A bit of advice Re. Redundancy

Legacy_user

It is expected on Thursday that my husband will be made redundant. As far as i am aware he will get his redundacy pay plus any money due to him as holiday pay. He has worked there 3 years so i am assuming it wont be great deal though we are not sure what he will be getting (he's only ever been made redundant 3 times in his life and he is in his late 40s now).

The plan he had was to put all his redundancy, sell his car, and what he can to pay off his £12k loan but thats where i come unstuck. I'm not sure DHSS will expect him to live on this amount before he can claim anything in the way of council benefit, benefits for myself and our 15 year old son. Obviously if they wont allow him anything due to the redundancy money he wont be able to pay off his loan and he will most likely have to go bankrupt or something.

I know its like asking how long is a peice of string but does anyone have a rough guide as how much we will be entitled to? We wont be needing to claim housing benefit as the house is mine and has no mortgage on it (the loan isnt secured on the house thankfully) and we have no health issues so i am presuming it will be a fairly straightforward case.

EconomicsGirl

Sorry to hear about your husband's redundancy - hope it doesn't happen.

I'm not sure what benefits you'ld be entilted to other than you should be able to immediately claim contribution based JSA. This link gives details of how benefits are calculated so hopefully you'll be able to work it out from there:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/index.htm

I would register for contribution based JSA on the day after redundancy and they will be able to advise about other benefits. It may well be worth talking to your bank about the £12k and seeing what you can do about this. Obviously if you can pay some of it off and still afford to live that would be the best thing to do though 3 years redundancy pay may well not be that much.

Hope things work out for you.

EconomicsGirl

Just wondered have you thought about trying to get back to work yourself to increase the chances of finding something even if its only a short-term solution? It's not the greatest of job markets at the moment but in some areas like childcare there are still shortages though this varies around the country. Hope you find a way through things.

I think bankruptcy is probably not an option if you've got no mortgage on your house - its only an option if you've got more debts than assets. If you talk to your bank they will hopefully help you come up with a solution to may reduce the interest rate or lengthen the loan or give a payment break.

Hope things get better for you soon.

Annisele

You should definitely take advice before you sell anything.

If your husband does sell his car and then use the money to repay the loan, it's possible that for benefits purposes he'd be treated as though he still had the cash.

You could try plugging your details into the turn2us calculator. Don't take it as gospel, but it gives an indication.

System

Thanks for your help/suggestions.

I have been a stay at home Mum since i started having my family over 30 years ago. I did go to college when i was in my 30s with a view to some sort of career for myself but i got pregnant again.

To be honest, in my late 40s, i dont think i have the confidence to go back out to work, the thought just scares me witless. I have tried working part time a few times. The jobs i could cope with, it was the people i couldnt cope with and although my husbands advice was to 'toughen up'. I couldnt. I dont drive either which doesnt help. I have phoned around the local schools to see if they need any cleaners/midday supervisors but none of them are taking on at the moment. I am doing bits and peices online which is paying for our needs but he needs more than a tenner here and a tenner there if you know what i mean. Of course it helps but its not enough.

I'll get him to sit on the idea of paying the loan off a little longer i think.

'I think bankruptcy is probably not an option if you've got no mortgage on your house - its only an option if you've got more debts than assets'.

The house is in my name, i inherited it. My name is on the deeds and not his. His loan is in his name and our finances are totally seperate. He definately has more debts than assets :-(

getmore4less

If you read a few post that have gone they got deleted.

System

Yes i'd noticed.

I did check on http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/index.htm

earlier which gave me a vague idea of his entitlements which is a help.

getmore4less

Is loan a "car" loan, or a personal loan for a car, might make a difference.

System

Its a personal loan.