To apply for UC

[2littleChicks]

So let me get this out here first - I work full time. I've always worked and never claimed a thing.
I pay a lot in childcare despite it not actually being that much in terms of time because I work flexibly. I earn ok money and DID have an almost comfortable life.

Then husband left.

Our housing costs are huge. Massive mortgage that would have been ok with two incomes. It swallows up an entire income and being together meant that it was do-able.

He needs to get his own place and obviously it's impossible to be able to afford two households like this. So despite my feelings, heartbroken, lost, scared etc I'm trying to figure out an actual logical way we can move forward and separate properly without it becoming nasty.

I want him to go now so I can try and heal from this. Living together still is hell.

Would I qualify for UC for help towards housing costs or would they laugh me out of the door. Even just being able to get childcare funded would help immensely. Has anyone does this? Or what did people in a similar situation do? Any suggestions welcome.

I'm currently looking for a second job - but there's very little reliable income that I could do on a WFH basis in the evenings while the kids are asleep that isn't online selling or other scams.

Have you checked entitledto? Enter your details on there and it should give you an idea. Without actual figures nobody here can tell you.

benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou

UC won't fund your housing costs as you do not rent. You might get something depending on your income and childcare costs but it will be difficult to apply for as your ex is still living with you. You'd have to vigorously prove that you are no longer a couple.

Sell the house (if you can) and start afresh.

UC doesn't pay a mortgage, but you can get a government loan, I believe
You could ask your bank for a payment holiday or just pay the interest for a while

UC does pay housing if you rent

Look on www.gov.uk

You could sell your property

You could rent out a room tax free up to a certain amount, also on www.gov.uk

You could claim child maintenance from your ex

You could buy your ex out of the property

You should seek financial advice from a family solicitor & citizens advice

Are you married ?

Definitely not being unreasonable to claim uc in your circumstances.

Not sure how it works for housing if you’re still on the mortgage but you should be able to get help with childcare costs and a bit of an income top up.

Same situation here.... I out a claim as soon as we decided to seperate. Opted out of the housing contribution towards mortgage as it's a loan. But did get help for other costs. The entitled to website is very accurate. The universal credit online form isn't difficult and it's a very effevient system.

Also, if you were move out with the kids instead of him leave you would get housing benefit to pay your rent and council tax help.

If your salary is below the threshold you might get something. It probably won’t be much though and they don’t pay towards the mortgage.

I think the threshold for childcare costs is about £16k so if you earn more than this unlikely to be eligible.

You should submit a claim though to make sure.

Sounds like you may need to sell the house. I mean put your details in to the calculator, you might get lucky. But then there's the 5 week wait before actually getting any money.

Universal credit don't pay towards a mortgage.
They will pay interest only, but only after 9 months of claiming universal credit.
They will pay 85% of childcare, under £600 for one child and £1050 for 2 (rough numbers).
You will get a bigger work allowance (you get to keep wages before they start deducting them from your UC) because they don't help with housing costs.
If you end up selling the house the capital is disregarded for 6 months while you use the money to purchase a new house. If you don't use the capital to purchase a new house they will taper your UC from £6k in savings and won't let you claim anything if you have more than £16k.

So it's looking like not a great deal at all if anything.

I think really the only thing we will be able to do is sell the place but don't have enough equity to buy two separate places. Plus I really don't want to lose my home. So much love time and effort went into it.

I may make an appt with CAB or UC and see where I stand. Ideally he leaves and continues to help pay until I figure out another way.

But then again nothing about this is ideal.

You might want to consider speaking to a financial advisor. Remortgaging or switching to an interest only mortgage for a time might allow you to reduce costs at least to give you some breathing space to work out what to do next.

How big is your house? Have you looked at ways you could potentially use it to make additional income? A lodger is often a suggestion made on here, however I understand few people want to take in a stranger when you have your kids in the house. However you may have someone among your friends/family/colleagues who might wish to rent a room? Equally you might be able to rent your driveway space for additional income?