Husband dismissed, need urgent help

busymum79

My husband told me last night that he was dismissed from his job last week. This has come as a massive shock and I'm still very upset.
He is planning to appeal, but I need to know what we should do in terms of benefits etc.
We have 3 children aged 5,7 and 14. I work 14 hours a week and earn £375 per month and we receive £188 per month in child benefit. We pay £975 per month in rent and have no savings.
Please help, I didn't sleep last night and I'm trying to keep it together for the children but I'm really worried. This has destroyed the plans we had for the future and I'm constantly on the verge of tears.
What is our next step? I will contact tax credits today, but who else should I call? We have never claimed benefits before and have no idea where to start.
Thank you

BigAunty

The Turn2us online calculator will work out your likely benefits.

Contact your local council to claim council tax discount and housing benefit.

Their website will indicate the maximum LHA that is payable for the size of property you have an entitlement to. Is your rent much higher than the LHA rate?I believe that if you haven't claimed HB for the previous year, there is a 13 week initial period where full rent is paid. There is also discretionary housing payment that the local council can give to some of its HB claimants for a temporary period if the rent is above the LHA.

Other posters will tell you about Job Seekers Allowance, its sanctions and hardship payments to tell you how this works.

If you are at risk of rent arrears, see the Shelter website for advice on how to deal witih this.

busymum79

Thank you for the reply. My husband did speak to someone about the council tax, but the housing benefit people needed information about tax credits that he didn't know. Our LHA rate is approximately £300 per month less than our rent. Should I contact tax credits first or is there someone else? Sorry for all the questions, really confused and no sleep last night doesn't help!

mandragora_2

If you work less than 16 hours p/w, you need to see if you can claim free school meals for your children - starting point link is here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals

It's really worth doing because even if your children don't eat the food (and they should do!) being on FSM 'unlocks' access to other services/discounts/support. Schools results with FSM children are looked at very closely by Ofsted, meaning that schools themselves pay even more attention to the progress and achievements of that cohort. It can also mean that some elements of some school trips and activities are supported.

Good luck with all this.

busymum79

I hadn't thought of free school meals, thanks. This is all very alien to me and we are hoping that he'll get something soon. It's just all so sad. He's devastated, didn't tell me because we were away for the weekend and he didn't want to ruin it. It breaks my heart that he's been dealing with this alone because he didn't want to worry me.
We've been planning to emigrate this year, he'd been shortlisted for a job with his company in Australia and now we can't even afford a birthday party for our youngest at the end of the month.

busymum79

He was on £34500 annually before tax. I was wondering about the 24 hours thing,I'm fairly sure that my manager would help me out with extra hours but this is a really quiet time of year for us so I probably wouldn't be able to start them until next month.

mandragora_2

Good luck with his appeal, too. Is he in a union, and if so, will he be using their legal team? If he isn't, get the best advice you can afford - but don't forget that many solicitors offer a free initial advice meeting. If he does his homework before he goes to that meeting, he can use it well to get the answers to the questions that he really needs. It's a long road ahead, but with the two of you working together, you will be surprised how much you can overcome.

quidsy

Home insurance sometimes has a legal advice element, check your policy, he may be entitled to some legal advice there.

busymum79

If we claim housing benefit, will our landlord be informed?

p00hsticks

quidsy wrote: »

Home insurance sometimes has a legal advice element, check your policy, he may be entitled to some legal advice there.

Having been in a similar positon to the OP ourselves, unfortunately I suspect you'll find that 'employment disputes' are excluded from the cover.

pelirocco

Do you know why he was dismissed , and did the company follow proceedures?