Help needed please for my son & he's family

[fram961]

Hello all, i'm new here and would appreciate some info...

 

My Son was self employed but due to illness (very bad depression & panic attacks) has needed to apply for benefit (first time he has ever needed to ask for help from benefits)

 

He was told to apply for ESA which he did 4 weeks ago,

 

he is married with 2 young children and he's wife is expecting twins in july...

 

Today they have been told he will get £129 a fortnight and it wont be back dated to the day he claimed.

 

He has sent in Two sick notes from GP ....

 

He is now in a very panicky state as this money isnt enough to live on with the family he has and a morgage to pay...

 

Does he now have to apply for any other benefits for children etc or is that it?

 

he was told he has to wait 13 weeks for help with morgage,

but how does he pay it in the mean time?

 

They dont have any savings or extra money at all and relying on family help at the moment,

none of this is helping with the depression.

 

Any info will be helpful

Thank you in advance

[watchinginvestigation2011]

The helpers will be along, if not tonight tommorow xx

 

I know on mortgates they can claim mortage interest but that it kicks in after certain time, so will leave it to those in the know who will come along when can xx

 

Also countcil tax benefit etc.....so do come back xx

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome.

 

This does sound a bit odd, I agree. I'm sure there will be replies from our experts when they come along, but I just wanted to ask if your son has seen the CAB? It might be worth a chat with them as well.

 

My best, HB

[honeybee13]

Another thought for you, I don't know if this is relevant. When I had depression and anxiety, I had an insurance with my credit card, forget the name for now.Anyway, I claimed on this and from memory it paid some or all of the interest each month. Sorry to be so vague, it's a long time ago. It's worth looking at all his insurances to see if they cover illness.

 

My best, HB

[cbbc]

When I was waiting for the 13 weeks for help with my mortgage I applied to the building society for a mortgage holiday for 3 months which was very useful.

It does not effect your credit rating.

I think most mortgage companys will do that as long as you are not in arrears.

Good Luck.

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG

 

For starters, ask him to go HERE to see whether he has got the right amount of money coming in

[Nystagmite]

£129 looks like single persons' rate of ESA every 2 weeks. Does his wife work?

[fram961]

£129 looks like single persons' rate of ESA every 2 weeks. Does his wife work?

Hi Thank you for your reply, No he's wife dont work, they have 2 young children and she is expecting twins at end of july....They have never claimed any type of benefits before so are at a total lose really. They have no money at the moment as they have been waiting for a answer on there claim for last 4 weeks and found out by phoning the people at benefits yesterday to see what was happening, this is when they got told they will be getting £129 a fortnight. Nothing went into there bank today!

[flumps1976]

These are the weekly rates of ESA dependant on your son and his partners age.

 

couple

 

both under 18 £53.45

 

both under 18 with child £80.75

 

both under 18 (main phase) £67.50

 

both under 18 with child (main phase) £105.95

 

one 18 or over, one under 18 £105.95

 

both over 18 £105.95

 

claimant under 25, partner under 18 £53.45

 

claimant 25 or over, partner under 18 £67.50

 

claimant (main phase), partner under 18 £ 67.50

 

Do your Son and his wife claim Child Benefit and Child Tax Credits for their children? Those are the only form of payments for children through thre benefits system. Prior to his claim for ESA he was working as Self Employed, was he receiving Working Tax Credits sd a top up, so he might have received the 4 week run on of that which is why ESA can't pay him from the start, or he has requested backdating for a period for more than 1 month from making his claim, or his medical evidence doesn't cover him from the start of his claim or it could even be a mixture of these.

 

Good advice to contact the mortgage provider at least to inform them of the change in circumstances so that they can consider what help (if any) they can help with payment holidays switching to an interest only morgage, freezing interest etc until he receives any help through the benefits system for help with the mortgage interest.

 

Best thing is to call the Benefit Centre switchboard to enquire when he can expect to recive any payment of ESA (it is a contact centre operator that you speak to no the actual benefit processing team).