Financial advice, please help!

[Ewe]

Not sure if this is quite the right place to post but here goes.

DP and I been up and down for a while and have decided to split up and live apart. Maybe not forever but certainly for now.

I currently live in rented accomodation, have recently reduced my days at work to two days per week (17 hours). Can just about cover my half of the rent, bills, nursery fees etc myself but need to look at claiming some sort of benefits until I can get myself back on my feet.

How long is this process likely to take? He is moving out in January, we have one DD, 19 months.

I can't make head nor tail of all the forms - am I going to need to inform my employer and landlord that I am claiming housing benefit? Is there anyone who can help me do this?

Just not really sure where/how to start, all advice appreciated.

Bump

I don't have personal experience of this but perhaps your Citizen's Advice Bureau could help? (www.citizensadvice.org.uk/) This is absolutely the kind of stuff they excel at and they're free to use.

I don't think it's anything to do with your employer! Also, if you're working, you may be eligible for family tax credits?

Hope this helps.

Sorry to hear your split.

Obviously you have to wait until he leaves then this is what u need to do!!

*If your already getting tax credits, phone them straight away and tell them your now single. They will send u out a new claim form and adjust your amount. You'll get child tax credit,single parent working tax credit and if your DD is in child care, you'll get that element too (normally covers up to 70% when your a l/p). As long as you work all year not just term time, u will qualify for all of that working 17 hours. In my experiance this takes 1-2 weeks.

*Phone your local council straight away and tell them he's moved out and they will adjust your council tax bill to give u your 25% reduction. You can also ask them about applying for h/b and c/t benefit, though sometimes its easier to wait till u have your tax credit award letter so h/b know your full financial situation.

*If your renting privately you should tell them but it can affect your tennancy. As far as I know h/b no longer tell your landlord, so u could just leave it and get it paid directly to you. If yourin council/housing ass u dont have to tell and it gets paid directly to them.

When I was working 16 hours and single, all these benefits topped up my income and I was comfortably living independantly. Also if your partner is going to give u some money, thats even better and maintaince no longer qualifies as income for all the above mentioned benefits.

I hope thats not too overwhelming and is of some help! The housing and council tax ben claim took about 1-2 weeks a well, but it all depends of workload ect.

Good luck xx

Thank you, that seems to make a lot more sense than the directgov website, talk about overcomplicating things.

I have tried to call CAB about 80 million times - I can't get through even to book an appointment. Have found a local helpline that my council have so will try that.

Thanks again, really helpful.