please somebody helpme

bzee

i am married with 4 children my husband is no longer on the scene and will not be around to see the kids or to pay towards anything....this happened yesterday and i dont know what to do...
i dont work as he was the earner,
we have mortgage of £1000 a month ( there is no give in the morgage as we are in arrears and have to pay that or lose the house ) then other bills of around £500 a month i dont know what to do or where to start i
my youngest is 5 and started school full time
please can anyone help me i just need someone to help me sort something out please....i think i can pay this month mortgage ...i dont know if i can claim anything...or get help towards the mortgage

MrsD2014

What an awful situation. I'm not clued enough up to advise sorry (young dumb and tired) but others here will definitely be able to help you once they're online. Good luck, I'm sure you'll get the situation sorted, one step at a time.

Beckyy

What happened with your husband, if you don't mind saying?

Is the house/mortgage in joint names?

Post figures of any debts/arrears and somebody may be able to make some suggestions for you.

whodathunkit

You'll need to put in a claim for JSA and start looking for a job, change your tax credits claim from joint to single, contact your mortgage provider and arange to go interest only, which will be covered (after 13 weeks) by SMI.

In the longer term, you may need to sell the house and move into rented accommodation claiming LHA to cover the rent.

I should have said at the start, the first thing you need to do is to get the cost of those bills down - you'll find a lot of help to do this on various MSE boards.

Seanymph

Whose name is the mortgage and what are the 'other bills' and whose name are they in?

bzee

Thanks the mortgage is in joint names
Other bills I mean elec food oil tv licence ect
As for what happened. I am not going to say x

stebiz

bzee wrote: »

As for what happened. I am not going to say x

But that's relevant.

Is he dead. Ran off with millions in his bank account. Unemployed. Steady salary. Done this before and will be back.

good_advice

Good morning bzze
It is a new day and the beginning of your new life.
Just wondering if your husband has just left or is beginning a jail term?
You sound so sure he will not be around.

I think you will need to make appointments for the job centre and citizens advice.

Well done for coming on MSE. We are all friends.

bzee

He is in prison

BitterAndTwisted

Is there any equity in the property even though you are in arrears? The last thing mortgage-lenders want to do is repossess if there is an alternative, so please speak to them as soon as possible. In the short-term they may agree for you to go interest-only until you get on your feet. In your position I would be inclined to spend what money I had on essentials like food and utilities first.

Your first post of call should be the JobCentre and sign on. Other benefits start coming into play once you have a claim. At the very least you should be entitled to Council tax benefit.

With your youngest child at school you will be expected to look for part-time work. If you work more than 16 hours a week (I think) you would be able to claim Working Tax Credits.

have a look at this website to see what you might be entitled to:

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

marisco_2

I am very sorry to hear of the situation you find yourself in. I would suggest that you post a statement of affairs on the debt free board. There are some very experienced people there, who can look at your budget and advise on ways to reduce your outgoings. Contact your mortgage provider as a matter of urgency and explain what has happened to them. Call the tax credits helpline 0845 300 3900 and change any claim to single. Get in touch with the council and get your council tax payment amended to a single claim.

A visit to the CAB would be a good idea. One of their advisors can go through all that you could claim. The benefits board on here could also be a useful resource. I hope very much that yourself and the children have the love and support of family and friends around you. Myself and plenty of others on here have also found the Samaritans to be extremely helpful during very difficult times. As a teacher I would recommend that when the children return to school speak to those who work closest to them about what has happened. They can then put all appropriate support in place and try as much as possible to keep them on an even keel. Schools also have access to putting you in touch with Parent Support advisors. They can be very useful.