*******Support Required Please*******

Razorred_2

Hi, I am going to be made redundant in October. I havnt got a clue what I am going to do. I will be looking for work but Im now 49 and not as marketable as I once was.
My wife works two jobs in total about 16 hours.

We have 4 kids and a BIG mortgage.

I am going to get contribution based JSA in October. £70 a week.

We get tax credits now so I expect we will get some more.

I was wondering weather or not it would be in our interests for me to take a part time job to get to the magic 24 hours for Tax credits?

Ive lots to worry about and no one to turn to, can anyone help please.

silvercar

One thing to look at would be SMI-support for mortgage interest.

zagfles

You'll likely see a big increase in tax credits. How much does your wife earn? Hours (if under 30) might not make a difference to tax credits but depends on her earnings.

Horseunderwater

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/benefits-check use this to see what you may be entitled to. It may be very little. Are you going to get a redundancy payout? Do you have PPI for the mortgage or any other debts? 49 is not old - I'll be 50 this week & if I could still work I would. I went from office work to bus driving in 1998, so think outside the box.

TELLIT01

Don't pay off any debts with the redundancy money if you are going to be claiming any benefits. Crazy as it may sound, to do so can be considered as "deprivation of capital" and can affect entitlement to benefit.

Razorred_2

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the replies.
My wife only started this second job last week! She is getting about £7 an hour. So total she will pick up from both jobs is £112 a week.
Im not going to get much redundancy approx £13k. For 20 years service!
I have about £5k in debt. I was going to pay this off but keitht53 says not too!! That has really thrown me?!
Im mortgaged to the hilt about £1000 a month. But wont get any help with that for 12 weeks (I think someone said).

Really think Im better off working p/t with my wife and claiming what I can.
I cannot see me getting a big wage anymore.
Any suggestions / ideas?

Thanks

Rob

pmlindyloo

To get Support for Mortgage Interest you have to be on an income related benefit.

See here:

https://www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest/eligibility

You will be receiving contribution based JSA and since your wife is working then will not be entitled to an income based 'top up' giving you eligibility to SMI.

So you are left with claiming child tax credits, child benefit and council tax reduction.

With such a high mortgage you are going to be struggling if you don't get a job. Although you can find part time work to make up combined hours to 24 to be eligible for working tax credits this will probably not be enough to meet your expenses.

Obviously the more money you earn the better. Since you have debts then I am guessing that your current salary is still not enough to break even each month.

You may need to seriously consider a life style change. Your mortgage costs are huge. Perhaps now that you have been made redundant it might be a good idea to consider relocation where house prices are cheaper. Is that a possibility?

In the mean time you need to seriously reduce your expenditure. Have a thorough read of all the articles on this website - e.g. changing your utility providers etc etc and head over to the debtfree wannabe forum where the regulars have good ideas about reducing expenditure.

Having been in a similar situation myself it is possible to 'shave off' a good amount from a monthly expenditure with a determined effort.

Since the only means tested benefit you might be eligible for is council tax reduction then you could pay off your debts. However, you need to do some figure crunching as you may need this safety net for paying the mortgage in the immediate future.

Of course you may find a job with a superb salary - I hope you do - but, just in case, you need to make some real decisions about how you are going to afford everything.

BigAunty

The Shelter website has good information for distressed home owners at risk of arrears or repossession.

The Turn2us online benefit calculator is good for modelling different scenarios, including whether finding 8 hours extra employment will mean the sum from WTC is a holy grail or not (certainly we see many posts from people in households that stick religiously to this).

I would do further research around deprivation of capital and paying off debts. keitht53 is being very simplistic about a complex area. There is no issue with paying off debts that are legally due, AFAIK. The legislation is there to prevent people intentionally paying off loans early, such as shovelling money into paying down their mortgages.

zagfles

BigAunty wrote: »

The Shelter website has good information for distressed home owners at risk of arrears or repossession.

The Turn2us online benefit calculator is good for modelling different scenarios, including whether finding 8 hours extra employment will mean the sum from WTC is a holy grail or not (certainly we see many posts from people in households that stick religiously to this).

I would do further research around deprivation of capital and paying off debts. keitht53 is being very simplistic about a complex area. There is no issue with paying off debts that are legally due, AFAIK. The legislation is there to prevent people intentionally paying off loans early, such as shovelling money into paying down their mortgages.

Also note that deprivation definitely won't be relevant to contribution based JSA or tax credits since there are no capital rules for these.

Your situation is very complex, you could actually be better off working less hours between you so that you're eligible for SMI. SMI is one of the few benefits with a cliff edge rather than a taper - but the qualifying criteria are quite complicated. Though I'm virtually certain you won't get it if you get WTC. As above play around on Turn2us

dave030445

You could change your mortgage to interest only for a while.