General Benefits Query

warmhands.coldheart

Apologies in advance for this as I have no clue of the Benefits system..

Basically a friend's wife has been made redundant recently. Neither have ever really claimed any Benefits (apart from some tax credits), they have always worked. She is the main bread winner in the family (Lets just say a Higher Tax band payer) He is on an Average Salary (£2600) Basically she has been made redundant and is in a right tiss about it all. (her employer have been complete A-Holes) and she's also pregant but not due to mid early next year so they have done her out of her maternity pay too (won't have worked the required time before due date to recieve Stat maternity Pay) she has worked for them for a number of years now. Basically they have went onto the DirectGov Website and gone through he "Benefits Advisor/Calculator" program they have on it and put in all the info they asked for on it as honestly as they can inc info on a second home they own and rent out. (i.e put in all the crrect info on assets and other incomes. they have 2 children under 6 and have quite a bit of debt as they have recently moved house (hence the second property.... couldn't get it sold for any sort of reaonable price in the current market) to be nearer her work (Ironic really!!) Anyway, when they filled in all the info the resulting figure of the Benefits they were entitled to came out at nearly £400/week.

Breakdown came out as:

Child Tax Credit £0.00 per week

Working Tax Credit £0.00 per week

Earnings £348.09 per week

Total benefits you have declared - £33.70 per week (Child Benefit)

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Total weekly income £381.79 per week[/FONT]
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[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Does this figure seem right? Is she entitled to £380 odd per Week in Benefits? they are unsure and haven't had a chanceto get down to CAB or Benefits office yet due to ongoing redundancy issues.[/FONT]
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[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Any advice I could pass on would be great (They have no internat access at home yet so I thought I'd lend a hand where I can)[/FONT]
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[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Who woulkd be best to approach for advise? CAB or Benefits Office? I get a feeling the Beneftis office aren't very compassionate (I may be wrong) hence asking considering her situation!![/FONT]
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kilasuit

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Apologies in advance for this as I have no clue of the Benefits system..

Basically a friend's wife has been made redundant recently. Neither have ever really claimed any Benefits (apart from some tax credits), they have always worked. She is the main bread winner in the family (Lets just say a Higher Tax band payer) He is on an Average Salary (£2600) Basically she has been made redundant and is in a right tiss about it all. (her employer have been complete A-Holes) and she's also pregant but not due to mid early next year so they have done her out of her maternity pay too (won't have worked the required time before due date to recieve Stat maternity Pay) she has worked for them for a number of years now. Basically they have went onto the DirectGov Website and gone through he "Benefits Advisor/Calculator" program they have on it and put in all the info they asked for on it as honestly as they can inc info on a second home they own and rent out. (i.e put in all the crrect info on assets and other incomes. they have 2 children under 6 and have quite a bit of debt as they have recently moved house (hence the second property.... couldn't get it sold for any sort of reaonable price in the current market) to be nearer her work (Ironic really!!) Anyway, when they filled in all the info the resulting figure of the Benefits they were entitled to came out at nearly £400/week.

Breakdown came out as:

Child Tax Credit £0.00 per week

Working Tax Credit £0.00 per week

Earnings £348.09 per week

Total benefits you have declared - £33.70 per week (Child Benefit)

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Total weekly income £381.79 per week[/FONT]

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Does this figure seem right? Is she entitled to £380 odd per Week in Benefits? they are unsure and haven't had a chanceto get down to CAB or Benefits office yet due to ongoing redundancy issues.[/FONT]

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Any advice I could pass on would be great (They have no internat access at home yet so I thought I'd lend a hand where I can)[/FONT]

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Who woulkd be best to approach for advise? CAB or Benefits Office? I get a feeling the Beneftis office aren't very compassionate (I may be wrong) hence asking considering her situation!![/FONT]

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]
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the 380 has included his wages it is not benefits. you have said so yourself

bossymoo

Will she not get some redundancy pay?
Might be worth her contacting her union especially with her being pregnant, to clarify her redundancy isn't related to that. It's worth looking into maternity allowance also.
I gather they don't have income protection?

warmhands.coldheart

kilasuit wrote: »

the 380 has included his wages it is not benefits. you have said so yourself

I think this is why they are confused, it's as Benefits Calculator but it stated this earnings and they weren't sure if it was his earnings or her Benefit entitlement......

So really is it a case that she/they are entitled to nothing as such?? if that's the cae they could be screwed!!

pmlindyloo

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Apologies in advance for this as I have no clue of the Benefits system..

Basically a friend's wife has been made redundant recently. Neither have ever really claimed any Benefits (apart from some tax credits), they have always worked. She is the main bread winner in the family (Lets just say a Higher Tax band payer) He is on an Average Salary (£2600) Basically she has been made redundant and is in a right tiss about it all. (her employer have been complete A-Holes) and she's also pregant but not due to mid early next year so they have done her out of her maternity pay too (won't have worked the required time before due date to recieve Stat maternity Pay) she has worked for them for a number of years now. Basically they have went onto the DirectGov Website and gone through he "Benefits Advisor/Calculator" program they have on it and put in all the info they asked for on it as honestly as they can inc info on a second home they own and rent out. (i.e put in all the crrect info on assets and other incomes. they have 2 children under 6 and have quite a bit of debt as they have recently moved house (hence the second property.... couldn't get it sold for any sort of reaonable price in the current market) to be nearer her work (Ironic really!!) Anyway, when they filled in all the info the resulting figure of the Benefits they were entitled to came out at nearly £400/week.

Breakdown came out as:

Child Tax Credit £0.00 per week

Working Tax Credit £0.00 per week

Earnings £348.09 per week

Total benefits you have declared - £33.70 per week (Child Benefit)

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Total weekly income £381.79 per week[/FONT]

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Does this figure seem right? Is she entitled to £380 odd per Week in Benefits? they are unsure and haven't had a chanceto get down to CAB or Benefits office yet due to ongoing redundancy issues.[/FONT]

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Any advice I could pass on would be great (They have no internat access at home yet so I thought I'd lend a hand where I can)[/FONT]

[FONT=60527E1951Arial,Bold]Who woulkd be best to approach for advise? CAB or Benefits Office? I get a feeling the Beneftis office aren't very compassionate (I may be wrong) hence asking considering her situation!![/FONT]

As already said the breakdown includes the earnings.

There are a couple of issues that complicate things here:

1. The position of the wife and what she may be entitled to.

2. The owning of the second home and it being rented out.

I would advise your friends to visit CAB who should be able to help. They should be able to do a Quick Benefit Check.

If the wife is not entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance then I would think that, as the wife has worked for a number of years, then she might be entitled to contribution based JSA for a while and then probably contribution based ESA. Neither of these are means tested. However, without knowing all the details then it is difficult to say.

Because of the rental from the second home and the husband's salary their entitlement to other benefits are doubtful.

After the baby is born they may get a little tax credit and of course, more Child Benefit.

But please don't rely on this as you haven't given us all the details about the rental from the second property.

You mentioned their debts. Entitlement to means tested benefits takes no account of any debts that you have. They only look at your total household income and savings.

The Debtfree Wannabe forum has a wonderful set of people who would look at their expenditure and debts and suggest some ways forward.

They could also talk to CAB about their debts and they would tell them their options.

It is a very difficult situation when you suddenly lose a salary. Hopefully there will be some redundancy money to help. Certainly they will need to 'tighten their belts' and a good read of all the articles and forums on this site is a good place to start.

warmhands.coldheart

Thanks for the replys Guys.... will pass it all on.

Form conversation recollection I think they are currently paying (on re-payment mortgage) about £900/month on thier new house and they have about £25000 debt on loans and credit Cards (credit Cards are 0% at minute). for work done on new house

The rental house pretty much covers itself but they had used money on it's Mortgage drawdown factility to help pay for new house so there is another £40,000 Odd borrowings on it.
The rent though does cover the interest of the Mortgage and the drawdown so think they aren't too worried about that. looking at it on the longer term in the hope housing market recovers a bit and they can sell it later. I think if they did it now it may not even pay for the borrowings on it in the current market

I've spoken to them a bit and I believe they are looking at trying to put both mortgages over on Interest only and using as much of any possible excess money to pay off credit Cards before 0% interest runs out next year.. They've already been making big cutbacks on food etc... the "reduced" shelves are geting a real hammering from what they say!!

I think they may have to sell her car and make other sacrifices too... could be hard for them.....

As far a redundancy money... she'll get a bit but I can see it all getting messy as her work have treated her like crap in the last few months and she's under no illusion they will make her a very poor basic offer which she wouldnt be happy with considering her circumstances (pregnancy) and how they have treated her of late..

supernatural619

you said he earns £2600 is that a month/year?

warmhands.coldheart

supernatural619 wrote: »

you said he earns £2600 is that a month/year?

Apologies, missed a Zero... About £26,000/Year Before Tax

supernatural619

wish my partner was on average pay, he earns £12,000 (before tax) that's probably why they don't get any benefits. Don't mean to sound harsh but debt isn't accounted for

warmhands.coldheart

supernatural619 wrote: »

wish my partner was on average pay, he earns £12,000 (before tax) that's probably why they don't get any benefits. Don't mean to sound harsh but debt isn't accounted for

Hay, it's a tough world out there! I know... Life's Harsh!

At least they will be a bit cleare where they stand I think now and with further CAB Advise. Employers are SH-IT some times!!

embob74

has your friend checked out whether she will be entitled to maternity allowance? You have to have been employed for 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks prior to the babys due date. As long as she was a little bit pregnant before work ended she should be ok. It pays the same weekly amount as SMP but without the first 6 weeks 90% of earnings (just 39 weeks of £128). Some consolation - it can be claimed from 29 weeks of pregnancy.
I don't think it matters whether you own property or not.
I always thought you could claim JSA contribution-based no matter how high your household income so not sure why having a 2nd property would affect that.
I am definitely no expert in benefits but it is good to know what may be available and they can then research to see if they are eligible.