Please Help - Where to Go and What if anything entitled to?

newbie2012

Hi There,

My OH has been made redundant (As such, his employer a builder - 1 man band has gone bankrupt and we are trying to sort out redundancy pay as we speak)

I am 6 mths pregnant and a bit! We claim no benifits and never have. My OH has been offered another permanent job, great news...HOWEVER..

It will cost him £10 a day to travel to and the salary is £19,000 which is almost half of his old salary. With me going on maternity leave in 3 mths we will not be able to cover the mortgage on my SMP and his new salary. Are we entitled to any benifits to just help us keep up with mortgage payments or is there anything we can do.

At the moment I see us selling our house and I keep calling the benifits office and looking online but not getting anywhere.

downsizer3

You may be entitled to working tax credit and child tax credit - if you google tax credit calculator - you can have a look.

thorsoak

No, your income will be far too high for any housing benefit to be available to you - unless you can negotiate lower payments on your mortgage with your mortgage company, think that you would be well advised to sell and buy something cheaper/or rent.

£19,000 is still a good salary - and £50 per week travel is less than my commute to work cost me 7 years ago when my salary was around the £19k mark.

Maybe if you post your soa on the debt free wannabe board you will get some constructive advice.

newbie2012

Looks like selling the house will be the only option. It' s so sad when we have never claimed benifits and the one time we need help temporarily and he wants to work we can't get any help

Mara69

newbie2012 wrote: »

Looks like selling the house will be the only option. It' s so sad when we have never claimed benifits and the one time we need help temporarily and he wants to work we can't get any help

It is not sad, it is life. You previously enjoyed a good standard of living and one would expect that you saved to ensure you had a buffer against any potential hard times.

Your husband will be earning a decent wage although lower than you would have liked. Therefore, you'll have to cut your cloth accordingly.

Benefits are a safety net; not a lifestyle choice and at £19k you should be able to support yourselves.

Don't give up quite so easily, as previously advised have a look at the Debt free wanabee board, they might be able to help you hang onto your home.

KiKi

OP, have you seen my response to your same question on the employment board?

If you can answer what you mean by 'changed name', then if the continuous employment applies, he will either be entitled to 'redundancy' or will be able to claim for unpaid wages and unfair dismissal.

KiKi