Desperate for help

groovychick2007

can anyone help please the situation is my partner has bipolar he has been signed off work by his dr long term he was a self employed motorcycle instructor he has had his driving licence revoked because of his illness so can no longer go back to that.. i work 15 hrs a week had to drop my hrs as he is quite ill at moment so i have to care for him...my wage is about £460 a month and that includes my travel allowance That is the only money beside a £32 a month pension from my late husband I have to support my partner and my !7 yr old daughter she can not get a job we have lost count of how many job interviews she has attended over last 4 months but had no luck...
He has got an appeal in for DLA which is going to be heard next month
We do get housing benefit and council tax benefit but not full... we are at our wits end we cant afford Christmas and he has become very suicidal we spoke to benefits ESA said we are entitled to £2.18 a week he told them where to shove it.. CAB told us to look at a benefit checker to see what we are entitled to we have done that it says DLA and Carers but i cant claim that till he has his DLA claim heard... we have sold everything we can to survive which was not a lot .. but have now hit rock bottom can anyone suggest where else we can turn

clouty

Regarding the DLA appeal, which is key to getting carer's allowance, has your partner got any help with that? He is more likely to win his appeal if he has support and guidance from the CAB or similar. Citizen's Advice round my way is inaccessible unless you go in person to get an appointment - they never answer their phones.

There's a great site at benefitsandwork.co.uk - heaps of advice, really useful, but to access a lot of it you have to pay a membership fee. There are other benefits advice services, check out your area for the Disability Alliance who are helpful round my way.

https://www.turn2us.org.uk have a database of trade associations and unions that have grant funds available.

It's a shame that he didn't accept the miserly ESA award, as it would at least have been helpful in applying for a crisis loan, and passports to other benefits like free prescriptions.

Have you looked into Income Support? You could claim for your whole family. Your income is below the income support level the three of you.

I know it's tough, especially as he's ill, and jumping through official hoops are no fun even when one is healthy, let alone when suffering bi-polar. I hope someone else will be along with more ideas soon. Good luck. Be persistent. Have faith. As they say in the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, don't panic - and I know that's easier said than done

louiseclare_2

hi, I am not sure if local council have emergency loans? you could call them? could you take in some work at home? I know women who take in ironing at £10 an hour or do a bit of local cleaning in nearby streets? you could print some A5 leaflets off a computer and put them out locally offering yourself? just a suggestion, all the best x

RAS

One emergency source of food at least is the Trussel Trust; they run food banks and may well offer you enough to get through Christmas.

Any chance of persuading your daughter to go to college?

And please try and get the ESA organised.It would help.

if not, speak to your partner's doctor or key worker and see if they can help him understand the need to do it.

BigAunty

Apply for discretionary housing benefit.

Oldernotwiser

I'd make your daughter an interview with Connexions who should be able to help her with her interview techniques and also discuss the possibility of returning to education rather than remaining unemployed. If she were to do this, you'd get CB and CTC for her.

clouty

Link to the Trussle Trust, mentioned by RAS http://www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects

groovychick2007

Clouty
CAB are supposed to be helping with his appeal we did call them 2 weeks ago to say we had received an appeal date The mistake he made when he filled out his claim bk in jan 20011 as he had started bk to work was he said he was ok because he was on a bit of a high ..The reply from DLA was he just needed reassurance

We have just called income support they were very unhelpful and said they would not accept a claim from us as it would be sent back to an esa claim

My daughter is in touch with connexions they helped her last yr get on a course which she did for 12 months they told her the jobcentre should of interviewed her to see if she was entitled to anything as its a case of hardship .. they are seeing what they can do for her to help her into work but they said things are very doubtful as job situation is ridiculous

I have just tried to explain the situation to him with ESA but hes unconvinced its the right way to go


Also my daughter is being classed as a non dependent as she is no longer in education even though she has no money no job and no help

jojo_2012_2

17 year old daughter couldn't take over looking after him while you increase your hours to full time? At least while she's still jobhunting.

groovychick2007

jojo_2012 wrote: »

17 year old daughter couldn't take over looking after him while you increase your hours to full time? At least while she's still jobhunting.

the only way i could increase my hrs is to get another job which would be very difficult to fit in around the job i have now im a carer and work in clients home so hrs vary on a day to day basis and to expect my 17 yr old to look after my partner is asking a bit much as she doesnt cope very well with his mood swings as it is



Also jobcentre have just rang my daughter They said as she only finished education on 18th of august she should of been entitled to have her child benefit extended up until 6th january 2012 as she is in touch with connexions CB stopped end august... if they dont allow it she has got to go jobcentre and they will sort JSA out for her

groovychick2007

well just called CB apparently it has to be applied for within 3 months of it ending job centre said we had to apply before 22nd of this month so looks like shes back off to job centre tomorrow...