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.

I'm backing up everything you've been told re getting together payslips, handbook, contract and any notes or emails he has re the extended hours and taking them to the Union and to ACAS.

If he really has been working the same pattern consistently for 2 years, then, yes, it can be treated as a contractual clause, and its not (necessarily) as simple as just saying, 'right, that's it, we're changing!'.

For a start, unless they can roll all affected staff onto the same or better hours/conditions in another reasonably suitable role, then they're potentially looking at a redundancy scenario. Whether that helps you depends on the answers to the below.

How long has he worked there in total?
How long has he been in his current Supervisor role?
When, precisely, did he start working the extended hours, and has this been continuous, with no changes of start/finish times?
Is there anything in writing about this, or how long it was going to last?

It might be , with such a high staff turnover, that management hadn't realised that there was anyone with 2 yrs + service, much less 2 yrs+ in an affected role, and so they haven't factored his position into the changes. Get the stuff together, get advice and start talking to them.

In regards to one of your later comments, they'd be on very thin ice if they cut staff and cut hours for existing staff, and then start recruiting new people in to meet the increased demand on the day shift. If the volume of work is there, they should be looking at offering that work to existing staff LONG before they even consider recruiting.

But, ultimately, if they want the night shift gone, it'll happen, so the goal now is the best alternative same-or-better role they can offer, or a compromise you can afford. And job hunting!

In the short-term, things you can do:

Check your benefits entitlement with CAB.
Check his Tax Code is correct, (it sounds a bit off with the take home figures you've given - or there's something funky about his pay).

If you're married (i'm guessing not from DP rather than DH) Check that you've transferred the maximum allowed tax free amount of your code over to him, as you are not using it.
If he wears a uniform, check he has declared this to HMRC, too.

Start talking now to your creditors and you Landlord if you do think there's going to be a problem - the earlier, the better - and get your financial statements ready, as well as reviewing what order to start cutting back. Remember, Rent should be the priority bill above everything but food and travel to work, then heating (you have two very small children, otherwise this would be the other way round, but minimise this as much as you can now it's coming into summer), then council tax, then water, then unsecured debt (you mention a loan?) only if you have spare money.

Hi all,
We're just printing out our standard message here. We can see that someone has already cast aspersions (now deleted) on this thread but are advising that right now we can't see any evidence to indicate that the OP isn't above board - if we did, we'd remove the thread straight away. But the truth is that, sadly, we at MNHQ can't know with 100% certainty that any poster is genuine, no matter who they are or how long they have been around. As frustrating as it is, we're not able to vouch for anyone here.

So we always ask everyone to remember that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are - and remind folk not to give more to another poster, either financially (in cash or gifts) or emotionally (in time or care and support) than they'd be prepared to lose if things went wrong.

Haven’t RTFT but just want to say, he hasn’t let you down OP, but you already know that. Tell him it isn’t his fault it’s the company etc, then get on to someone like CAB as suggested.

Relieved to read some sensible advice from ThisMustBeMyDream (especially after the completely wrong advice given by a certain PP!)

OP when is your next payment of Child Tax Credit due?

The Citizens Advice website gives you a fair bit of information if you are comfortable navigating it yourself. This page also has some links to a couple of 3rd party benefit calculators:
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/benefits-introduction/what-benefits-can-i-get/

Utility companies may be able to give you help with your bills too. Assuming you are with Thames Water, have a look here:
www.thameswater.co.uk/my-account/billing-and-payment/help-paying-your-bill/customer-assistance-fund

Wishing you the best OP.

Did you not put down a deposit with your landlord when you first moved in? It should be in a government security account and it should be refundable when you move out, unless you have done massive damage to the property whilst you've been living there, so you should be able to use most of it as a deposit on a cheaper place.
for your rubbish situation. I really hope your DP can find something new and better very soon. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

"If you're married (i'm guessing not from DP rather than DH) Check that you've transferred the maximum allowed tax free amount of your code over to him, as you are not using it."

Oh yes this is good advice, if married you can save up to about £700 doing this (as it can be backdated)

www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance

@ThisMustBeMyDream I have sent you a PM re our local authority

@ginnybag thank you. Will relay all of that to him once he gets up. He has worked these hours consistently since the very beginning, despite his contract stating 30 hours. Some weeks he has worked even more than his usual 55 as he often stays late to help the morning staff.

He has been a supervisor since day 1 also.

No we are not currently married.

The new store manager has been in the place less than three months, the previous manager left unexpectedly. The staff turn over is enormous with almost all of the original team (when the store opened) having left.

This branch has been open approx 2 years and DP has been there from the beginning.

You need to prioritise paying you're rent over and above everything else, including loan and council tax.

I think it's would be best to talk to your landlord well before you build up arrears because if the only way you can get housing help from the council is to be evicted, then you need to let the landlord know that that is the route he is going to have to go down. If you do it sooner rather than later, then you will have less to pay pack in arrears and costs when you do get sorted, as the ll (or his insurance) will probably take you to court to ensure that the missed rent is paid eventually.

@AnotherEmma next child tax credit payment due on Friday, the same day DP gets his wage.

Catching up with all replies

Thank you for clearing that up MNHQ

How much is the outstanding loan and how much are monthly repayments?

You should get advice on your debt options. You should be able to reduce the repayment amount, and if you can't afford repayments you have other options.

Your partner should put repayments on hold for now and contact the loan provider to explain the situation.

@Dumdedumdedum we paid a £1000 deposit and £1000 rent in advance when we moved in, so fortunately we do have that deposit as security. There has been no damage to the property (apart from DS sticky fingers meaning it could do with a lick of paint as it's a matte finish that you can't wipe down)

Landlord has told us previously that we can either have the 1k back if/When we leave or can use it as a 'last months free rent' if/When we move on

"next child tax credit payment due on Friday, the same day DP gets his wage."

In that case I agree with previous advice to start your universal credit claim on Saturday (30 March).
Here's a step by step guide www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/claiming/apply-for-universal-credit/

You can start looking for working from home jobs. I am an English teacher, I work both from home and in a private school. Do a TEFL online and have a degree and you will have some jobs out there. Check out Dada, Sayabc, and Cambly and ITutor group.

@AnotherEmma the loan was for 2.5k initially. He took it out as I was pregnant and we needed to find somewhere asap. He took it out in August 2017

DP took it out in his name and handles repayments so he has all the info about amounts left outstanding. I've had little to nothing to do with the loan so will need to check with him what's outstanding and what amount is added on to the original 2.5k

If I recall correctly he's paying a couple of hundred a month off. It's a big outgoing.

Rather than use a calculator set up the government or visiting the CAB
try this:
www.entitledto.co.uk

You can do it on your phone, it stores none of your details and gives you an accurate amount and advises exactly what benefits you are entitled to immediately.

Before you do anything else DO THIS!!

PPs have been talking about prioritising bill payments. Rent is obviously number one priority. Council tax should be number two. Please don't put it last in the priority list as some PPs have advised. There can be serious consequences if it's not paid, which is why it's classed as a priority debt by debt advisers.
Energy bills should also be paid for as your gas and electricity could get cut off.

Personal loans are non priority.

More info at www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/help-with-debt/dealing-with-your-debts/work-out-which-debts-to-deal-with-first/

Hi Op here is a link to the earn £10 a day thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/3520816-march-earn-10-a-day-thread?pg=18

There's quite a lot of stuff on there about online work you or your partner can do as well as surveys and the usual beer money earners. It's well worth a look and the other people on the site are really helpful.

There's other threads in the money section about managing debt and repayments, again I found them very useful. MoneySavingExpert website is good too. Good luck!

@Worriedmumof2dc I haven't read the full thread and others have much more useful practical advice but I just wanted to say that when I was pregnant with our DC, my partner lost his job (a month before DC was due, at Christmas nonetheless) and I thought it was the end of the world. It was slightly different in our case as I did get SMP from my employer so knew we had a safety net but our rent, also in London, was over a grand per month - let alone anything else on top of that. Three years (and lots of failed jobs) later he's a sahp, I work full time and we get UC to top up my salary (which includes a housing element and what would formerly have been child tax credits) so while we have all the usual worries about our circumstances changing, we're in a much more stable position than we were.

Our situations aren't exactly the same but I wanted to offer a hand hold and reassurance that no matter how bad it looks, you'll find your way through it. Try not to panic! Lots of good advice here - good luck and I really hope things work out for you.

Universal credit will give you an advance while your waiting for your first payment, id definitely try and apply. Also the council run schemes to help you with a deposit an first months rent in a a private rented home , it might just be if your on benefits but if you can get even a small amount of UC you should be entitled. I’d move to a cheaper property and get myself on the council list anyway , As even if your in a low band need there’s often properties in areas that aren’t as popular and you have a chance of getting. That obviously takes a while though so I’d look at cheap area for private rented x

You need to prioritise paying you're rent over and above everything else, including loan and council tax.

NO. Council tax is a crown debt and you can be imprisoned for non-payment. Obvs that is worst case, but it is one of THE main bills you need to pay, as many councils are very very quick to issue summonses and fines for missed c tax payments. The loan - yes, although be aware missed payments will be recorded on your credit file.

Communicate with your landlord and act in good faith and you keep options open there. Don't hang him out to dry in the dark (if you'll excuse my mixed metaphors!)

Have you thought of doing some work from home just to try to plug the gap? I used to teach English in Asia, but now I know some people who do it only from home. You can try sites like www.eslcafe.com to find ESL from home job postings.

I don't recall having the energy to work from home when DS was a newborn, and I didn't have a toddler to look after at the same time!

I earned more than £1500 a month working full time plus overtime at a supermarket when I was 18/19. I think he needs to try something like that, Tesco pay £8.50 an hour now!

Are there cheaper properties available?