Unable to pay last month of rent due to being forloughed

mrsmortgage

Universal credit will only gives £50 ... New claims are taking forever. The company has no money to pay for now. So he won't get paid until they get the money from HRMC 

anselld

mrsmortgage said:

His employer sent him an email saying that he can't take any other form of employment and that the government will pay him directly not them as their employer as they don't have the money to do so. They said the government will pay by the end of this month. I'm on maternity leave, so my one option is to go back to work FT, which we're currently considering, but we'd still have a a cash flow problem

Employer talking complete nonsense which does not bode will for any payment.  Please read ..
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Are you sure your husband is PAYE and not self-employed?  The self employed will be reimbursed by the government (but that is not furlough) but any PAYE employee will have a very long wait for any payment directly from the Gov.

mrsmortgage

He's PAYE... Yes just got it clarified by him.  His employees will pay him once they get the money from HRMC, whenever that happens

mrsmortgage

He usually gets paid weekly which is the current cash flow problem

anselld

mrsmortgage said:

He's PAYE... Yes just got it clarified by him.  His employees will pay him once they get the money from HRMC, whenever that happens

Well that is a seriously catch-22 situation.  He needs to be on payroll for the employer to claim the grant so how can they claim the grant if they have not paid him?   HMRC still receive real time payroll information monthly so I would think they will query any discrepancy between payroll and furlough claims.  I do hope they know what they are doing because it sounds dodgy

lisyloo

The most important thing short term is that you formally communicate. I would express a willingness to Agree a payment plan (even if you have no details) as an expression of cooperation  will mean they have no realistic chance of pursuing you in the short term.

mrsmortgage

But if they have no money to pay him, how are they supposed to pay him? That's how I can understand that they need the money of the government to then pay it to my husband and his colleagues. Nowhere have I seen that they're supposed to take a loan to pay them. 

lisyloo

mrsmortgage said:

But if they have no money to pay him, how are they supposed to pay him? That's how I can understand that they need the money of the government to then pay it to my husband and his colleagues. Nowhere have I seen that they're supposed to take a loan to pay them. 

If they have contractual obligations to pay him (not clear on the arrangement) then that is their obligation and they need to meet that however they can.
if the government have said banks should provide loans to companies then that is what they should do, however speculating about what is probably out of your control is a bit pointless.
look at what is under your control I.e. communication to landlord, budgeting, other work for mrmortgage and other work for you (if you feel you can manage whilst on maternity).
no one will expect you to put your health at risk so pay attention to the advice for pregnant women, better for bills to go unpaid than to risk your health, but I don’t know if you can work from home, just saying there are priorities and the world won’t end if your rent is late

anselld

Going back to the original issue.  There is no point paying a month to the agents and then waiting for a two week refund.  Can you afford to just pay the period you owe? 

Was there a deposit?  Can you suggest to the agent that the two weeks owed are deducted from the deposit.  Normally not preferred but these are not normal times.

mrsmortgage

Yes, there's a 5 week deposit. The problem is that agents were adamant (before all of the Covid exploded) that we had to pay that month and then they'll refund us whatever is left (as they will deduct their reletting fees).

In all honesty we'll even struggle to pay the £500 for half a month's rent given we only have my £150 a week maternity allowance pay and that's it.