help-can i leave my job and claim income support

kate1972 · 29 March 2007 at 12:46PM

hi i am single parent working part time(20hours) .my youngest child is often off school wuth various problems and i rarely manage to complete my 20 hours some weeks only earn £50.i have no family near and no-one to look after him iso have to take time off .cos all my tax credits hosing benefit etc are based on full weeks wages i have fallen behind on rent council tax well everything.i think i be better off not working as i would have fixed income full hosing benefit free school meals etc. can i leave my job and not get penelised by income support?by time i pay for travel to work school meals etc. i am worse off according to "entitled to". please help am at my wits end tryin to do it all but not gettin anywhere. am off again today as school phoned me at work as son was ill again.

babyboo42 · 29 March 2007 at 12:52PM

as your youngest child is so young you would not be required to be available for work,although you will need to attend regular meetings with a lone parent advisor at your local jobcentre plus.i would ring your local DWP and ask to be put through to IS for your surname and have a chat rather than going via the jobcentre.
good luck

kate1972 · 29 March 2007 at 1:07PM

thanks will give them a ring this afternoon.am just worried they will penelise me for leaving work but i cant survive as i am esp. with more holidays looming.

babyboo42 · 29 March 2007 at 1:16PM

as you are not required to be available for work due to caring for your children you should be ok.good luck let me know how you get on

exil · 29 March 2007 at 1:16PM

Before doing that, you need to make sure your tax credits and benefits reflect your real earnings. Get in touch with HMRC for tax credits and local authority for housing benefits. Citizen's advice bureau may be able to advise.

kate1972 · 29 March 2007 at 3:07PM

hi have just been on phone to dwp-lovely lady on phone says i wont be penalised for leaving work but i will be on less money-obviously. gonna phone h/b office and ask about discretionary payments and how much of my £550 rant they will pay. i think i may still have to pay £50 but should get full council tax and ctc. thanx again

astonsmummy · 29 March 2007 at 3:21PM

what you need to do regards HB is to show them all your payslips so they can adjucst the benefits, they arent to know how much money is coming in unless you tell them, tbh if your work are messing you about by not giving you the right hours your best bet would be to look for another job anyway, but as you have said your having probs with your youngest and illness so dont feel bad about giuving up work because of this.
i was on IS for a bit while you get sorted wont be a problem, i dont the same thing, although dont forget you will only be on about £115 a week (based on one child, i dont know how much for more) but then you wont have rent to pay etc.
I am much better off finacially for working BUT i went through the same sort of thing last year and got IS with no probs.
Hope it all works out for you x

kate1972 · 29 March 2007 at 4:47PM

thanx am just tryin to keep afloat at moment got debts to pay as well and am struggling jst to put food on table and in gas /electric meters.i do want to work but its just so hard keeping up with it all.has anyone heard of dfh finance? they are offerin to take on all my debts and i make one monthly payment of£100 to them instead. are they for real? this could mean i can afford to stay in work as i wont be payin out so much every month.

astonsmummy · 29 March 2007 at 6:46PM

kate1972 wrote: »

thanx am just tryin to keep afloat at moment got debts to pay as well and am struggling jst to put food on table and in gas /electric meters.i do want to work but its just so hard keeping up with it all.has anyone heard of dfh finance? they are offerin to take on all my debts and i make one monthly payment of£100 to them instead. are they for real? this could mean i can afford to stay in work as i wont be payin out so much every month.

Hiya hun, i know what you mean, i got myself into a right load of bother last year and ended up getting behind in a few bills, i have sorted and feel muich less stress!
I havent got much advice but all i would say is go on the debt free wannabe board.
And there are loads of friendly people in the same sort of boat who will be able to help you.
Read this post first and go from there, but please dont take out any finance or anything until you have read it x
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

babyboo42 · 29 March 2007 at 11:18PM

glad you got advice from the dwp.i agree you should check out the debt free boards,the tv is full of ads for these fab companies who promise to make it all go away for one affordable monthly repayment and by and large it's b******.please please please take expert advice before entering into any kind of agreement like this as most of them are not legally binding and end up costing you more.

mumtoalex · 29 March 2007 at 11:47PM

When you make your claim for Income Support, you'll attend an interview at your local Jobcentreplus office. You should be seen by a specialist lone parent adviser, who will be able to help you with all the different parts of your claim, advise you about looking for work (there's money to help you with your jobsearch through the Adviser Discretionary Fund - ADF - too. For interview clothes or one off childcare for interviews etc) the NDLP adviser will also do tax credits calculations so you can see how much you would get and will fasttrack your application when you go back to work. Good Luck!

help-can i leave my job and claim income support

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