

Good luck anyway & don't let this ruin Christmas completely for you & your child. You are of prime importance to each other.

djdido2

hi there

sorry for whats happpened to you (((hugs))). sounds easy for others to say but try not to worry too much as a lone parent you will get the help you need albeit it may take a good few weeks to sort out.


you'll do ok on your own. been there and done it myself. so if you ever need a chat just PM me.

take care

xx
dj

lily-ella

Thank you all so much for replying. Im touched that you have helped me, now I know what to do. Merry Christmas to you all.
Going to get my butt down to the council on tues.
Thanks again
Lily xx

PS. Im at my parents now

rosysparkle

They might still be closed on Tuesday, Lily-Ella.

You'll need to close joint claims and open new claims for you and your child. make sure you claim everything to which you are entitled so that you can get back on your feet.

Hope you are OK, if it's any comfort my ex left me with four small children and very little money. I didn't know where to turn and I thought I'd never be happy again. That was almost six years ago. Now i'm happy and financially secure and the kids even have a good relationship with their father.

real1314

If he left yesterday, MAKE SURE you ask for your claims to be taken from today! Put the reason as "due to the office being closed I want my claim to be taken from Sunday 24/12/06". This will ensure your HB kicks in from monday, otherwise you'll lose out by a week and it will be taken from next monday. Same goes for CTB, also do the same with Tax Credits. They're all closed mon and tues, some of them weds as well.
If you work less than 16 hours per week, you'll be able to claim Income Support (IS)- contact your local jobcentre for this - if you do over 16 hrs per week you can claim Working Tax Credit (WTC).

Bear in mind that HB is paid 4 weeks in arrears, but your rent is probably monthly in advance. You may run into problems with this - don;t know if your council might be able to help or possibly a social fund loan if you claim IS?

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi

Im sorry to hear of your situation. Do you have somewhere to go over Xmas so that you have some company or people to talk too? Has he left you with any money?

If there are any immediate concerns regarding the children (not enough food etc) then your local council will have an emergency number for social servics, whom will normally help out in these circumstances.

Contact all relevant people (DWP, HB, CTB, CB, Tax Credits etc) as soon as possible.

I hope things improve for you.

Hugs

PP
xx

looby75

I haven't got any advice to add to what's already been given here but I just wanted to send my best wishes and a (((hugs)))

I'm so sorry you are going through this over Christmas, it's a horrible thing for your partner to do. My ex left me just after Christmas 3 years ago, it's hard and I thought I would never get over it but I'm getting there, chin up and I hope despite it all you still manage to have at least a bit of a merry Christmas.