To resign and claim benefits

[NearlySpring]

Posting for my colleague here at work as I have no idea what advice to give her and Ive told her you're all very knowledeable. :)

She works with me, full time, claims tax credits, pays her own rent on her council house. She has a 8 yr old son and has a childminder for before and after school care.

She has lots of debt which she has managed to arrange payment plans for and is paying back. However, her finances don't work out for her. Even with tax credits help with childcare she is getting more and more overdrawn each month. She has no family to help and receives no child support for her child as her partner (son's father) died 6 mths ago :(

She has been looking for work for ages, either better hours so less childcare costs or same hours and more money. She has finally found a job that pays more, and been offered the job but it doesn't start til March. I suggested perhaps she resigns and claims benefits using the next few months to spend time with her son and have a break and relax (she's had a tough time due to the death of her partner). Plus looking online she is actually no worse off on income support (taking a break from her debt payback arrangements due to being out of work) than she is working full time, paying childcare etc. She's not been out of work before so it's not like she's workshy or anything.

AIBU to have suggested this to her? It's only for 4 months after all. Would she be able to claim inome support or jobseekers even though he resigned as she has a valid reason (childcare costs) to do so?

its is very sad about her DP. she has done really well getting this far.

i agree with posters who have said:

1. she wont be able to claim benefits if she resigns.

2. she need to look at boosting her income

3. she needs to lower her outgoings. www.moneysavingexpert.com is really useful. if you post a Statement of Affairs (SOA) in the debt free wannabe section, you can get lots of useful advice about how to make your money go further. there is a sticky at the top of the the debt free wannabe section saying how to do this.

she has done well getting this far - a good role model for her son - but i am afraid she needs to keep on keeping on as there is no magic solution.

but she will get financial advice on debt free wannabe on MSE.

I actually agree with fabby, her husband has recently died she is stressed, and not coping, she should get signed off sick.

ihatecbeebies: there have been a lot of contributions on this thread in a short time - it was probably x-posting.

It's only 4 months to March. She needs to make sure she uses up all her outstanding leave, and that might help give her a bit of a break.

Long shot: was her DP a union member? Or is she? Unions sometimes have benevolent funds which might ease someone through a crisis.

Does anyone else know if you get off with paying your debt back while you're on benefits like IS/JSA? I've never heard of that before.

It's not a given, but if you are in genuine as we were and have credit card debts, it is worth just asking the card companies if they can reduce your payments and maybe drop the interest for a while until times are better for you. We did this and three out of four providers were incredibly helpful. (Mr arsewipe Branson wasn't - wanker) anyway, it makes more financial sense both for you and your lender to try to stay on top of the debt somehow rather than struggle even more. It's all about communicating. So, no, you don;r 'get help' paying your debt back on IS/JSA but can arrange it yourself Fucking Virgin

It also shows how important life insurance is. I begrudge every penny I spend in insurances, but for peace of mind.....

widows allowance is £100 a week, which is something to think about for those who can't be bothered to get married.

Assuming her ds is his too, did he have any company pensions with a dependents pension built in? It may not be much but it all helps.

sorry, just re-read the op.