No idea what i am entitled to, any help welcome

rparsons

I had twins last December and am currently on maternity leave. The plan was for me to return to work in June on a part time basis and my husband was going to look after them. He was made redundant in February. A few weeks ago he had an accident and broke his leg very badly. For a while there was a 50/50 chance of him walking again. Anyway, he is now back home after leaving hospital and the doctor says if he follows doctors orders he will walk again although this will be a lengthy process and he will need a course of intense physio for a long time. Of course it is impossible to say how long it will take for him to walk again but it could easily be at least a year. This has forced a complete rethink and i have no idea what benefits we would be able to claim if i have to stay at home. Any help is appreciated. Apart from a few weeks twenty years ago i have never claimed unemployment benefit and i don't know where to begin.

toffeecoated

You should contact your local welfare rights to get an accurate quote on what you are entitled to. My guess is your husband will be classed as disabled and therefore entitled to ESA and DLA at the higher mobility rate plus the care rate (not sure what level). If you don't return to work you won't get JSA as you are not looking for work, so you could try carers allowance and income support. You will get child benefit (about £33 a week for two) and possibly child tax credits. If you do return to work you will get working tax credits and the child benefit and child tax credits plus you are entitled to claim 70% of the cost of childcare if you use a registered childminder. You may also qualify for housing benefit and council tax benefit. But this is just my guess. You really should talk to welfare rights. Don't bother talking to jobcentre staff. From experience you will get a different answer every time you talk to them.

McKneff

Forget the DLA for the moment, you have to have been disabled for at least 3 months and expected to be disabled for at least another 6.

MrsManda

If you put your household details into a benefits calculator you'll get a rough idea of what you may be entitled to.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/diol1/doitonline/doitonlinebycategory/dg_172666

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

As your husband is unemployed but unable to work due to illness he should claim Employment Support Allowance.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_171894

Jobseekers Allowance is only available to you if you are looking for work. If you do go back to work you may be able to get 70% of your childcare costs through tax credits.

If you rent then you may be able to claim Housing Benefit. Even if you own your home you may get Council Tax Benefit.

As McKneff said, your husband cannot claim DLA yet as he needs to have had mobility/care needs for at least 3 months but it's worth keeping it in the back of your mind.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Disabledpeople/DG_10011816

pmlindyloo

I think we should say that the OP's husband will certainly be entitled to contribution based ESA if he has paid the required NI contributions.

I suspect the OP is already claiming child tax credits and Child benefit and is probably on Statutory Maternity Pay.

We do not know if the OP's husband received any redundancy pay and/or if they have any savings.

HB/housing costs if they have a mortgage and CTB are means tested as is Income Support.

Do not want to raise the OP's hopes too much as she may be entitled to very little help at the moment.

mynameistallulah

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I think we should say that the OP's husband will certainly be entitled to contribution based ESA if he has paid the required NI contributions.

I agree that he will meet the requirements for the assessment phase, but after that he may well struggle unless there is a reason that he cannot self propel a wheelchair.

sunnyone

Its amazing how many people on this site assume that people are entitled to ESA because the cant walk or mobilise without difficult due to injury, that was true until last year but not now otherwise every fit and healthy person with such an injury could pass the WCA but not now as to be fair to us wheelchair users the goverment changed the rules to assume that people could self propel a manual wheelchair if they cant mobilise without one.

Someone with a broken leg, no matter how bad wontpass the mobilisation criteria if they are otherwise fit and healthy so they wont be entitled to ESA after the assessment stage.

rogerblack

sunnyone wrote: »

changed the rules to assume that people could self propel a manual wheelchair if they cant mobilise without one.

This is not quite what the law says.

If you can reasonably use a wheelchair, to self-propel over 50m, without significant discomfort or exhaustion - you will not get benefit on this ground alone.

However - this is some way from 'assuming' in law, though the DWP will possibly initially consider it the same.

In the particular case - a 'very bad' broken leg - depending on where and how this is - it may or may not be reasonable to assess them as able to use a wheelchair.

Then there is the issue of general fitness - it takes considerable upper-arm strength to operate a wheelchair - even if 'only' for 50m.

In addition - it's possible that they - especially if the injury is recent, and they haven't adapted to it - that they can't climb or go down 2 steps without the aid of someone else. (9 points).

Sitting and standing may be another issue.
If they can't without assistance move between two chairs - then they get 15 points.
If they can't remain sitting for an hour, then they may get 6 points - which with the above 9 points might entitle them to benefit.

They may also be entitled to points under 'getting about'.

rparsons

Wow. I never knew it was so complicated. My husband doesn't use a wheelchair. We live on the first floor in a block with no lift. So he is basically trapped at home. I don't really feel comfortable leaving the babies with a childminder, this is the main reason i am considering not going back to work. I will contact welfare rights today. Thanks to you all.

karenx

It will be likely it's ESA he has to try claim. You yourself won't get anything for being a stay at home mum apart from child benefit and child tax credits

sunnyone

rogerblack wrote: »

This is not quite what the law says.

If you can reasonably use a wheelchair, to self-propel over 50m, without significant discomfort or exhaustion - you will not get benefit on this ground alone.

However - this is some way from 'assuming' in law, though the DWP will possibly initially consider it the same.

In the particular case - a 'very bad' broken leg - depending on where and how this is - it may or may not be reasonable to assess them as able to use a wheelchair.

Then there is the issue of general fitness - it takes considerable upper-arm strength to operate a wheelchair - even if 'only' for 50m.

In addition - it's possible that they - especially if the injury is recent, and they haven't adapted to it - that they can't climb or go down 2 steps without the aid of someone else. (9 points).

Sitting and standing may be another issue.
If they can't without assistance move between two chairs - then they get 15 points.
If they can't remain sitting for an hour, then they may get 6 points - which with the above 9 points might entitle them to benefit.

They may also be entitled to points under 'getting about'.

You must have never used a wheelchair because it certainly dosnt take considerable upper body strenght to move 50 meters over level ground, especially for a man as you have 30% more muscle than a woman and this is a young man not a pensioner, again with changing from one chair to another, a leg injury wont prohibit this in a healthy young man who is using crutches to get about.

In fact none of your post seems to apply because he got to his first floor flat etc. on crutches.

I have spent many, many months on orthapod wards and young men with broken legs often took up a large part of those wards as in all my local hospitals the older people were kept on diffrent wards so there was no joint replacements etc. so all the motorbike, sports and the stupidity injuries/accidents common to younger men were on my wards and its not unsual for them to be mobilised on crutches the same day as surgery and to go home withing a couple of days of having surgery. And you have to "do" steps before they let you escape the wards.

The only exceptions to the above a injuries requiring a frame or someone having multiple injuries or a large open fracture and even they are on crutches/ in a wheelchair very quickly but they might have trouble tranfering etc due to the weight of the frame etc.