Single Mum To Be In Desperate Need Of Help...

[luvi]

Hi there im a 27 year old single mother to be i have no family and no savings..However i have been self employed for the past 12 years and never asked for any help. My baby is due in just 4 weeks.

 

Im renting a private house at £500 a month and im getting £123.06 a week maternity allowance thats it (£492.24 a month) Housing have decided to help me but are only giving me £52 a week (£208 a month) leaving me with £292 a month extra to pay. They are also still charging me £45 a month council tax. Take all this out of my maternity allowance and i have only £155 a month to feed me and a baby (nappies) all bills etc etc. my water is not on a meter its an old propperty and this is another £48 a month. Surely this cant be right can it?

 

I have been in a real state today and dont know where to turn to. Have they workied this out wrong??

 

Please help... all your answers and advice would be "GREATLY" appreciated. Much love... Luci

[pedross]

Hi Luci

 

I am not an expert in this area but it does not sound at all right to me.

 

You will find plenty of people on this site to help you but Saturday night is not the best time to get replies. Now you have posted, your post will drop down the pages until someone answers and it will move to the top again.

 

The problem when it is not on the 1st or 2nd page is that people might not find it. You need to add something to it on Sunday late morning or in the afternoon to get it back to the top. When someone helps you tip their scales in thanks and they will know you appreciate their help.

 

The only other points I can make is that you have been self employed for 12 years at 27 years old and never asked for help and now you are having a baby. Your baby is so lucky to have a mother who has that attitude and you must not change it now.

 

Do not take no for an answer it cannot be right that you are not being offered the help you need and deserve. I am no expert on benefits but talk to the housing again and and if they say they cannot help ask them who can.

 

Help will be along but do not worry, you can get this sorted. I hope this information is useful and I am sorry I do not have the answers for you but someone will.

 

Pedross

[luvi]

Thanks so much for your reply it is greatly appreciated and hopefully more nice people will be able to help me. Lots of love xxx:)

[ErikaPNP]

The help you would be getting with your rent is local housing allowance (LHA), not housing benefit as you rent privately. They are worked out differently. LHA looks at how many bedrooms you need ect and I must admit I am not good in the field of LHA - I haven't read up much on it yet.

 

Once baby is here, you will get child benefit, see here: HM Revenue & Customs: Child Benefit: Introduction

 

applicaiton form here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/ch2-online.pdf

 

and given your income you should also qualify for child tax credit and possibly working tax credit, which will increase your income. See here: http://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/Qualify/WhatAreTaxCredits.aspx

 

A good guide is here: Start Calculation where you can type in your expected circumstances (ie what your circumstances will be after you have the baby) to get an idea of what you could get.

 

You will also get the Health in pregnancy grant, see here: HM Revenue & Customs: Help with the Health in Pregnancy Grant

 

Once you are in reciept of tax credit, based on your current income, you would receive the right amount to qualify you for the Sure Start Maternity Grant of £500 - you must claim before baby is 3 months of age: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/sf100_print.pdf

 

You can also claim child support from the father if he is unwilling to enter into a private arrangement: CSA Homepage - Child Support Agency

 

There is more info on financial support in bringing up children here: Expecting or bringing up children : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits

[pedross]

Oh - and I meant to point out all of the above but someone has beaten me to it!

[MandM]

Hi there im a 27 year old single mother to be i have no family and no savings..However i have been self employed for the past 12 years and never asked for any help. My baby is due in just 4 weeks.

 

Im renting a private house at £500 a month and im getting £123.06 a week maternity allowance thats it (£492.24 a month) Housing have decided to help me but are only giving me £52 a week (£208 a month) leaving me with £292 a month extra to pay. They are also still charging me £45 a month council tax. Take all this out of my maternity allowance and i have only £155 a month to feed me and a baby (nappies) all bills etc etc. my water is not on a meter its an old propperty and this is another £48 a month. Surely this cant be right can it?

 

I have been in a real state today and dont know where to turn to. Have they workied this out wrong??

 

Please help... all your answers and advice would be "GREATLY" appreciated. Much love... Luci

 

Hi Luci,

 

Spoke to my wife about this when I spotted your post and she has said pretty much the same as Erika. Use the links Erika has given (my Mrs has used them all!!)and don't panic. Things change quite considerably once the baby is born (sorted it all recently for our daughter who is also a single mum). As far as the council are concerned, if you're in a place thats more than one bedroom then you're 'under occupied' but this changes once the baby comes along. 3 beds gets a bit more tricky!

She also said to look at sites like Pampers, Johnsons etc for freebies and also you'll get tokens for baby food/milk through benefits.

Any bills etc you have at the mo that are giving you problems, speak to the companies and explain the situation and i'm sure you'll get a few weeks grace. I'm sure you could do without the stress.

[MandM]

And keep posting. You'll get loads of good advice on here.

 

And the very best of luck to you with the baby.

Edited October 18, 2009 by MandM
added

[jack1966]

dont forget you can get 15% of the childs fathers wages also

[TCman]

From a tax credits point of view, make an application. call them on 0845 3003900 and get them to go through an eligibility calculation and get a claim form sent out.

You may not be able to claim until the child is born, but then you should expect a payment in excess of £100 a week for CTC and WTC, probably around £130 of so depending on your circumstances.

 

WTC may be payable now depending on your normal working hours and previous year income