Both redundant,disabled son, clueless about benefits

Welshmum2disabledson

Hi, I am new. I am a mum who has just lost their job through restructuring, but not eligible for redundancy payments as I've not worked there long enough. I'm devastated not just about the loss of income. I worked hard for them and in return they were really kind in being flexible with my hours so I could fit in my sons Drs appointments and take him to/ from school ( he is disabled).

Worse still, my husband has just been told that he is being made redundant. He is the main wage earner. So we have just sold our only car and adding that to his redundancy we will have over £16,000 in the bank. But that won't last long if we can't find jobs and we have a huge mortgage to pay etc.

Thankfully we don't have much on the credit card bills.

We were fortunate to be in work earning enough that we never considered claiming any sort of benefit.
But now we are worried that we won't be able to cover our basic necessities. Our 2 children are primary school age.

Our youngest son is disabled and needs a lot of direct support and help from us ( he is registered visually impaired & has regular pediatrician appointments as he blacks out, has hormone problems and continence issues even now at age 7) someone mentioned about DLA and carers allowance and mobility. I have no clue what all this is.

We are desperately trying to find jobs as we don't want to apply for benefits but I think we will be forced to soon. We are so naive and know nothing about benefits please help and let us know what sort of benefits we might be entitled to as I'm feeling sick with worry. Thankyou

[Deleted User]

DLA is a benefit paid for care and or mobility needs and you should have a read around google for info.
providing you and OH have paid the relevant N.I. contributions you should apply for JSA (jobseekers allowance)which for the first 6 months isn't means tested(apply the day after you stop working)
you may also later on qualify for smi(mortgage support)
carers allowance can only be paid if and when your son receives the care element of dla middle or higher rate

tomtontom

As per woodbine, but also worth noting that Carers Allowance may be paid in advance of a decision being made on the DLA claim. It would be worth contacting CAB or DIAL to get assistance in doing this.

pmlindyloo

tomtontom wrote: »

As per woodbine, but also worth noting that Carers Allowance may be paid in advance of a decision being made on the DLA claim. It would be worth contacting CAB or DIAL to get assistance in doing this.

Would you be kind enough to provide a link for this?

Welshmum2disabledson

Thankyou all for your kind replies.
My husbands basic pay was £75,000 a year before tax etc.

I know it sounds massive but a lot of it went paying for accommodation in London ( we live in Wales but his job was in London so he rented a place there during the week and came home on the weekends).

A large chunk went last year as we paid for my little sisters wedding ( our parents are no longer with us and we were thankful we could do this for them both). I don't regret it, we had a wonderful time.

In many ways I will be glad to have him back home full time as life has been hard working full time and caring for our sons on my own.

Does anyone know if , when I claim and hopefully obtain the benefits you all mentioned, if there are other benefits you can then be entitled to.
I know we can't get a free tv license ( my son is not blind thankfully) but do they have things like fuel allowances.
I'm clutching a straws I know.
I'm worried the benefits staff might see my address and think, wow she doesn't need help, but the truth is it's a huge albatross around my neck as the mortgage is ridiculous. We always thought of it as a pension, somewhere we could downsize from etc ,but loads of houses are for sale down our street and none of them are selling.

I'm just writing down a list of all the discretionary spending we make, I was going to cancel the internet straight away but all my sons books are accessed via the internet on the ipad ( he cant see normal books).

Out of convenience I've been using easy ups for his incontinence so I will look into cloth ones as I will have time on my hands for the extra laundry. He is very very small for his age so at least toddler size still fit him. I'm trying to keep positive, it's not easy. But I'm blessed with a good husband and 2 wonderful kids. I have to keep positive

Indie_Kid

RNIB have some good resources on claiming DLA for a child. You have to prove that your child has more care and /or mobility needs than a child his own age, or the same needs as a younger child.

kingfisherblue

You should be able to get nappies or pull ups via your doctor or continence nurse, at no cost to you.

pmlindyloo

Have you checked to see if you have any kind of protection insurance for your mortgage?

If you haven't then you could speak to your lenders and see if they can help in any way.

Your savings will mean that you will not be able to claim any income based benefits at the moment.

However, paying the mortgage and living expenses will soon erode those savings after which you will become entitled to income based JSA.

In the mean time apply for contribution based JSA. If you are both eligible then you can both make two separate claims.

But you must keep in touch with Job Centre plus about your diminishing capital so that you can be assessed for income based JSA. This is important because you have housing costs and you have to wait for 13 weeks on income based JSA before you are eligible for help with the interest on your mortgage.

Fingers crossed you both find work soon.

mgdavid

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

http://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/startcalc.aspx

GoneWithTheWindFabulous

Keep strong. Hope you get a job soon and also any help you need
Can you take any payment holidays for mortgage?
xx

McKneff

Do you really need to live wehre you live now.


Could you downsize or move elsewhere for both of you to look for new jobs.