DH laid off advice on benefits pls

[gosssipgirl]

DH has been given 2 weeks notice today

He has been working as a labourer for a builder since Jan 08.

Does anyone know if we would be entitled to any benefits?

I work for 18 hours a week but I can reduce my hours to 15 if it helps to be under 16hrs/week.

We have £4k savings.

We have 1 DS in nursery and were getting tax credits to help us pay for his place but these will now stop so we will have to give notice

I doubt we can claim HB becuase my mum lives with us and she has a good pension.

C Tax benefit?

Jobseekers Allowance for DH? Work might pick up, so I'm not sure if he's been sacked/made redundant or what?!

Grateful for any advice.

If he's been laid off, he needs to sign on at the job centre straight away. This will entitle him to National Insurance credits (the things that add up to a full old age pension) and he should also get job seekers allowance, at least for the first six months.

You have less than £8k savings so they don't count.

Good luck

his boss is saying now it might only be a couple of weeks while he lines up a new job...

Is there a waiting period for JSA?

I think it's a couple of days.

I'd put the claim in because you can always call and cancel it if another job comes up.

If you don't claim and no work turns up, you can't back-date the claim which means you lose not only your job seeker allowance but also your national insurance contributions which are the things you need to get a full state pension.

It's a pain but it's worth doing.

Hope the work comes back on stream soon.

Also check out www.entitledto.co.uk

Partner needs to claim JSA ASAP. He may qualify for contribution based JSA depending on his contributions in 07/08 and 08/09 (i think). Otherwise they will look at Income based JSA and your earnings taken into account less £10 disregard.

Tenancy in your names-not your mums? Claim Housing benefits. Your mum would be treated as a non dependant and a deduction made but you MAY still be entitled.

Dont cut your hours yet....you are unlikely to be better off and a partner can work up to 24 hrs on income based JSA.

Tenancy in all 3 names if that makes a difference.

He has worked full time since October 2007 (used to live abroad) so perhaps he would get contribution based JSA.

I have input our date into entitledto.co.uk and seems we qualify for a little council tax benefit and a little HB (with one non-dependant earning the maximum).

It did mention Income Based JSA on the final page but said £0 so not sure if we would get any.

Will try phone the JSA helpline on the first day he is "unemployed" (22nd).

Hope we will get something as our Council Tax alone is £200 a month

If your mum is also on the tenancy I dont think she would be treated as a non dependant. You need to ring the council for advice as this is a tricky one.

Entitled to isnt really set up for your situation so dont rely on the results. You need to make applications for all benefits and let a proper assessment be done.

Apply for Jsa income based. If your partner is entitled to JSA Contribution based it will still be assessed at £64.35 (ish) but if you are entitled to any income based that would be on top.

Yes, if she's on the tenancy then her income will be taken into consideration when it comes to entitlement to housing and council tax benefit.

He will first get contribution-based JSA if he's been working for 6 months or longer but he cannot apply for this until he is officially made redundant.

You cannot select which JSA you apply for unless your spouse/partner has been working for less than 6 months.

It is NOT an option which one you go on first.

And yes, there is a waiting period for both whilst your claim is processed.

But really, with £4k in savings, why complain?

Benefits are not meant to safeguard your savings.

Between that and your mother's pension you are in a far, far better position than many who find themselves suddenly made redundant.

We currently receive tax credits which help pay for childcare (otherwise I would not work as I get paid £6/hr and nursery is £5/hr and I have to drive him there.

On the tax credits site, it says they use the previous year's income to assess your award but "if your income for the current tax year is expected to be less than last year, you may be entitled to extra tax credits".

So, if my husband is going to be out of work for a couple of months (minimum, we live in an area of high unemployment) can I tell them I expect our income to be down on last year?

expatinscotland - I am not saying we are going to be on the streets but my mother's pension is her's and unless she offers, I will not be asking her to give us any money.

We may have £4k in savings but now my DH is going to be unemployed, our weekly income is £108 so not exactly a lot as I only work 18 hours a week.

As the partner is working less than 24 hours a week they can apply for JSA IB. If it turns out that the husband is entitled to JSA Contributions based they will award that but also look at her earnings to see if there is any level of income based.

As he has only worked full time in the UK since 07 this is the right way to apply as he may not meet the contributions criteria. If he does it is unlikely they will get Income based as her earnings will probably erode any addition.

OP. Look at your weekly earnings after tax.
Are they more or less than 112.75? If less then claim JSA IB as with the earnings disregard of £10 you may be entitled.

If more than that- its probably not worth it.

If they vary and its borderline then still apply.

Ahhh you have just posted your weekly income- I recommend you apply.

You need to check what has happenned at DHs work. If he has just been laid off while more work comes in it is not the same jobless status as redundancy or Dismissal. If you are "Laid Off" in the real sense of the word then that means you are still employed but that there is temporarily no work for you. Usually there is a clause in the contract of employment to cover this so check DHs out. The usual is 2 - 4 weeks ime.

This means that he may not be unemployed so might not be entitled to JS or any other benefit.

Once you have checked the employment advice section might be better able to advise you on his rights.

As your partner will be out of work you will need to inform tax credits. It is likely your WTC and Child care will end. Check this out...im not a tax credit expert sorry. x

DH has no written contract.

I first thought he had been temporarily laid off but then he came home with a letter from the boss saying his "employment had been terminated" as there was "no work for him from 19th" becuase a "big contract had been cancelled".

So I think this is dismissal?

lay off info

gossipgirl...sorry yes I would say that is employment terminated.

Yes I know the childcare element of WTC will end so I will have to take DS out of nursery as I barely earn enough to cover the costs.

Will still get the CTC though I think.

DH will look after DS and hopefully DM will look after DS if DH gets any interviews for new jobs.

You should get a 4 week run on of WTC though (takes forever to come through and gets taken into account on JSa IB)

Im currently checking the tax years for JSA contributions based...think I told you wrong earlier. will find out and post again

So we get it for 4 more weeks from the day his employment is terminated? That will help as DS's nursery has a 1 month notice period.

phone up tax credits and tell them your circumstances have changed. You will still get child tax credit, and if you put your hours up I think you should keep some working tax credits (don't quote me on that). Your child tax credits should go up if your income drops. It's a difficult balance tho because some benefits include others as income and some don't iyswim.
Try that entitled to website and put in various hypothetical situations to see which way round you end up better off, I mean, if you do more or less hours etc...

'expatinscotland - I am not saying we are going to be on the streets but my mother's pension is her's and unless she offers, I will not be asking her to give us any money.'

That doesn't matter to the council when you apply for HB/CTB, though, gossip, because she's on the tenancy agreement. When you apply, you'll need to supply the tenancy agreement.

It goes from the Monday following the change is what I was told.

08/09 and 07/08 are the correct RITYS. Think you should def claim JSA IB.

DEFINITELY inform tax credits office as soon as he is no longer working and take a note of whom you spoke to and the date and time.