To be scared of claiming benefits for the 1st time

[Piratepete1]

DH has just been made redundant. It has been a terrible shock and we are still in a bit of a state. I gave up work to look after our disabled DD 4 years ago so she gets middle rate DLA and I get carers. She turns 5 in January and will be reassessed. She has mad huge strides over the last few years I have been at home with her and I suspect that she will no longer need DLA thus that will go and so will my carers. We have never claimed any tax credits or anything as DH was on a decent income.

He is trying to negotiate a pay off between £24K and £30K. Obviously this will then count as savings. I have done a quick audit of our monthly spending and we spend £500 on nursery (I need 2 mornings a week to help care for my grandad), £600 on the mortgage and £1000 on all other direct debits (insurances, bills etc.) I haven't even added in petrol, shopping, the children's classes which probably come to £600 a month. I can't believe we spend so much a month - it's been an eye opener.

Are there any benefits we should claim while DH looks for a job? I'm worried he will have trouble finding one and the money will run out. I know we need to cut down our spending drastically

[HooplaLoopla1]

I don't know what you'd be 'entitled' to or not but this website can be helpful www.entitledto.co.uk

[AvaLeStrange]

Do you have a children and family centre nearby. They will be able to offer younlots of advice and support re benefits entitlement and may be able tomput you in touch with someone who specifically deals with disability benefits.

Are you claiming your free entitlement to nursery and is this for your DD or a younger child? They may qualify for 2 year funding.

As a starting point, look at the entitled to and turn to us websites. They have very simple, accurate benefits calculators which will give you csome idea of what you can claim within 5-10 minutes.

Best of luck .

[GnomeDePlume]

Your DH should be entitled to contributions based Job Seekers Allowance. Your savings wont be relevant for that.

Also take a look at a benefits calculator:

benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou?gclid=Cj0KEQjwjoC6BRDXuvnw4Ym2y8MBEiQACA-jWRwaeTYBlb6MiXaaMLIwvEGC8Vu1yq-nBtgcGH0oZs8aAqhr8P8HAQ

Your DH needs to get his CV up to date and out there. Are his employer offering any sort of outplacement support? When I was made redundant my employer provided this which helped with CV writing and also with interview practice.

I know it is a blow but you will get through this.

[SoreArms]

Could your DH look after DD whilst you help with your grandad? That'll save £500 a month...Sorry you've had such a shock

[Piratepete1]

The 2 year old nursery funding is vey confusing. It says if you claim tax credits (which we don't but might be able to now) and if income is less than £16k a year. Is that this tax year? Or last? If DH does get a job in a few months time then things will be different. Never appreciated how complicated the system was

[Piratepete1]

Yes DH could do that. It just seems a shame to take him out until he gets his free hours after Easter next year when he is happy and settled I just didn't want this nightmare to affect the children.

[Medusacascade]

If the fact she has made great progress because of the adjustments and financial help that DLA gives, surely it would be unlikely it would stop?

[Piratepete1]

You would think that Medusa but it isn't seen like that. It's because I have been able to take her to 2 therapy sessions a week, pay do additional private support that she has made that progress. Yes she might slip back without all this but that isn't considered.

[Foofoobum]

There are so many variables these days with benefits. I'm not sure whether your oh would get universal credit but it's a game changer and quite an unfair situation for most. Things like whether your oh was voluntarily or compulsory redundant make a difference. You also have to wait something like 5 weeks to claim anything and I don't know if they do contribution based uc so the savings may need to be relied upon.

I'm awestruck at spending £1000 a month on bills not including petrol and food tho. I'm sure you can make some huge cutbacks there. Some months we don't even have that much coming in to our household and I think we're reasonably well off!

[Betrayedbutsurvived]

Your husband will get contribution based job seekers allowance for six months, regardless of savings. My husband was made redundant a year ago, he's now working, fairly consistently, in a string of temporary jobs, paying way below his previous level to be honest, but enough to keep the wolf from the door till something else comes up.

[QuiteLikely5]

If you have savings of over 16k I don't think you can claim certain benefits, so you should maybe look at reducing his redundancy money ASAP by paying a lump sum off the mortgage but even then I think it's only acceptable to have about 3k in savings otherwise what you have above that reduces your entitlement

[Piratepete1]

I know FooFoo! I was gobsmacked when we worked it out! Private health insurance is about £250 and mobile phones are something like £150!! We have been very complacent and this is a huge wake up call.

[specialsubject]

Is that mobile phone insurance alone ? There's a bank account that will give it for free for several phones. Possibly the co op?

[x2boys]

Is her DLA up for renewal in January or is it just that they will be asessing her fit the mobility component my ds had a really long award he was awarded DLA a couple of years ago and his award isn't up for renewal untill 2026 but I applied for mobility when he turned five .

[Piratepete1]

No it's for 2 mobile phone contracts. We do have AA and phone insurance through the bank.

[Foofoobum]

I just realised how judgemental my post was. Sorry piratepete1 it wasn't meant that way.

You can survive on NHS - it's not that bad. You're definitely overpaying for your mobiles too! Join MoneySavingExpert site and see where you can make savings. It's amazing what you can do without. As your situation improves you can pick up all the wee luxuries again.

I'm sorry you're facing this. The social security system can be horrific if you don't know how it works but it is a great leveller. I signed on once in 2001 and vowed never again but it did inspire me to fight for the rights of those who exist on social security. No one makes the choice to live on social security despite what the daily mail and friends of friends of mumsnet posters may lead you to believe

[DawgDawg]

I know everyone is different OP but as a lone parent I have had to tighten the reigns. Ive manages to get my outgoings too as low as I can.

Ctax 100
House 500
Water 30
Gas & Electric 42
Car tax 20
BT 30
Mobile 10
Credit card 25
Creditcard 75
TV 12
Family member loan 100
ChildCare 140
Food 200
Petrol 50

I pay house insurance annualy & car insurance as its a bit cheaper to do that. I will try & pay my car tax & b.t line rental in advance this year.
Luckily I work close to home to keep petrol costs down.

Have a look online to reduce some outgoings. I tried 2 comparison sites for my car insurance. The same company was quoting me £220 on one & £170 on the other.

[WhoisLucasHood]

Do you have mortgage insurance for redundancy? Ours was fairly simple to claim for and covered the repayments with a little left over. The JSA didn't go very far although we did get tax credits.

[TellAStory]

Your dh will be entitled to contribution based job seekers and the lump sum payment will not affect that. You would be entitled to tax credits, phone them up and start a claim, you may also be entitled to council tax benefit (have to declare savings but might still get something).

Now is the time to MOT your spending and really look at your budget. I would recommend going through the budget planner on moneysaving expert - it takes a while to work out all your current spending but is a real eye opener! There are also lots of links to ways to cut each category of spending. As you have a disaled child you will get extra tax credits.

[Piratepete1]

Thanks for all the advice. We spent last night crying and drinking We need to spend tonight sorting things out

[specialsubject]

Plenty of scope to cut those bills and you'll feel much better as you gain control.

I don't think I know many people who haven't had at least one redundancy , it is a shock but grab it and it can be an opportunity.

[Dizzydodo]

Can't offer much advice about benefits but when I went back to work part time after DD we did a 'finance audit' and found it was easy to reduce our outgoings by quite a bit - change your gas and electric supplier, cut back on paid tv services (eg sky/virgin), if you're not tied into a contract change your phone to a sim only deal, cancel unnecessary insurances or shop around for cheaper deals, plan the weeks meals to avoid splurges at the supermarket and switch to own brands where possible (for toiletries too), cut back on luxuries (hair, nails, clothes etc) group on deals can be good for the odd beauty treat, change gym if not tied into contract to a cheaper pay monthly one (eg pure gym etc) or cancel altogether and do free excercise instead. The Martin Lewis website has good money saving tips. Also, without wanting to sound judgy, is there a reason your DD doesn't go to school? That would be a massive cost saving on nursery fees.

[Babyroobs]

Your dh can claim contributions based Job seekers allowance and you can claim child tax credits which will also be at a higher rate than normal as your dd is eligible for DLA. Do you claim your free 15 hours Nursery, as I'm not sure why you are speding £500 a month on Nursery fees for 2 mornings a week? You only have to declare the interest on savings for tax credit purposes but I'm unsure if redundancy payout would count as income.

[umizoomi]

I take it it's a younger child at nursery for two mornings per week? or does your DD go too? Is she not at school

That is a huge amount of money for two mornings per week. Your £1000 bill extra is also very high. Not sure why anyone has private medical insurance unless it's paid for by an employer.

Your mobile bills are v high too. DH and I both have an iPhone on contract and it's about half your bill.

[Piratepete1]

DD doesn't start school until September. She goes to nursery 4 mornings a week.