Lost benefits, next steps

ricknbec

Hi everyone, it's not often i would ask for advice on forums with issues of this nature, but it seems to be the only place where people get real answers!

Myself and my partner were up until recently in receipt of income support and carers allowance, and our 16 year old son was receiving disability living allowance. But our son had his PIP claim refused about 10 weeks ago and we are still waiting for them to reply after i asked them to look at the decision again (9 weeks and counting) but in the process of this our other benefits have started to end.

My partners carers allowance ended a few weeks ago, and last week we received letters from both income support and child tax credits. The income support letter informs us we are no longer entitled to the benefit (ends on 26th dec) as my partner no longer receives carers allowance, and the child tax letter informs us that we are now on reduced weekly payments until the new tax year, due to an overpayment of the disabled element we received for our son.

I had been doing some part time work during this time but unfortunately the guy i worked for was taken ill and the job went. I am now looking for a permanent, full time job, which is not proving as easy as i hoped! But my partner is going into hospital at the end of December for a procedure on her ovary's, and she will be unable to look for work or care for our 4 children properly while she recovers (up to 6 weeks) And although I am actively seeking work, i will have to deal with the care of my partner and children during her recovery period as we don't have nearby family to help.

Now I'm not sure how job seekers allowance works these days, but I'm concerned that by telling them I'm going to need time to care for my partner and kids it is going to cause problems when claiming?

Currently we are in receipt of child tax credit (at a reduced rate due to a disability element over payment) child benefit, council tax support and housing benefit, but the worry that we could loose more money is a real concern at the moment, especially where rent is concerned.

If any of you can offer any help or advice, i would be extremely grateful.

Cheers.

nannytone_2

if your wife has care needs after the op you can stop your JSA claim and she can claim ESA instead ( as long as the doctor is willing to give her a fit note)
the amount wll ve the same as you currently receive for the joint JSA claim

bloolagoon

Can you clarify were you working part time whilst on income support? Did you declare your earnings to the benefit people and how long did you work for?

ricknbec

nannytone wrote: »

if your wife has care needs after the op you can stop your JSA claim and she can claim ESA instead ( as long as the doctor is willing to give her a fit note)
the amount wll ve the same as you currently receive for the joint JSA claim

Thanks for your reply, i was looking at ESA the other day so will have to discuss this with the advisor.

ricknbec

bloolagoon wrote: »

Can you clarify were you working part time whilst on income support? Did you declare your earnings to the benefit people and how long did you work for?

Yes i was working around 4/5 months @ 12 hours per week and it was all declared, we received £79 income support during this period.

tomtontom

Is there any reason that you didn't work full time before now?

Does your son still have care needs that he cannot manage himself?

ricknbec

tomtontom wrote: »

Is there any reason that you didn't work full time before now?

Does your son still have care needs that he cannot manage himself?

Yes he does still need care with daily activities which was the main reason i only worked part time to help my partner with our other younger children, i was self employed and working form home when he was younger, but the business ended up failing unfortunately.
I am now looking for full time work to make up what we are loosing in benefits, it's a difficult situation with my son still needing the amount of care he does and leaving my partner having the responsibility of all the children, but there just wont be enough money coming in without me doing so.

Darksparkle

Is the 16 year old in education?

If PIP and carers are reinstated you only need to work 16hrs to claim WTC. You'd als get an additional element if you work 30+hrs per week.

ricknbec

Yes the 16 year old is currently in college.

We were hoping to have heard back from PIP with a second decision by now, but when i contacted them yesterday morning i was informed they had not even looked at it yet!

Darksparkle

What about the other children? Are they not yet of school age?

ricknbec

Yes they are all in full time school so it is easier for me to go full time. The main issue is around the time my partner is recovering as i will need to be available for school runs etc. It's only a short period of time and the recovery could be less than 6 weeks, but it's enough to cause a disturbance.