pregnant & worried

katiesmummy

Hi to all,

I am 7 weeks pregnant, due in october. My partner doesn't work due to personal reasons (he has to report to probation every week which makes it very difficult to hold a job). I am about to start a 6 month contract which will take me up to to the end of september, by which time i will probably be ready to finish.

my question is what tax credits/ benefits will i be able to get once the baby is born? I have a 7 yo and i get child tax credit for her. i read somewhere about maternity allowance- is this what i would get and can i get help with housing costs etc while i am claiming it? I am planning on taking about 3 months off once the baby comes and then returning to work, but as i am a temp through an agency i am not entitled to maternity leave or smp. if i can get some kind of idea of what i may be able to claim, i will be able to work out some kind of budget

any advice would be greatfully recived

Pink_butterfly_3

You may be entitled to Maternity pay. Take a look at this link

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_008115.xml.html

Gal

Don't think you would be eligible for Statutory Maternity pay as you would need to be working in your present job for 26 weeks and by the time your due you would have only done 24.

You may be able to claim maternity allowance if you have worked for at least26 whole weeks in the last 66 Weeks (So you would need to get out a calender and check) - If you are then from april you would get £112.75 for upto 26 Weeks. You can only start to claim this 11 weeks from your due date. (If I remember correctly - If this is different feel free to point this out as not fully up on this).

Obviously you would get Child Benefit - Because this is your second child this would be £12.10 (Again from April).

As for housing benefit - Do you own your own property or is this council / private rent?

You may be able to get help with Council tax dependant on your household income.

shirlgirl2004

Because the baby is due after 1st April maternity allowance would be payable for 9 months rather than 6.:T

katiesmummy

sorry, i should have also added that i am being evicted from my council flat on 27th march which is adding to my worries. i am being refused rehousing because of my arrears- can i apply to another council or will i have to throw myself at the mercy of social services?

it is completly my own fault that i am being evicted i might add. i stuck my head in the sand for far too long, and now its too late

Zara33

katiesmummy wrote: »

sorry, i should have also added that i am being evicted from my council flat on 27th march which is adding to my worries. i am being refused rehousing because of my arrears- can i apply to another council or will i have to throw myself at the mercy of social services?

it is completly my own fault that i am being evicted i might add. i stuck my head in the sand for far too long, and now its too late

Have you tried getting in touch with shelter, they are really helpful regarding housing issues and eviction. Not 100% sure but surely the council must relocate you as you have young children.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-4277.cfm

I'm assuming your in England

cabbage

Hi,

I only know a little bit about homelessness - please bear with me. I'm due to go on a course about it in a couple of weeks but this is no good for you unfortunately.

1 Tax Credits - you will get extra Child Tax Credits for a child under one.

Although you state that you are going to be evicted because you had you head in the sand etc, don't be too hard on youself - you've got a lot on your plate.

2 Although the council will say you made yourself intentionally homeless, you can get round this if it is something you thought your partner was dealing with and you were unaware of the situation. Also, with a young child, I think there is legislation under the Childrens Act 1989 that gives a duty to re house. To get this though, I think you have to contact social services for their help. I know that they have to work closely with the local authority for families with children.

Hope this helps if only a little

katiesmummy

cabbage wrote: »

Hi,

I only know a little bit about homelessness - please bear with me. I'm due to go on a course about it in a couple of weeks but this is no good for you unfortunately.

1 Tax Credits - you will get extra Child Tax Credits for a child under one.

Although you state that you are going to be evicted because you had you head in the sand etc, don't be too hard on youself - you've got a lot on your plate.

2 Although the council will say you made yourself intentionally homeless, you can get round this if it is something you thought your partner was dealing with and you were unaware of the situation. Also, with a young child, I think there is legislation under the Childrens Act 1989 that gives a duty to re house. To get this though, I think you have to contact social services for their help. I know that they have to work closely with the local authority for families with children.

Hope this helps if only a little

Thank you for your post- the comment about saying that i thought my partner was dealing with it won't work as he doesn't actually live with me. He shares a house with 2 of his friends so we can't even stay there. When I have managed to sort something out, he will hopefully be coming to live with us(although this is a bit pie in the sky right now)

I will think about going to social services, but am scared that they will take my daughter from me as i have made myself intentionally homeless, and her dad lives with his mum and can provide a roof over her head etc etc

Zara33

katiesmummy wrote: »

Thank you for your post- the comment about saying that i thought my partner was dealing with it won't work as he doesn't actually live with me. He shares a house with 2 of his friends so we can't even stay there. When I have managed to sort something out, he will hopefully be coming to live with us(although this is a bit pie in the sky right now)

I will think about going to social services, but am scared that they will take my daughter from me as i have made myself intentionally homeless, and her dad lives with his mum and can provide a roof over her head etc etc

I can't see why they have any reason to take your daughter from you you need help these people are there to help you, honestly go and see them.

Savvy_Sue

Go to Shelter first, they will be able to help you and support you through all this. Also it will help your future applications for social housing if you show that you are NOW trying to address your arrears and that they are reducing. You may feel there's no point trying to do anything about them, but they won't just go away. Shelter should be able to help you with that as well.

Being evicted isn't enough reason for Social Services to take your daughter from you, and you should resist any suggestion that she goes to stay with her dad short-term ...

Penny-Pincher!!

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-159.cfm#wipTest-470-2