Benefits following Redundancy

davewilliams59

Hi

I'm a 43 year old man who's just about to be made redundant after 15 years in the same job. I've worked out I'll get £6880 redundancy + approx £6750 pay in lieu.
I've been on the Direct Gov Benefits Advisor website to work out what benefits I may be entitled to should I not get another job. I did calculate them based on no savings, however it does say that I may not be entitled to some benefits if I have savings or redundancy money.
My questions are:

What benefits does that affect?
Does the pay in lieu get included as savings?

I also currently pay £300 child maintenance (not CSA agreed) to my ex wife for my 2 children (9 & 12). I believe this can be decreased to as low as £5 per week, however if I were to do that would my ex be able to get her benefits/tax credits increased to ensure that my children aren't impacted?

Finally on my list of benefits available to me on the Benefits Advisor site it states I'm entitled to £66.66 per week 'Earnings' - what does this relate to?

Thanks

Dave

pmlindyloo

davewilliams59 wrote: »

Hi

I'm a 43 year old man who's just about to be made redundant after 15 years in the same job. I've worked out I'll get £6880 redundancy + approx £6750 pay in lieu.
I've been on the Direct Gov Benefits Advisor website to work out what benefits I may be entitled to should I not get another job. I did calculate them based on no savings, however it does say that I may not be entitled to some benefits if I have savings or redundancy money.
My questions are:

What benefits does that affect? JSA - income based, HB and CTB
Does the pay in lieu get included as savings? Yes

I also currently pay £300 child maintenance (not CSA agreed) to my ex wife for my 2 children (9 & 12). I believe this can be decreased to as low as £5 per week, however if I were to do that would my ex be able to get her benefits/tax credits increased to ensure that my children aren't impacted? Her benefits would remain the same as Child Maintenace is not taken into account when the benefits are calculated
Finally on my list of benefits available to me on the Benefits Advisor site it states I'm entitled to £66.66 per week 'Earnings' - what does this relate to? Not sure

Thanks

Dave

I am assuming you are single. Please correct me if I am wrong!

As you have been working and presumably paying class 1 NI contributions then you can apply for JSA - contribution based.

You do not say if you are a home owner or renting.

HB and CTB is mean tested and if you have savings between £6000 and £16000 then you may be entitled to HB and CTB on a sliding scale.

If you can answer the questions about being single and renting/home owner then further information might come your way!:)

davewilliams59

Sorry I should have given more info..

I am now re-married with 2 young children. My wife is a self-employed childminder earning appox £10000 pa.
I am a home owner with a £153,000 mortgage - can I claim help re the interest payments on this or does the fact my wife works exclude this?

Thanks

Dave

pmlindyloo

OK Let's start again! Totally new ball game!

What benefits are you currently receiving? Obviously Child Benefit. Are you receiving Tax credits?

davewilliams59

I'm currently receiving £134.80 Child Benefit every 4 weeks and £42.07 Tax credits.

pmlindyloo

davewilliams59 wrote: »

I'm currently receiving £134.80 Child Benefit every 4 weeks and £42.07 Tax credits.

Thanks.

You can apply for contribution based Job Seekers Allowance (savings will not affect this)

You should notify Tax Credits of your change of circumstances immediately. (savings wil not affect this recalculation but your loss of earnings will)

You can apply for CTB but your savings will affect this.

You may get some help with your housing costs but this will not kick in until 13 weeks after you start receiving your JSA. This is the part I am unsure about - I think your wife's earnings may prevent this - hope someone else can help with this particular point.

You could put in your details into www.turn2us.org.uk and see what it comes up with. I am unsure if there is a part where you can put in your savings.

To be absolutely honest it is not easy to work out exactly how much you would be entitled to because of your savings and wife's earnings. You will be expected to use your redundancy money until you find another job (good luck with that)

So, basically,
1. Apply for JSA
2. Apply for CTB
3. Inform Tax Credits about your change of circumstances

Since your child maintenace is not through CSA then you need to come to some arrangement about payments.

You may want to inform your mortgage company about your redundancy and see if they can help - interest only for a while, payment holiday are possibilities. (Do you have Payment Protection by any chance?)

Please do not spend any of your redundancy money on debts - please come here for advice first, as it may be seen as deprivation of capital when applying for benefits.

Also, you may want to visit the Debt Free Wanabee forum for some useful tips on reducing your outgoings.

I hope that helps a little - I am sure others will be along to correct any of my mistakes/give further help!

pmlindyloo

You may get some help with your housing costs but this will not kick in until 13 weeks after you start receiving your JSA. This is the part I am unsure about - I think your wife's earnings may prevent this - hope someone else can help with this particular point.


Just done some more research into this and it appears that because of your wife's earnings you would not be eligible for housing costs (interest payments on your mortgage) Sorry!

davewilliams59

Thanks for the info - Fortunately I don't have any debts or credit cards - fingers burnt before, so main outgoings are mortgage £975 and £300 child maintenance. Worst case scenario is I become my wife's childminding assistant which would enable us to increase the number of children and keep us both in employment.
The mortgage is fixed for another 4 years so my outgoings shouldn't increase and I may be able to reduce other outgoings slightly e.g. reduce TV package etc..

Anyway, I hope it won't come to that and I can get another relatively well paid job!!