HELP!!!!! Looks like DH out of a job tomorrow...

[Dropdeadfred]

DH came home tonight very sad and depressed...after having numerous assurances that his job would be safe it seems as though it isn't and he is 99% certain he will be given notice tomorrow....
I am trying to prepare ourselves by loking at what we could be entitled to in the interim period before he (hopefully) finds another job...he works in the oil industry so this could be very difficult at present...
I went on entitledto.co.uk but i am confused. It is asking my what he earnt last year and when i put that in it sates that we would not be entitled to any tax credits...we have 3 dcs aged 16,14 and 3. the eldest is in fulltime education still and will be for the next year or two.
We pay rent at present...
Can anyone tell me what ballpark figure we could be entitled to???

thank you callme

bumping for any daytime people with knowledge....?

please??

Sorry - no knowledge but just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear of DH's job ang how I am that you will not get tax credits this financial year.

Hope someone else comes along with advice

So sorry to hear this.

It seems really crap that you won't get anything tax credits wise until April..

Do you have any savings?

Are you in a position to find a job?

It is sooo crap that people are being made redundant at this time of year.

i really don't understand the idea that if meither dh nor I had worked this last year (and ad een claiming full tax credits etc) we would be eligible...but seeing as dh had a high wage and paid high taxes...we get nothing

Won't he get some redundancy money to help tide you over? He should get 1 weeks salary (ridiculously, capped at £330 per week) for every year he's worked for the co. under the age of 40, and 1.5X weeks wage for each year over 40. It's tax free up to £30k. However, i think that to qualify for JSA long term, your savings/redundancy payout have to be less than £16k.

he's a contractor so is not being made redundant..just let go....

do you have savings?

nope not really...we have about £1000 in the dd's bank accounts...we did have alot of savings but blew it all on our wedding in August after dh was assured more than once he had 5 yrs work...

we will survive until april....he has another pay day which I'd forgotten about..but i still don't understand the benefits thing now..surey people should be warned there is no safety net anymore if you are a higher than average earner..

UPDATE!!!! - looks like he may be okay for the time being..phew phew and double phew!!

We wil be putting money aside for sure now in case of future threats (which are still very possible).I am still astounded at the sysytem being how it is though

glad to hear things are looking better.

It is really crap how it seems to work now. Once again it comes down to the fact that those who put the most in are entitled to the least...

DDF, the way it works is this:

From 05/04/08-today (257 days)

You were entitled to:

Basic £1800
Couple Element 1770
30 Hour Element 735
CTC Family Element £545
Child Element 2085*3 (6255)

Total: £11105
Total for period 11105/365*257 =£7819.14

From today, your DH is no longer working, until 5/04/09 (108 days)

Basic £1800
Couple Element 1770
CTC Family Element £545
Child Element 2085*3 (6255)

Total: 10370
Total for period 10370/365*108 =3068.38

Total for year:
7819.14+3068.38 = £10887.52

BUT, they deduct 39% of any income between £6240 and £50000, which means that if you earn £50000 in the year, you get 39% of £43760 deducted, which is £17066.

Obviously, that leave nothing in Tax Credits.

So although they pro-rata the amounts due according to the date your circumstances change, the actual award is calculated annually.

Next year of course, if your DH hasn't found a job, you will be entitled to £10370 in tax credits, so £199.42 per week, in addition to the £60.50 per week JSA, because the JSA only totals £3146 per year, which is less than the lowest threshold for tax credits.

You will also be entitled to free school meals for your children that are in school, and healthy start vouchers for your youngest until she turns 4, and HB & CTB also.

x-posts, congrats DDF!

wannabe it isn't a case of those putting most in getting the least out. It would be most unfair if someone could work 6 months of every year in a fantastic job then claim full benefits for the rest of the year.

My God, a lot of people with children are really going to struggle if they lose their jobs. Seems a massively unfair system. This should really have been advertised that this could happen. Can't see how a family of 4 can live of £60 a week.

Lou...my dh is well paid but not in the lawyer/stock broker area at all and we have never claimed anything...we don't get any tax credits at all..he has never even ever had to claim for himself since starting work aged 16, he is now 40.
So basically for paying into the system for 24 years he could expect £60.50 a week to feed his family of five on.....at least until april09....

It is disgusting.

DDF - I nearly added to my last post because I was afraid you might think that was aimed at you

I simply meant that it isn't as simple as it seems with tax credits & wannabe's assertion was not fair.

I do think that supporting children during jsa claims should be calculated on current income, not annual, and I would hope that you can see I was on your side by the time and effort I have spent on this thread.

I will move on now, because you have had good news & that help is thankfully nolonger needed.

Lou...no no i wasn't meaning to be nasty..i was just stating the other side of the argument. I certianly value your help on this thread and wouldn't want to offend you.
I do kind of understand what you are saying..but just wanted to point out how it could affect honest, hardworking people not just those who fancied aholiday from work.
The benefits we may or may not have received would never have ben enough to make dh consider staying out of work for a nano-second longer than necessary anyway, but i always assumed that the safety net was there to act just as that, in the short term only, to help people through a hard time. I now know that's not the cas enad it sems harsh in the extreme.
Thanks again for your help!!

That's good news DDF

glad to hear your good news

Thanks everyone, i feel very very lucky...if anything it has made us reassess and recognise how lucky we actually are...

I am a contractor too
I am amazed that any contractor in the current environment would not have a provision for a period of unemployment. Surely part of the reason for contracting is that you get paid a higher rate to compensate for time when you aren't working?

oh and v glad to hear your good news!

Countess...thank you. We were in a slightly better siuation than I had anticiapted as DH had not paid himself this month yet and was on 4 weeks notice too..so in effect we would have had 2 months money..which would have been fine..(not great or good but fine).

Dh has also got an endowment policy for a rainy day that if he needed to he could have sold or cashed in...so don't worry, although he spent an awful lot of money on our wedding this year he did have a contingency fund..i just forgot all this in my panic!!!

Our jobs are both looking a bit dicey at the moment. We've always saved 20% of income for years on end, and are now upping that as, as DDF says, if you end up out of work you're potentially well and truly stuffed