Ive Never Claimed Before & Need Help

chirpychick

Hi,
Ive been out of work now since July.
I left due to mental health problems which i have had since I was 15.
But now i have gotten worse and I suffer from Agoraphobia.
I had treatment before but only just starting to get help from the GP now with the Agoraphobia.
But we are in an IVA and really struggling living off one wage, I cant even leave the house unless im with my husband so going to work right now is not an option.
I know how to go about claiming benefits and ive read info on here and on the website but i still don't understand whether or not i would be entitled?
Going through paperwork etc is going to be very very stressful and i have a major anxiety disorder so i really dont want to go through it all if there is no point.
Ive never claimed any benefits before. I worked full time then went part time due to being ill and then had to leave altogether.
But we really need some help financially if im not going back to work in the foreseeable future which doesnt look likely.
Also if i have to have an assessment would i have to go somewhere? because thats not something id be able to do.
Im very anxious just thinking about it and have always received helpful advise on MSE so if someone could give me advice i would appreciate it.

Oldernotwiser

How much does your husband earn and do you rent or own your house?

chirpychick

he earns £2000 per month but we are in an IVA so £610 goes to that each month and we own our house so £975 goes to our mortgage each month. The IVA people say we now earn less than what we pay out, but we have just about managed to stay on track thanks to some help from our parents.

I should point out we have cancelled everything like hubbys mobile contract (mine was 2 years so still 6 months left)
sky has gone
we only have 1 car now but hubby walks to and from work everyday so the car has minimal use
the only things we now pay for luxury wise is home phone and broadband which is still a contract
and tv license which we have considered giving up but as im home alone all day everyday and cant go out id be a little reluctant but would do it if necessary.

everything else is essential and we have cut our food bill down to £80 a month for 2 of us. i could maybe save a bit more here which i am working on.

the heating is set to 15
we switch everything off at the plug
night time we have a little lamp on and no big lights
dont use the tumble dryer
and our gas and electricity is £65 a month too.

so we are doing everything we can.

nannymiaow

You'll not be entitled to income based Employment Support Allowance as your husband earns too much. The benefits agency do not take into account your debt when calculation benefit entitlement. You might be able to claim contribution based ESA depending (I think) on the amount of contributions you've made. If you do claim ESA you will need to attend a medical.

Oldernotwiser

Is there any way you could renegotiate your IVA because it really sounds as if you can't afford the current level of payments on one salary.

As has been said, means tested benefits don't take debts into account.

HappyMJ

chirpychick wrote: »

he earns £2000 per month but we are in an IVA so £610 goes to that each month and we own our house so £975 goes to our mortgage each month. The IVA people say we now earn less than what we pay out, but we have just about managed to stay on track thanks to some help from our parents.

I should point out we have cancelled everything like hubbys mobile contract (mine was 2 years so still 6 months left)
sky has gone
we only have 1 car now but hubby walks to and from work everyday so the car has minimal use
the only things we now pay for luxury wise is home phone and broadband which is still a contract
and tv license which we have considered giving up but as im home alone all day everyday and cant go out id be a little reluctant but would do it if necessary.

everything else is essential and we have cut our food bill down to £80 a month for 2 of us. i could maybe save a bit more here which i am working on.

the heating is set to 15
we switch everything off at the plug
night time we have a little lamp on and no big lights
dont use the tumble dryer
and our gas and electricity is £65 a month too.

so we are doing everything we can.

Your mortgage is too high. Your IVA payment is too high. Negotiate them down. You should on an after tax salary of £2,000 be earning £32,000 before tax per year. You should not be struggling on that salary. Your mortgage should be set to no higher than 40% of your after tax salary (i.e £800 per month) and when struggling you should set it to about 25% (i.e £500 per month). Do not let the lender dictate an unaffordable payment. Is it interest only? Can you set it to interest only? Can you extend the term if not? Have you considered selling?

The IVA payment of £610 per month is far too high. That should be half that on your income and outgoings.

[Deleted User]

Yes as previous 2 posters say, IVA needs renegotiating. They should have done this anyway way you reported the change of circumstances.

chirpychick

We have considered selling, our house was on the market but it didnt sell and if we dropped the price it wouldnt pay off the mortgage.
We can change our mortgage in February so we will discuss the going onto interest only hopefully they will let us. At the moment we are in a 5 year fixed repayment mortgage.
I didnt know you could lower your iva payments? we did talk to them about it 2 weeks ago but they just said as we are making our payments they arent concerned.
I dont think we can extend the term of our mortgage because of my husbands age.
but thank you i will look into the mortgage thing and call the iva people again.
as i say ive not claimed benefits before but assumed because im not well enough to work that i might be entitled to something to ease the financial struggle as obviously the financial struggle doesnt help my illness.

Oldernotwiser

chirpychick wrote: »

We have considered selling, our house was on the market but it didnt sell and if we dropped the price it wouldnt pay off the mortgage.
We can change our mortgage in February so we will discuss the going onto interest only hopefully they will let us. At the moment we are in a 5 year fixed repayment mortgage.
I didnt know you could lower your iva payments? we did talk to them about it 2 weeks ago but they just said as we are making our payments they arent concerned.
I dont think we can extend the term of our mortgage because of my husbands age.
but thank you i will look into the mortgage thing and call the iva people again.
as i say ive not claimed benefits before but assumed because im not well enough to work that i might be entitled to something to ease the financial struggle as obviously the financial struggle doesnt help my illness.

As your house has so little equity in it, had you considered going bankrupt as this wouldn't necessarily involve losing your home.

There's lots of information and support on the Bankruptcy Board here.

chirpychick

i had thought about bankruptcy but i really thought we would lose our house so ill take a look at that.

mealone

When did you go part time and did you pay NI on that wage?

As other have said you wont get income based ESA because of your husbands wage, if you have care or mobility needs you could also look at claiming DLA.