Anyone know about benefits?

[x Alex x]

not for me, it's to reassure my parents!

my dad has had news of possible redundancies at work, he'll be pretty far down the list as he's just got a bonus for working there 25 years!

my mother took time off (payroll manager) to look after my nanna but as my auntie is back now and she is looking to get back to work, specially after news of possible redundancies at my dads work.

i'm pretty sure it wont come to it but it came up that they'd barely get £200 a month for both of them to live on including paying the mortgage, i've insisted it would have to be a lot more than that!

does anyone actually know what they would be entitled too if the worst come to the worst? like i say.. i know it wont, it's just to reassure them they'd be looked after if it happene, they aren't claiming anything at the moment.

thanks for reading!

 

[Stu DemonD]

Any income protection insurance?

I presume no other minors at home?

If I stopped working, I would more than likely be homeless.....

 

[x Alex x]

Any income protection insurance?

I presume no other minors at home?

If I stopped working, I would more than likely be homeless.....

no income protection insurance, and my sister is still at home but she is working.

you'd be homeless? :O

 

[Stu DemonD]

you'd be homeless? :O

Well yes, I am self-employed - no dependants here - so if I stopped working, why would I expect my rent or bills to be covered? I am sure any JSA won't cover the £1.5k+ of bills I have per month just to live here...

 

[x Alex x]

Well yes, I am self-employed - no dependants here - so if I stopped working, why would I expect my rent or bills to be covered? I am sure any JSA won't cover the £1.5k+ of bills I have per month just to live here...

oh right

 

[Focus Owner]

don't know calculations for redudency payout but, as long as gov don't make a mess of things i belive its 2 years wages, but that does sound high.
well i got that wrong http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/Redundancy/DG_174330

 

[Eklipze3k]

Despite the name, benefits for regular honest folks have no benefit - you get the bare minimum, I think JSA was about £60 a fortnight, council tax/housing benefit depends on your local council, ours barely covered the council tax but we had to stop rent payments entirely. I was lucky I had a few hundred ££ squirrelled away but it was still really tough.

 

[Magic Johnson]

Standard redundancy is 8 Weeks wages or £250 x 8, whatever is lowest.
And that 8 stands for 8 years service. Obviously if you worked less years you get less payments.

 

[volxstu]

They will probably expect them to live without any benefits for a while as they should have money saved up.

As said income insurance may be a good thing to buy right now for them. Even if your dad doesnt get made redundant, in this climate Redundancies are a sign of a slippery slope.

I believe the standard JSA are around £140 per fortnight and they will help out with council tax.

A mortgage is seen as a commodity exactly like a car loan or similar to the council. If you cant afford to pay it off then you are expected to sell it and live somewhere you can afford. Its harsh but fair and is part of the reason why people are interested in renting these days.

 

[Stu DemonD]

Actually, I have had a look at Housing Benefit with my local council - it seems I may be eligible for something, even though I pay £800 pcm rent

Not worth a great deal in the whole scheme of things, but once I know my income figures to 5/4/11 [due to be filed on the 31/1/12, oops] I may put in a claim. All above board as well

I would imagine if your father did get made redundant, he would get more than the statutory minimum [depends on his contractual rights] - and that will be greater than the standard figure based on 8 weeks above. You said he has worked for over 25 years - there is a calculator in one of the links above

 

[x Alex x]

thanks for the great advice everyone, not exactly what i wanted to hear but the income protection insurance is something i'll mention.

i'll show him the link when he gets in too, had a look but i don't know how much he earns, i would have thought housing benefit would have covered something towards the mortgage though, it should work off what you have contribuated but it doesn't seem to, he wont be ahead of or looked after any better than someone the same age as him who's never worked a day in their life.

 

[custard]

thanks for the great advice everyone, not exactly what i wanted to hear but the income protection insurance is something i'll mention.

i'll show him the link when he gets in too, had a look but i don't know how much he earns, i would have thought housing benefit would have covered something towards the mortgage though, it should work off what you have contribuated but it doesn't seem to, he wont be ahead of or looked after any better than someone the same age as him who's never worked a day in their life.

at the very least,look at mortgage protection

usually covers for 12 months but he wiull need to sign on in those 12 months(even if the payout is £0) to meet the criteria
before going mad on insurance,check the lead period before cover kicks in
eg: no point paying out £x00 a month on a policy that wont pay out on redundency in the next 12 months if its a possibility


this may help http://www.turn2us.entitledto.co.uk/entitlementcalculator.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

 

[x Alex x]

cheers for the link mate, i'll relay all this information to them when i catch them together.

they could be worse off for sure, all cars are paid for, their mortgage isn't all that big, they bought a big static caravan up haggerston castle last year but that's not essential so it could go.

from that redundancy link guessing what i think he earns he should be set for a few year LOL where does the redundancy money come from? i thought it was the employer?

i'd even move back home and pay their mortgage until they got sorted as i've told them, there are people in much much worse situations than they are for sure!

 

[sludgeguts]

A few years back I found myself 'resting' & was given £55pw JSA (provided I belittled myself at the dole orifice every 2 weeks). I eventually found a job, only part-time & £6 ph but hey, back in the saddle & it was double the JSA. Later, I found another job, still only 20hrs but £10 ph - we're getting there.
My good luck ended there though, I had a co-worker foisted onto me, one of life's 'lower intelligence' types - loved to talk about drivel & thought I liked to listen. Turned out that he could only do 16hrs pw so his benefits wouldn't be affected.
Further probing (and it didn't take much as he so loved to talk) revealed that the state were paying half of his £800pm mortgage as well as various other payments (and the mortgage had been increased in order to buy a static caravan (£100k- ish) on a site by the sea).
He then inherited a substantial amount when an aunt died - brand new car, complete new fitted carpets all through the house & upgrade to top of the range mobile home - I asked him why he wasn't paying off some of his mortgage "because it's my money to do with as I please" WTF, talk about selfish, how about my taxes paying half his mortgage? How about him being my assistant, doing bugger all work for the same pay AND still getting benefits?
It would seem, though, that someone else was also sick of the bragging & grassed him up. Something I didn't know though, he had 2 children still living at home & they were paying him £100pw rent - each

So, what do I know about benefits? Those who pay into the system all their working lives get absolutely nothing when they need it, others who are simply bone idle seem to do rather well.

Interestingly, he contacted me recently asking if there was any work at my place as he's tried all over & there's just nothing about. Funny really, cause a mate of mine at the bus depot said he went along for a job and only had to take his written test & PCV & he'd have been in - but he simply didn't show.
I wonder if WE'RE still paying his mortgage?

 

[x Alex x]

that's ridiculous!

it's true us who pay in to it get nothing, mainly because we don't know the system like the scroungers, i still don't understand why we are letting in foreigners to claim benefits, most of them know exactly what they can claim before they land

 

[neeny09]

i know your only allowed so much in savings then it will effect your benefits.

you can claim housing benefit even though it's a mortgage but they will only get it for so long and again depending on they're savings, and they will also take in your sisters wages into consideration as she should be contributing to the household.

you get just under a hundred pound a week JSA if you clain as a couple. So it would also depend on what your mum does with regards to going back to work.

If you go to martins money saving expert site and search for the benefits calculator and put in the details of what would happen if your dad is made redundant then it should give a detailed run down of housing benefit and benefits they would expect to receive

I hope everything turns out ok x

 

[x Alex x]

thanks for that, on the calculator now and i'm stuck already as i don't know how much council tax they pay

 

[neeny09]

google council tax band finder or checker and you type in the address and it'll tell you the band

 

[x Alex x]

google council tax band finder or checker and you type in the address and it'll tell you the band

will do, although i reckon i'll get stuck again so i might leave it to them to sort, thanks again