Can anything be claimed? Edit- further question, help needed please.

swingaloo

Someone was off work sick for about 3 months then for health reasons went back part time, 3 days a week. Now unfortunately they have been signed off again for at least the next 12 weeks. The company are great and have been very understanding so no issue there.

They are only now entitled to SSP which today turned out to be £45. (That was with waiting days and so is now £79) . They live at home with the mother and father who are pension age and cant afford  to support her for long. Neither parents nor daughter have savings. 
Besides not now being able to contribute to the rent the daughter also has car insurance
of £140 a month and car tax to pay monthly. That cant be cancelled as the car is essential for the job when they can return to work.

Obviously they cant sustain this level of income loss for long but the daughter does not know when she will be able to return to work. Is there any additional benefit she could claim? Ive had a look but I'm not savvy with benefits and most of what I can see applies to those out of work and job seeking.

UPDATE- She has now been referred to a specialist and has been told by the doctor she will not be able to work until they get results and sort out medication. She has now been signed off for a further 2 months at least so the chances of her job being kept open are slim as she may not even be able to return to the type of work she does even if the job is still available. She is already resigned to thinking they will let her go.

She has to go into work for an update meeting next week. Now obviously she does not want to go in and say she is leaving as she would not be able to claim any help if she did that. But, is it reasonable for her to say that she 'understands if they cannot keep her job open' in the hope they may finish her and then she would be able to claim some kind of help?
Is that something work may look favourably on as it gives them a chance to replace her, or, is there a reason they may not want to do this.
 

Spoonie_Turtle

Universal Credit is one she will definitely be able to claim.  With a fit note she should not be required to search for work and will be referred for a Work Capability Assessment after 28 days.  Her SSP will initially be deducted at 55% although if she's later found to have LCW or LCWRA she'll have the work allowance, which will be higher than her SSP so it'll be recalculated to not take any deductions for it.

I don't think she can claim New-Style ESA if she's receiving SSP.

Brie

Depending on why she is off sick she may be eligible for PIP.

I'd suggest she needs to talk to Citizen's Advice to do a full benefit check and help with the application process.  

She might want to check 

Benefits Calculator - entitledto - independent | accurate | reliable

And do it for herself as well as both her parents.  It's possible they might get something that can help them too.  Priority issue for them is to check if they are on Pension Credits and if not and if they are eligible to apply immediately in order to qualify for the Winter Fuel Allowance.  They have until 13? December.

KxMx

NS ESA can be claimed after SSP ends, if needed.

https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/unable-to-work

M25

Depending on how tight the parents' finances are this 'someone' should take the car off the road immediately and SORN it.

It cannot be afforded and may destroy the savings of the parents. Once in full time work then the insurance/road tax can be restarted.

As others have said UC is the way to go and an advance can be asked for which may help with finances of everyone involved.

Murphybear

swingaloo said:

Someone was off work sick for about 3 months then for health reasons went back part time, 3 days a week. Now unfortunately they have been signed off again for at least the next 12 weeks. The company are great and have been very understanding so no issue there.

They are only now entitled to SSP which today turned out to be £45. They live at home with the mother and father who are pension age and cant afford  to support her for long. Neither parents nor daughter have savings. 
Besides not now being able to contribute to the rent the daughter also has car insurance
of £140 a month and car tax to pay monthly. That cant be cancelled as the car is essential for the job when they can return to work.

Obviously they cant sustain this level of income loss for long but the daughter does not know when she will be able to return to work. Is there any additional benefit she could claim? Ive had a look but I'm not savvy with benefits and most of what I can see applies to those out of work and job seeking.

The car insurance seems very high.  Has she used one of the online checkers (Compare the market and others) to see if she can get it cheaper.  My insurance company sent me a renewal letter in July saying my new insurance would be £375 which was a big rise.  When I searched online I found one, same terms, for £205 which was approx what I was already paying.  I phoned my insurance company to see if they could match it and they did.  .