to be VERY confused by my benefits claim

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

I've never done this before, and am getting soooo confused :( I've been employed since I left school and wasnt expecting to be unemployed so havent planned for it at all, and havent got a clue what I need to do :(

The only thing that has changed since last week is that I'm now no longer on unpaid mat leave, I'm officially unemployed. Last week we were entitled to family allowance and £10 pw child tax cred. Without going into too much detail, we now seem to be entitled to £60pw child tax cred, and working tax cred, plus JSA and family allowance, meaning that benefits entitlement nearly equals DHs earnings (not in a low paid job either)!!
I dont understand, when I did the tax cred form, I put on there that I wouldnt equal my earnings this year as I would be unemployed.
Surely this is completely wrong and cant have changed so much without anything actually changing?!

Plus, to add to this, we've got our child tax cred as a cheque, in DHs name? Even though I wrote that I was primary caregiver and gave bank acc details?

Is anyone more experienced around?

Has the house been rented to others before you occupied? If your parents can show it is a rental property, not just family help, then rent can be paid. The sliding scale can be harsh so you may not get much.

I was made redundant at 20 weeks pg and told them at my first appointment at Jobcentre to fill in the paperwork for JSA. They had no issues with it as I was still looking for work but wasn't able to get another job at that time so went onto Maternity Allowance at 29 weeks.

The house was owned by me and XP previously, he left so my m&d bought it to save me getting fucked by the bank when no payments were made (XP was paying mortgage and stopped without telling me)
They did it up ready to sell, but instead I moved back in and pay rent...

Oh well, if I'm not entitled to it cause of that, we'll cope. DH can do some overtime

My God there is some horrendous misinformation on this thread!

OP please go to your nearest CAB or similar for advice. Dont trust the jobcentre (or a bunch of numpties on the net).

family allowance is the old name for child benefit.

You can claim contribution based JSA if you have paid enough NI in the last two years. If you haven't paid enough you will not get JSA. You can only get this for 6 months. You can't claim after that as you have a partner.

You need to give Tax Credits your new annual income, they will work out what you should be entitled to for the rest of the year and adjust your claim. It should go to you. You will only be entitled to WTC if your combined family income is under £15k.

You can claim JSA, presuming you are entitled, when pregnant. You need to be actively jobseeking until 29 (?) weeks when you may be able to apply for maternity allowance instead.

You can get LHA towards your rent as long as you have a valid tenancy agreement. If your LL is close family they may not accept it, but you can argue the point.

You can only claim mortgage interest relief if you have been on a qualifying benefit (IS or ESA) for 26 (?) weeks.

In regard to whether you can get JSA as part of a couple, you can.
For the first 6 months you get "Contribution based" which means if you have worked and paid taxes you get the full whatever the amount. After this 6 months and you are still out of work, you get "income based" where they will check out your household income, and depending on what your dh earns, you will get some, all or none of your JSA.

The house was owned by me and XP previously, he left so my m&d bought it to save me getting fucked by the bank when no payments were made never going to get Housing Benefit in these circumstances, I'm afraid.