worried about my parents

[pinkdaisy]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has any advice or ideas please. My father was made redundant from his job about 4 months ago, he is now 62, and although he has applied for over 100 jobs, he seems to be getting nowhere. Although they don't say it, i think his age is holding him back. He is an intelligent man, and has applied for a wide variety of jobs, most of which they have said he is over qualified for and all that sort of thing.
My sister and I are both so worried about them. My mother works part time and has asked to increase her hours in the shop where she works, but they have told her they dont have any to give her at the moment. My mother is not computer literate and cannot drive, therefor she is fairly limited to what she can do. I just don't know how they are going to live from month to month. My sister and I have given them as much money as we can and also put stuff on our credit cards for them, but we financially can't give them anymore as we both have young families, and unfortunately I don't have the space for them to sell their house and come and live with me otherwise I would do that in a heartbeat. My Dad just wants a job and to earn money, they are both very depressed and finding hard to sleep at night, as are my sister and I, as we are so worried about them. i just don't know what to advise them. They have a mortgage still as they are on an interest only mortgage, have suggested they sell and try to get a house on housing association, but they seemed completely devastated when I suggested this. they have no savings left and I honestly don't know what to do to help them. I spend a lot of time looking for jobs for my Dad, just wish I could magic one out of thin air for him.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks.

Sounds pretty depressing for them. First thing I'd check is that they are getting all the help to which they are entitled. If they (or you) put their details in this online benefits checker they'll get a good idea if there's any extra help they are not claiming. Job Centres are also a good resource. Selling their home is obviously a traumatic prospect and they may be able to avoid it if they can find financial help from elsewhere or if they talk to their mortgage lender and go through some options.

Good luck

When your dad sends his cv along with the job applications, does he state his dob/age? I know they are not meant to discriminate, but am pretty sure they do. Definitely remove this info from the cv.

They might also be able to work out his age if there is information regarding the tenures he's worked. If he's worked at a variety of companies over the years perhaps only detail the most recent and relevant positions held

Sorry, I cant think of anything else, it's really hard out there at the moment

Could they maybe get a lodger? I know its not ideal but if its a short term agreement, that might help to cover some costs

Does your dad have different CVs for different jobs? Perhaps he needs to drop a qualification for a certain job.

Does your dad like driving? Pharmacists can be happy to recruit older people for their home deliveries so age shouldn't be a problem (even although it is against the law!)

Hi,
He's reluctantly signing on at the moment, so I think he is getting all the help they are entitled to but it just doesn't seem enough, especially when there are things like MOT, TAX and Servicing for the car required. My sister and I have paid for it for them, but like I said, we financially can't do it all the time. My DH is in recruitment, and went through Dad's CV with him, which he said was good, and made sure his DOB wasn't on there, but isn't making any difference, I think you are right that they are working out roughly how old he is by the job dates. I wish I could just magic him a job. Just wish I could do something as last time I saw him he was so upset he cried (which is so unlike my dad) and said that he didn't want to live like this anymore.
They have been through this situation before when he was made redundant in the 80's when we were kids and our family home was repossessed, which makes it even worse that they seem to be going through it all again, but this time he is that much older. Is he even entitled to housing association if they have their own house at the moment, or would they need to sell theirs and almost make themselves homeless?! Trouble is if things don't improve I am worried their house will be taken away. I suggested downsizing, but because of their age no-one will offer them another mortgage now.
It seems so hopeless.

I don't think it's hopeless. Houses are not reposessed anything like as quickly in the past because lenders know they are more likely to get their money back if they accept a lower payment from the existing borrower. It's better to talk to the lender in advance before getting into difficulty rather than go into arrears.

Are they claiming, for example, Council tax benefit? If your mother is a similar age to your father (60-65), does she receive a state pension or has she deferred it? Could they trade in their car for something smaller/cheaper that would cost less in tax? Agree that it may pay them to take in a lodger under the Rent a Room scheme. Another route for help is the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Thank you all so much for your advice. I have just suggested to my Dad about having a lodger and he seemed to like the idea. Would this effect his benefits? My mum is 57, so they get a percentage of their council tax paid. they are on an interest only mortgage so it's at it's lowest, they are not in arrears yet, which is good. The car they have is pretty much the smallest cheapest car they could have without having one, which they definitely need in case he does get a job that requires one! I will definitely tell him to contact the CAB, if he hasn't already. many thanks for all your advice! It really is a help!

There's more about the Rent a Room Scheme in this link. Provided the amount charged is under a certain threshold, it isn't classed as income for tax purposes and I would have thought that also excluded it from benefit calculations. Worth checking, obviously.

Also... do run their details through the benefits checker I listed earlier. If the Job Centre doesn't have all your mum and dad's details then there may be something they've missed. Definitely worth the few minutes it takes to fill in the questionnaire.

Thank you so much! x

BTW your Dad should check out if he's entitled to pension credits. Even though he's 62 and the retirement age for men is 65 I found this sentence on the Turn2Us site

A man can claim (pension credits) when he reaches the state pension age of a woman with the same date of birth as him.

As women born on the same day as your dad would have retired in 2009/10 that one could be well worth looking into.

CogitoErgoSometimes thank you so much for all your help, I really do appreciate it!!!!
Thanks you!

Are they eligible for their mortgage interest being paid for them? I'm unsure due to your mum still working but definitely worth looking into. If not, has he spoken to the mortgage lender, they may be willing to offer a payment holiday for a few months. Do they have something like an endowment in place, is it worth seeing how close it is to the current mortgage value? My stepdad cashed his in as it meant he didn't have to pay the endowment each month, and could pay off a large chunk of the mortgage. This isnt ideal obviously, but made a big difference to him at the time. Good luck to him, I really hope he finds something soon.

Just one final suggestion. I know you said your mum isn't computer literate; most colleges now offer free adult computer classes. It would be fairly basic but would give her the skills to do an office job. Again, this is what my step dad had to do (he didn't know how to even turn a computer on, and hadn't ever wanted to know!) but it really helped him, especially as everyone else on the course was in similar situation.