to sigh in relief, that we'll be better off not worse off once my DH is made redundant

[Babieseverywhere]

I have been really worried since we heard that DH's job is potentially lost, we'll find out for sure in the next couple of weeks.

As we currently have a very tight budget, I have been really worrying how we will cope and if we can keep our mortgaged home.

But having looked on entitled.com last night, it looks like we will be £200/300 pounds better off on benefits than we are now !

This is not to say we are planning on staying on benefits for any length of time. If made redundant, DH hopes to take this opportunity to get a more local job. He currently spends £210 on petrol a month travelling cross country to work every day (plus 2/3 hours driving daily too) and that was before the recent petrol price increase. Looking to be nearer £300 this month :(

Isn't that what benefits are meant to be there as a temporary safety net, when we need them ?

I ask as my DM has decided that as I am happy that we won't be made homeless if redundancy happens, somehow I am being very unreasonable in my attitude, that my DH will be on benefits forever and I am being stupid as no one gets more benefits than a paying job brings in, else no one would work.

AIBU to be relieved and please tell me entitled.com has reasonable realistic figures.

plupedantic, The union are involved as it is a departmental restructuring. I'll tell him to keep saying 'unsuitable' as it is.

Thanks for the posts, I'm going off line the housework and baby awaits :)

Oh shit BE I'm so sorry :(

It's a crap situation to be in, as you know we were there only very recently but thankfully dh's job is safe (although his assistant was made redundant so he is somehow supposed to do his own admin despite already working 50+ hours a week )

HAs he been told what his payout would be? DH was told £2000 (statutory minimum) plus notice. What notice period is he on?

xxx

I sat next to two men whilst doing a college course - both had been made redundant. Both men where shocked at the fact they got £65 per week and they thought it was going to be the life of unemployed was supposed to be all paid for, they had both had a shock when it came to claim and no money coming in.

babbieseverywhere, I would check with the correct departments and make sure you have got your facts stright

I think a lot depends on whether your partner works.

Had dh been made redundant we would have been entitled to very little as I work.

BE is a SAHM which I understand would entitle them to more as a family.

I would still check with the relevant departments as to what they are will be able to claim, as it may be very different from the computer website entitledto, which isn't always correct depending on your last years earnings and how you actually input your claim and when you claim. Just a word of warning to check

Oh yes I agree, definitely a good idea to check

I have no idea how council tax and tax credits and so forth work, thankfully we never had to look into it too deeply

BE I am out tonight until about 8.30 but will ring you then if thats OK x

I looked up www.entitled.com and that website doesn't exist.

entitled to

Thanks Ben. But the OP did say it was entitled.com

I don't think anyone should be better off on benefits than they are if they work. And that's what the Coalition is fixing. [Dons flame proof suit]

OP, sorry about your DH and hopes he finds another job quickly.

You're not BU - you haven't intentionally put yourself in this position - but I'm surprised that someone with a mortgage can be better off on benefits? I always thought that benefits didn't pay a mortgage; only rent?

It seems that some people are entitled to a decent amount of benefits whilst others get zero. I don't get a penny as I have savings. Before I get flamed for that, the savings are for a deposit for a house so if you say I should use up my savings, I assume that you also think having a house counts as an asset and should be sold before anyone can claim benefits.

Mortgage interest is paid on the amount of the mortgage used to purchase the property (ie not further advances) at a "standard rate" which at the moment is circa 3.8%.

SMI ? what it is and who can get it

You may get help with mortgage interest payments as part of your benefits, if you are a homeowner and are getting:
Income Support
income-based Jobseeker?s Allowance
income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Pension Credit

You will only get help towards mortgage interest payments for a mortgage or loan to buy or improve your home. SMI is normally paid directly to your lender. There is no guarantee that you will get SMI for a loan you take out.

This means that if your partner is working and earning above whatever threshold there is, you will not qualify for JSA (income based) and cannot get it paid.

We know a couple who have been getting their £1650 interest only mortgage paid for the past 1.10 years. They will only have 2 more months left of payments as it is only paid out for 2 years now

Bloody hell - £1650 a month mortage being paid with benefits?

Side issue, I know, but

He has to get a job paying 30k net at the moment to make it worth him working what with mortgage, tax credits, JSA, school dinners, prescriptions etc.

On the redundancy thing - just thought I would add a positive:

My DH got made redundant last year, as his firm relocated hundreds of miles away and I had a job, we had a house and could not move. He spent about 3 months unemployed, got quite depressed and negative. But after that time he found a much better job - same sector but much more professional company, does much more varied, interesting work now and has had salary increases because the work he does is now valued. We heard last week that the company that made him redundant is likely to wound up soon - they are going to court for unpaid bills. So in the end, redundancy was the best thing to happen!

It never feels like it at the time, but sometimes redundancy is not a bad thing.

So they will pay the mortgage for 2 years - and after that 2 years what happens? How is the mortgage of over £1600 per month paid?

Have to say things must have changed a bit because we were entitled to precisly bugger all when DH was made redundant 7 years ago. Thankfully it was a short term period of time out of work but even so it didn't pay the mortgage or much else - just JSA which per week is vrery little when you are trying to pay everything else. We only survived it because I was in work - we basically lived off my salary and the JSA did food and petrol. Seems crazy that anyone would be such a huge sum per month better off. I would check the figures again OP - when I looked at entitledto.com after my marriage breakdown it confidently predicted £30 a week towards housing whiuch turned out to be less that £5 a month when I actually went through the process - with the same figures I might add.

I have just had a look at that website and entered all the details - it is £100 per month incorrect... it is saying I would be getting £25 per week more than I am.

So the website is not very accurate. I am awaiting the letter first and depending on what it says, I'll have to check the facts.

Tigerfeet, A chat later would be lovely, I'll be either ironing, making lemon tart for my friend or necking the very cheap red wine (£1.99) Which is likely to taste crap but we don't have money for wine in the budget and I really fancied it. :)

I would be £10 a week better off, more than that if you take into account travel etc But I would hate, hate to be on benefits. It would playing into the hands of people who already look down on me and assume I'm on benefits anyway, just because I am young and I'm single. Being a single Mum on benefits is not something I want to be because they are vilified in the press, shunned by society and don't you they are all called Vicky Pollard?

OP YANBU, that's what the welfare system is there for and I am proud that my country cares enough to support people when they need it