widows allowance and eviction.

nixe

hi
dont know if this is the right place to post,
my aunts hubby passed away 18 months ago,
she is getting widows allowance
but not any social sercurity
she is living on £72 a week
she has custody of her 2 grandchildren.
but because she aint getting any social she is now in rent areas of £600
and the council are gonna evict her, she is on the phone trying to sort this out and basically going round in circles.
can anyone help in what she should be saying and if the fiqures are wrong.
as far as i am aware she is getting child benifit.
she is stressed at the moment and dont know where to turn.
thanx nicx

daska

Does she have a CAB near her, tell her to take all her paperwork into them for help sorting it out.

For the time being a call to Shelter for advice on avoiding eviction - 0808 800 4444 - open at 8am

I would have thought she should at least be claiming child tax credits as well as child benefit - perhaps a call to them might be as well. They open at 8am 0345 300 3900

I would suggest asking your questions separately on the benefits and tax credits thread for help in what she might be able to claim and how to sort out the housing benefit as well as the house buying, renting and selling for advice on avoiding eviction.

Best of luck

Fire_Fox

This is really a query for the benefits board, you will need to give more information tho such as her age, the children's ages, who her landlord is, how far she is behind on the rent in weeks, any assets, what benefits she has applied for and why she was turned down.

nixe

thank you daska and firefox,
i will stay signed in and talk to her later about which benifits,
will see if she has been cab,
she is so stressed and it was only last night she came out with why.
it dont help as her brother died 2 weeks ago. x

CRANKY40

If she has full custody of the children then she should get money for looking after them, not just child benefit. She should at least be getting child tax credits.

CRANKY40

http://www.grandparents-association.org.uk/wb/welfare-benefits-and-local-authority-allowances-for-grandparents-and-other-extended-family-members-raising-children.html

Here you go. Hope this helps.

cabbage

She may be entitled to housing benefit for her rent and council tax benefit for her council tax.

She needs to have a benefit check as a matter of urgency.

nixe

thank you all,
i have tried phoning her before,
but left a message on shelter and cab and tax benifits
it seems they dont know what to do or are under staffed at dhss
in the mean time things are going unpaid,
she is nearly 60 and the kids are 11 and 12.
as she is sole carer for them they are picking up on it,
they have been through so much in there short lifes
so thanx for links and help. x

Fire_Fox

Still need to know who her landlord is, how far she is behind on the rent in weeks, any assets, what benefits she has applied for and why she was turned down.

I suspect if she is not yet entitled to a state pension she would be expected to claim Jobseekers Allowance from the Department of Work and Pensions and look for paid employment. Certainly she should have claimed housing benefit and council tax benefit - this is via the local council IIRC.
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

daska

nixe - please do as FF and I have suggested and post these questions on the appropriate boards. They are frequented by the people who have best knowledge and advice that can allow you to help your aunt sort out her problems.

nixe

THANX firefox oops locks on from filling in the benifits on turnto us.
i checked her rates and she should be getting £113 a week tax credits.
her rent is council and about £80 a week.
both were stopped about 7+ weeks ago,
she said they messed up her benifits and she cant get it sorted is running round in circles.
with all the help can show her, so a million thanx everyone.