I'm about to give birth and were going to lose our home

[Worriedmumof2dc]

DP has just been informed that his hours are being hugely reduced at work. He's on a 30 hour contract but has been working 55 hours a week for the past two years since he was hired. The understanding was that the 55 hours would be standard and consistent, so not to worry about what the contract says as he will always have the 55 hours. The company is a disgrace in how it treats its employees but that's another thread.

This company branch has a new manager who has now decided to reduce him to just his contracted hours to save money, he's forced to accept that as per the terms in the original contract.

The problem is his amended wage won't cover our outgoings. We will lose our home eventually, we are safe for another month and a half maximum by which point we will have a baby of a couple of weeks old. I'm at home with a 15 month old and am about to give birth to our second in less than a month so the timing couldn't be worse. I can't realistically go back to work yet and by the time I can, we'll owe the landlord alot of money in arrears.

My hands are tied as to what I can do to help, I feel useless. We have no savings and no family help. I'm worried we will lose our home. It's inevitable isn't it.

He's applying like a mad man for every job he can find, but we're worried.

I can't claim benefits because he works and even with the amended wage will earn over the threshold in which we'd be eligible for anything, despite the lower wage not being enough to cover the costs of living in our London flat.

We have no savings

Please somebody tell me that we can't be made homeless with a newborn and toddler. I'm scared.

ChampooPapi you are utterly and completely 100% wrong.

UC is rolled out everywhere in the UK.

There is only one set of circumstances where UC won't apply yet (which does not apply to this family as it applies to people who recieve the severe disability premium).

She won't be eligible for housing benefit because it is no longer accepting new claims. Not because there would be no entitlement for assistance with the rent.

She will lose hundreds a month if she doesn't claim UC.

I am not someone who advocates moving to UC unless there is a clear benefit to do so. I specifically advise students or those with a disabled adult or child to not claim it as these are the 2 groups who will generally be worse off.

This lady needs to claim UC unless she wants to struggle massively.

Under tax credits they would get £509 4 weekly. Under UC they would get £1455 monthly. What would you do then?

OP please don't listen to that poster. I have extensive knowledge of welfare benefits.

So have you updated your tax credit claim yet?

It can be done online

Get straight on to tax credits when he wakes up

Is this sports direct?

Were completely up to date with rent and no current arrears, we've calculated that we are 'safe' in terms of paying for another 6 weeks before we'd have to tell the landlord what's going on. DP is hoping he will find something during this period and not have to panic the landlord if he can avoid it.

You need to tell your landlord about the situation asap to enable him to work with you and arrange his finances. If you've got 6 weeks until you really need to panic about where the rent is coming from, you can't spring this on him 2 weeks before or on the date the rent is due.

OP if you don't want to lose your home, apply for UC. The rest of the taking it up with the unions and looking for new jobs is lower in the priority list than securing some income for the short term at least. Does your husband get paid on the same day each month? 4 weekly? Or other frequency?

OP it doesn’t sound to me like this job was ever going to be ‘long term’ or ‘stable’ given what you’ve said about the company. So despite bad timing there is probably an element of this which was inevitable.

A baby on the way, with no savings, and reliant on one income which is over and above contracted hours, is such a dangerous situation. I would honestly consider moving out of London and considering a lifestyle change- you can’t afford your current lifestyle anymore.

It’s scary- but one day you might look back on it as a positive thing xx

I haven't called tax credits yet no, the change was only confirmed this morning and I found out about it when he got in from work. I've been like a headless chicken not knowing what to do. I'll ring them now I've gathered my thoughts somewhat.

The company isn't sports direct no, I don't know if I can name the company on here? It has a navy blue and orange logo, it's a budget "superstore" with branches in most towns.

@ScrewyMcScrewup I'm not touting for donations or for anything other than advice which I've received in abundance and am very thankful for. MNHQ will be able to check and confirm there are no private messages being exchanged behind the scenes. I'm absolutely not here trying to con or extort money or gifts, I can absolutely assure everybody of that. The advice I'm receiving is all I wanted and I'm extremely grateful for it. I would not ask for, nor accept, anything other than that from anybody online.

His pay cycle is 4 weekly.

@MeteorGarden92 I completely agree with you. I'm trying to tell myself that it's a blessing in disguise and will be the catalyst to making nessecary changes and improvements down the line

@ThisMustBeMyDream it's 4 weekly. He's due to be paid this Friday.

Just to reiterate as you’ve said it yourself, moving must be your priority!

@IvanaPee it absolutely is, once we've got a semblance of security IE a new job it will be the first thing I push forward for to prevent this happening again in the future.

Just be aware that the downside with UC is that the assessment dates are monthly. So one month a year there would be no entitlement as he is paid 4 weekly. You are better to make a claim on a date that will make this month fall as far away as possible so you have time to put away a bit each month to cover that time. Eg. If this month pay fell on the 27th march, I would advise making a claim the day after eg. 28th.

Sorry, I should clarify, it isn't one month a year that there is no entitlement, it is that because there are 13 pay days over 12 months, one of those months 2 wages get included in the assessment, meaning for most people there will be no UC payment (and if there was still entitlement it would be specifically lower).

@ThisMustBeMyDream I understand what you mean. Technically this month he will have been paid twice, because of the 4 weekly cycle.

It makes sense that UC would take that into account.

If I was in your position my priority would be to secure a way of paying the rent and apply for Universal Credit as ThisMustBeMyDream has stressed above. Universal Credit does have more conditions attached, like you will be expected to look for work once your youngest child is over 3 and your DH may have to prove that he is looking for work with more hours. But it will help you out of your current situation, even if it's only short term until you have more money coming in.

What worries me is the potential to be going weeks with no money whilst they assess the claim. Will that be the case?

Will my CB and CT stop once i apply for UC or will I continue to receive them as normal until UC is sorted and ready to pay out?

His wage will be gone as soon as he gets it tomorrow, so we rely heavily on the child benefit and child tax for things such as electricity, food, nappies, etc.

When he gets it Friday, not tomorrow.

I'm looking to apply online now if I can. Just wanting to clear up the questions about whether I'll continue to receive my CB and CT until it's sorted.

I'm happy to talk you through it if you want.

I am passionate about supporting people who find themselves in these situations. Mostly because once, it was me. And I had to try and navigate it all by myself. Over the years I have studied welfare benefits and kept up to date with all changes. I'm more than happy to share that with anyone who needs it.

Hi OP! Sorry to hear you're finding yourself in such a precarious situation! I don't know anything about benefits so I can't judge the advice you're given here. I'd suggest only using official sources of information. There's an overview of benefits calculators to be found here www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

Also download the Shopprize and ReceiptHog apps, use topcashback or Quidco and check out Oh my dosh! There's also a earn £10 a day thread somewhere on here.

Good luck, update us if you can!

Your CT will stop but not the CB. You can ask for an advance on the UC payment but then you have to pay it back and this will reduce your monthly payments for a few months.

@ThisMustBeMyDream I would appreciate that, thank you. That's very kind of you. Its all a bit overwhelming to be honest.

@NCKitten thanks NC I'll look into those, I hadn't heard of them before. Definitely keen to make money stretch where possible.

I'm good with budgeting in general and manage to feed us all well for what little we do have, so I'm not worried about going hungry, just the flat (which DP is trying to reassure me that he will sort!)

Hi OP.

How long have you been in the house? If you moved in after he started the job, they will have needed an employer reference, they will have needed to confirm his REGULAR salary, exclusive of overtime. This could be perhaps used as evidence with any claim? The Landlord or Agency should have a copy of this.

As PP have said, I think that wants a pattern of working certain hours becomes established (13 weeks in some cases), it becomes contractual, but certainly check that.

So, what my advice would be is to apply on saturday if he is due to be paid Friday.

Your tax credits will stop. Your child benefit will continue.

It will be a 5 week wait from saturday until your first payment. However you can get an advance of the full amount you would be entitled to.

His wage this month will be the £1500? That would give you (with just one child at the moment) a total entitlement before dedictions of £1729 approx. You can get an advance of this amount, which willbe paid back over 12 months from your UC. You can chose to take less or none of it if you wish.

UC would be payable in 5 weeks (assuming baby not born) of £909.

It will increase the month after his wage drops, and when the new baby is born too.

Can you PM me your council, so I can double check the LHA rate for your area. Alternatively you can check for yourself on lha-direct.voa.gov.uk. The LHA is the maximum rent that can be included for your UC calculation. £1000 in london is low rent so I'd imagine your full rent can be included, but it is best to check.

We've been here since September 2017, so a while after he began working where he does. The landlord is private and didn't ask for an employer reference, only our pay slips/bank statements to prove our income and that we could afford it.

I was working full time at that point (whilst pregnant) so it was perfectly affordable.

I finished work at 35 weeks with DS1 and claimed maternity allowance which stopped when he was (I think) 9 months old. I haven't been in employment since, and am now 35 weeks pregnant with DD who wasn't planned, contraception failed.

The plan was for me to have returned to work by now and if I were to know this would happen I wouldn't have considered continuing the pregnancy, as horrible as that may sound. I had my reservations to begin with but was assured we'd be fine for a short period and would manage until I could go back to work after she is born. It just so happens that I now need to be back in work immediately and it's not feasible.

The timing is absolutely terrible.