Need to sign on with family ,what would we be entitled to?

dmg24

You have a great deal of capital, this will stop you from claiming IS. Therefore you will not get mortgage help (you would not be entitled to HB if you rented).

Do you qualify for any benefits at the moment, apart from CTB? Are you and your husband not able to work?

shellsuit

I must be missing something here...you have money, it's just tied up in bricks and mortar. You have another property (?) and you live in a different property to those

Why don't you just sell a property, then you will have funds to live on

Also, your children won't get free school meals unless you are awarded Income Support, which you won't, having all that capital.

ANNIEHAHA

Without going into detail of why ,I have been diagnoised with anxiety and depression and have been having counselling.My husband has been helping me with the children and through this difficult time for the last few of years.
Please dont think of us as wanting to sponge off the state as this is the last resort for us, which is why we have lived off the rental income until now

dmg24

If your depression is severe enough to need day to day help, then you may be entitled to IB (however, this will be dependent upon you having paid sufficient NI Contributions in the past two financial years), DLA and Carers Allowance. But for the latter two it does have to be very serious.

TBH the last resort for most people would be to put at least one of the two properties on the market, in fact for many it would be to put their own home on the market. Sorry x

ANNIEHAHA

Thanks for your advice I appreciate your views and honesty ,I will let you know how we get on if you like (either way that is)
I'll hit the thanks button now
Thanks again

seven-day-weekend

I'm pretty sure they will class the equity in your rental properties as capital, and like anyone else with capital trying to claim a means-tested benefit, you will be expected to live off it until it drops to below £16,000.

You may need to sell or re-rent one of your properties.

looby75

just out of curiosity isn't there some kind of hardship fund that could help the OP out until one of the properties sold. I mean it's not a quick process and she still has to heat their home and feed the kids. She and her OH have obviously tried to do what they can so as not to claim lots of benefits while she has been ill, been sensible with their money and now she needs help for a little while it would seem there is none out there for her.

I suppose what I'm asking is what is she expected to live off in the mean time

Bogof_Babe

I would think they would be expected to mortgage the currently wholly owned property to raise capital for the short term.

I agree that this is not the taxpayer's responsibility, although it is an unfortunate situation for the OP and her family. It's a bit like me saying I have money in the bank but it's for my old age, so can I have some benefits in the meantime?

looby75

but even a re mortgage would take weeks to come through. I'm not saying that the tax payers should pay indefinitely just so the OP can keep their properties for the future but it does seem very harsh that they have done everything they can to take as little as possible in the way of benefits for years and now they need a bit of help, short term, there is none there for them.

I don't know what the answer is, I'm just thinking out loud really (sorry OP that doesn't help your situation any)

pinkshoes

looby75 wrote: »

but even a re mortgage would take weeks to come through. I'm not saying that the tax payers should pay indefinitely just so the OP can keep their properties for the future but it does seem very harsh that they have done everything they can to take as little as possible in the way of benefits for years and now they need a bit of help, short term, there is none there for them.

But it's not the tax payers fault that the OP has a cash flow problem!! If you live off rental income, you need to base your income calculations on the rental property being occupied for only 75% of the year, and if you need more money than this and have a property with equity in it, you would release some of the equity and put it in an ISA *just incase* you need it.

I have £7k in an ISA should I loose my job and be unable to pay my mortgage, as why should the tax payer foot the bill?

ANNIEHAHA - can you raise the money in any other way i.e. a low interest loan? I'm sure someone will lend you money given you have a mortgage free house!