Benefits Whilst Off Work Sick

frankie4fingers

Good morning,

I was just after a little bit of advice if you could spare me a couple of minutes.

My FIL has been signed off from work by the doctor a couple of weeks ago, and is off for at least another fortnight with arthritis problems.

He received a weeks pay packet of about £60 this week, which i believe is SSP after tax etc. He does not receive occupational sick pay from his company.

Can anyone let me know if he may be eligible for any other financial help / benefits whilst he is off? I realise there is a benefits line that can be called, but i was hoping to contact the in-laws with some good news to put thier mind at rest before the weekend is over.

A couple of points:

• The MIL is full time employed, taking home just over £900 a month.
• There is a full time student living at the property.
• The property is rented, and they pay a council tax bill.

If you could offer any advice, I would be really grateful!! If there is anything else i haven't noted above which is relevant, then please say.

Many thanks in anticipation for your help,

F4F

McKneff

It is unlikely seeing as there is a full time wage earner in the family.

If he only received £60 something is wrong, he should not have paid any tax on that amount, in fact I';m sure he should have received a small tax rebate.

Perhaps the student could contribute to the household.

epitome

If he was single he could have claimed Income Support to top him up to £71 week.

But as he has a partner who works full time he won't get that.

There is nothing he can claim

Poppie68

SSP is paid at £85.85 no tax is payable and kicks in on the 4th day off work. If he has recieved £60.00 that works out at roughly 5 days of sick pay.




EDIT: Sorry my mistake, tax and NI is payable!

sleepless_saver

McKneff wrote: »

If he only received £60 something is wrong, he should not have paid any tax on that amount, in fact I';m sure he should have received a small tax rebate.

SSP is taxable. He is taxed on it according to his tax code which is set for the year, and he can be refunded at year end if he has overpaid tax (which is unlikely).

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/information__resources/benefits/illness,_injury_and_disability/statutory_sick_pay.aspx

If he's going to be ill for a while (i.e. into next financial year) working tax credits for spouse might be worth looking at for 2013-14.

McKneff

So his next pay packet should be £85 plus some income tax refund.

frankie4fingers

Hi everyone,

That is what I feared, but thought it was worth an ask, as I am a bit clueless about this kind of thing.

Thanks very much to everyone who replied, I, and the in-laws really appreciate it. :T

Have a great weekend,

F4F

epitome

If his SSP ends he can claim ESA C if he is still sick and off work.

McKneff

I wish they would teach basic skills like this in the last couple of years at school, including basic pay as you earn.

Horseunderwater

frankie4fingers wrote: »

Hi everyone,

That is what I feared, but thought it was worth an ask, as I am a bit clueless about this kind of thing.

Thanks very much to everyone who replied, I, and the in-laws really appreciate it. :T

Have a great weekend,

F4F

It works like this - You are not paid for 1st 3 days off sick, so if you were self signed off for 7 days then GP signed you off for another 4 weeks or so, you would initially be paid SSP for days 4-7 onwards, but he will get those waiting days back in due course as he will be off for longer than the 7 days. The daily rate is £12.26. Weekends are included for SSP purposes and waiting days. However there should have been a tax rebate due, as his earnings will be way below the £155.86 tax free allowances. We are on I think Week 30 if his pay was for the w/ending 28th Oct so tax allowances would be £4675.80 - deduct that from gross earnings and multiply remainder by 20% - compare tax due to tax on pay slip and see if he has paid more than he should, that will give you an idea of what he should have seen on pay slip as a refund. The wages person should have dealt with it using his tax code and it's normally expressed separately.
You need to find out exact day of week he went sick either using self certificate or GP fit note date. Then count forward 3 days and go from there, when you work out which day is 4th day - how many days in week until the 1st inclusive weekend multiplied by daily rate - my best guess is off sick Monday, so 4th day = Thursday or 4 x £12.26 = £49.04 + if approx £60 paid there is some included tax back. SSP for next week should be £122.60 + tax back as the waiting days should come back into it. Followed by next week of just £85.85 + tax back. Hope that helps.