Out of a job, pregnant and no income

Siobhan7

Hello

I am looking for some advice on behalf of a friend.

She is pregnant and due in July. She took a contract job with the NHS through an agency just before she found out she was pregnant. When she told them she was pregnant, they terminated her contract stating various untrue reasons (prior to this she was receiving very good feedback so their reasons don't tally up!) This is going legal, however, she is going to be left without any form of income.

She claims universal credit but she isn't entitled to anything else. She has a young boy. Her other half can't work either. She is scared she has to declare herself as homeless. 

She loves the house she rents and doesn't want to move. She has been a self employed contractor prior to this NHS job and she has also been hit with a large tax bill. She also is worried about being able to afford a pram etc.

Is there anything she can do? She is actively seeking work but her pregnancy seems to be an issue.  

poppy12345

Universal Credit has replaced all the old benefits and the only other benefit she maybe entitled to is council tax reduction, which isn't part of UC and needs to be claimed from her local council. As she's renting does her UC include help with the rent?

What's the reason her partner is unable to work? Are they claiming UC as a couple?

She maybe entitled to a maternity grant of £500.. see link. https://www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant/eligibility

calcotti

Siobhan7 said: ..She is scared she has to declare herself as homeless. 

Why? She cannot simply declare herself homeless anyway. Even if she gets behind with the rent her landlord has to follow proper procedures in order to evict her. She would only be considered at risk of homelessness once she has received proper notices.
UC will include help with rent (but probably doesn't cover all of the rent).
As poppy says, why can't other half work? If he/she has a health condition that limits their ability to work have they recorded this on the UC claim so they can be assessed for LCWRA which could increase the UC entitlement (assuming it's a couple claim)?

Spoonie_Turtle

Has her partner had a health assessment for UC?  Have they investigated PIP?  Not that these would be quick solutions but if they would be entitled to anything they're not currently getting it could help pay off any rent arrears or the tax bill etc. in the medium-term.

calcotti

If there is a shortfall between the UC housing element and actual rent she may be able to get a Discretionary Housing Payment from her local authority.
Note also that UC entitlement will increase once baby is born. There will be a child responsibility element of £237.08/month and the housing element will also increase if this is the first child because there will be additional bedroom entitlement.
Will also get Child Benefit of £21.15/week.

Spoonie_Turtle

calcotti said:

If there is a shortfall between the UC housing element and actual rent she may be able to get a Discretionary Housing Payment from her local authority.
Note also that UC entitlement will increase once baby is born. There will be a child responsibility element of £237.08/month and the housing element will also increase if this is the first child because there will be additional bedroom entitlement.
Will also get Child Benefit of £21.15/week.

Opening post does say they have a young boy already - but to be clear, OP, they will still get an extra child element and extra child benefit once baby is born.

tboo

Siobhan7 said:

Hello

I am looking for some advice on behalf of a friend.

She is pregnant and due in July. She took a contract job with the NHS through an agency just before she found out she was pregnant. When she told them she was pregnant, they terminated her contract stating various untrue reasons (prior to this she was receiving very good feedback so their reasons don't tally up!) This is going legal, however, she is going to be left without any form of income.

She claims universal credit but she isn't entitled to anything else. She has a young boy. Her other half can't work either. She is scared she has to declare herself as homeless. 

She loves the house she rents and doesn't want to move. She has been a self employed contractor prior to this NHS job and she has also been hit with a large tax bill. She also is worried about being able to afford a pram etc.

Is there anything she can do? She is actively seeking work but her pregnancy seems to be an issue.  

poppy12345 said:

Universal Credit has replaced all the old benefits and the only other benefit she maybe entitled to is council tax reduction, which isn't part of UC and needs to be claimed from her local council. As she's renting does her UC include help with the rent?

What's the reason her partner is unable to work? Are they claiming UC as a couple?

She maybe entitled to a maternity grant of £500.. see link. https://www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant/eligibility

Already has a child.

Sure Start Maternity Grant - there must be no other children in your family.

calcotti

Spoonie_Turtle said: Opening post does say they have a young boy already - but to be clear, OP, they will still get an extra child element and extra child benefit once baby is born.

Overlooked that - so probably no change to housing element.

pickledonionspaceraider

I am sorry but I don't understand why she needs to declare herself homeless? Unless absolutely necessary this is not a great choice as it will be homeless hostels - if they are lucky - and this could the reality for a long long time.
And another question, can neither of them do ANY work, medically speaking?  The reason I ask is there are a huge amount of working from home jobs available at the moment that might be worth them looking in to. 

The job she was terminated from, was it actually a fixed term contract or was it actually a rolling contract temp role? I feel a bit confused about this scenario if I am honest - if she is so skint, how is she affording the fees to pursue this court case? As far as I understand there is no legal aid to cover employment claims...and this is going to cost a great deal of money.  Surely plowing that money in to the family future instead of a court case that she may not win, might be prudent.
There are an awful lot of temp Agency (on behalf of the NHS) roles at the minute on things like the Test and Trace and Vaccine booking lines - and because of the ebb and flow / unpredictability - the agencies are having to let go, and rehire (sometimes the same people), on quite a regular basis at the moment - so they have to be quite ruthless in terms of quality control - and the staff do not get to see that/or hear about it - unless there is a problem.  If it is the kind of situation I suspect - is going to be absolutely difficult for her to prove that she was picked out unfairly and was out performing other people who stayed - when things are so erratic, and believe me - everyone who gets let go, feels it was unfair and that they were  better than others in their group.  It is a difficult one

elsien

Agree with the above, but it would be helpful if you were able to clarify why she thinks she needs to declare herself homeless? What is happening to the rent element of their UC - is there a shortfall?
What does she hope to gain from the homeless thing - depending on where she is it could mean they end up in temporary housing/B&B for a lengthy amount of time which is probably not what she wants either. 

With regards to baby items, there is often a reasonable amount of things on freegle or the Facebook free pages for her area. She doesn’t need to buy new. Does she not have any of the stuff for her first child still knocking round the place? 

The tax bill she needs to sort - has she looked into a repayment plan at all?
Just wondering if it’s worth her posting on the debt free wannabe board for more specific advice about the bigger picture. 

sheramber

Does she live with 'her other half'?
If he cannot work presumably he is in receipt of benefit.