hi, help and advice needed x

the3musketeers

Hi i am looking for some advice and help regarding our situation. we have never claimed anything before and am finding it difficult to find straight answers on what our options are, the story so far: Both myself and partner are in full time work, myself being the main wage earner, when i found out i was pregnant which came as a big surprise as we never planned to have children, after careful consideration we decided to go ahead with the pregnancy and now are happily waiting for the arrival of our son. The problem being that i don't plan to return to my place of work after my maternity has ended, due to commuting and hours of work which include leaving at 4.30am 5 days a week and working sometimes upto 12 hours on a Saturday and occasional Sundays, as i'm sure people are aware nursery/childminders do not work these sort of hours so would be unable to arrange child care around these hours. I will be looking for different employment but unless i am very lucky i doubt that i will walk into another job so untill then we will struggle finacially, so after all the waffle!!! my question being what will we be able to claim?? Tax credits for my husband, Job seekers for me or nothing?? Can anyone help please

karenx

Is a joint claim for tax credits you will be making but it depends on your husbands income.
You can claim jsa after your maternity leave has finished, you may be sanctioned for leaving your job. So you need to say about why you left etc.
You will also get child benefit once baby has arrived

dseventy

As above really.

(KarenXs advice is excellent).

You might be able to claim JSA while you look for a new job, but as you left it you could be sanctioned for up to 26 weeks, so you need to claim ASAP when your maternity ends.

Your joint claim for TC will take into account your husbands income and your maternity pay.

Child benefit too.

D70

the3musketeers

Hi thanks for the reply, if i have read correctly on the tax credit website, we would have to claim tax credits as a joint claim as we are married and live together, my husband works 46 hours a week and earns approx £370 a week before tax etc. Would i get JSA as i have left my job of my own accord??

pmlindyloo

You can put your details in to the benefits calculator on www.turn2us.org.uk for an idea of what you will be entitled to.

Off the top of my head you might be eligible for working tax credits, child tax credits, child benefit, Housing benefit (if you rent) and Council Tax Benefit.

It will all depend on your husband's income and your savings.

As regards your current job it might be worth asking your current employer about working more flexibly. They have to give serious consideration to this when you return after maternity leave. They do not have to do this but if there are any jobs in your employment which work more suitable hours then they may allow this. Worth a try.

I do not think you would be sanctioned for leaving your job because of the unsuitable hours with a baby. (I will try and find a link)

You would be able to claim contribution based JSA for 6 months as this is not means tested.

pmlindyloo

Here is a link about 'just cause' for leaving work.

http://www.benefitsnow.co.uk/jsa/justcause.asp

I think it is a good idea to speak to your employers about flexible working time and possibly getting a letter saying that they would be unable to do this because..............

The hours you are working certainly, in my humble opinion, (!) are just cause for leaving with a small baby but as you will read each case is looked at on an individual basis. Good idea to also show that you have been actively looking for work.

pmlindyloo

The right to request flexible working.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Flexibleworking/DG_184569

the3musketeers

hi thanks again for the replys. i have checked on the internet with the benifits calculator and all it seems intrested in is what i've already earned which then takes us over the limit and the results say we get no benifits, the problem is that once i finish my maternity i will not be bringing in a income untill i find another job so this is when we will need some form of benifit am i filling the forms in wrong or do they only take into consideration the previous years income? if this si the case do we need to go a year before claiming anything?
I have already looked into flex working with the company that i work for and i know they need to consider this but from past experience they have turned everyone down for this or offered alternative hours which are worse than the original
Sorry for the waffling but it is putting a downer on my pregnancy and i need to get it sorted so i can relax a bit, thanks again

pmlindyloo

Tax credits are very difficult to work out because, as you say, they are usually worked out on the last tax year.

However, I believe that you can telephone tax credits and make a claim based on an estimate of your income this year.

This will be very difficult for you and if you underestimate then you may end up with an overpayment.

They will take your maternity pay into consideration (although I believe they do disregard some of it.)


Have a look at this:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/wtc2.pdf (you will need to scroll down and find the working and child tax credits earnings threshold)

Before you make a claim you will need to be receiving Child Benefit (evidence that you have a child!)

I do not know if they take JSA into account. Anyone verify?

Looks like you might get some tax credits but I can't be sure.

pmlindyloo

I hope you do manage to find a job which will fit around your new baby. (Congratulations, by the way)

You are going to take a drop in your income so if you haven't done so already have a good look at all the moneysaving ideas on this site (people are amazing at saving the pennies!)

the3musketeers

we have already made alot of changes to our livestyle and cut down on spending, as i said the baby was unexpected and we had just returned from a cruise/visit to vegas when we found out i was expexting so had spent alot of money on credit cards etc as we thought we'd have plenty of time to pay them back but once we decided to go ahead with the pregnancy we had to cut down drastically so we could clear all debts for when the baby arrived. i'm surprised how hard it is to get help/benifits or even advice for the job center etc so thanks very much for your advice x