Shielding with no money help.

DinoF

Hi,
can anyone help with this problem. 

My wife works part time as a counter assistant in a pharmacy. She has a letter from the government telling her she has to shield as she is vulnerable. 

She started shielding 23rd March. 

Her boss told her she cannot be furloughed as the pharmacies are being subsidised by the government therefor she is not entitled to the 80% furlough pay. 

She was also told that she cannot claim sick pay as she earns just under the minimum pay to qualify. 

She also applied for universal credit but was told she is not entitled to that either as I earn too much (around £28k per year)
This means she has had no income for the last 14 weeks and has had to use her savings to pay bills. 

Has she received the correct information. 

Many Thanks. 

Dean. 

sharpe106

Furlough is the option of the employer, if they are government funded it is quite hard to furlough too and is too late now anyway. For SSP how much does she earn? If you have filled a benefit calculator in then that will be correct. Harsh as it sounds that is what savings are for a rainy day, not just a nice holiday.

calcotti

As her husband you are assumed to be supporting her.

DCFC79

If you have no money then look at your spendjng and cut back.
Can you increase your hours or get a second income ?

mattyprice4004

Time to find a 2nd job, or give her some savings - when married money is assumed to be shared for the most part. 
It sounds like the information she has received is correct, yes. 

onwards&upwards

You're her husband, her partner, do you not share?

Have you just carried on as normal while your wife has lost all income?

Grumpy_chap

The shielding will end at the end of July.  Will your wife's job be there to return to after that date?
While this probably all seems wrong, that at least gives a finite time that you both need to make things work on the reduced income before you can get back to normal and rebuild a savings pot.

yksi

Pharmacies have kept operating and there's work available, so while there was some leeway it makes sense that the employer has (correctly) decided not to furlough her. That means SSP is the route to look at and if that isn't an option, UC - and as you have learned, UC does not provide for families who earn over a certain amount, because UC is intended for those most in need. Unfortunately they have no interest in peoples' individual living costs but only in whether they're already deemed to be "earning enough" (sic). Best to look at how you can minimise spending until she can return to work.

calcotti

yksi said:

.. That means SSP is the route to look at and if that isn't an option, UC - 

OP has said earnings were below threshold (£120/week) to qualify for SSP.

OP, something she may want to consider when things get back to normal is whether she can work a little more to get over the threshold. Apart from SSP if she earns less than £120 she is not getting any NI credits through work towards her future state pension entitlement.

DinoF

onwards&upwards said:

You're her husband, her partner, do you not share?

Have you just carried on as normal while your wife has lost all income?

I give her all My wages except £30 a week to pay bills. The £30 I keep let’s me pay my fee bills and run my car. So I’d say I do share. 

suki1964

DinoF said:

onwards&upwards said:

You're her husband, her partner, do you not share?

Have you just carried on as normal while your wife has lost all income?

I give her all My wages except £30 a week to pay bills. The £30 I keep let’s me pay my fee bills and run my car. So I’d say I do share. 

If its taking all your wages plus savings to cover the bills after a loss of less then £120 a week, you may wish to look at your expenditure and see where you can cut back. Not that £120 is to be sneezed at but it seems you are totally reliant on it to keep your heads above water