A mate of mine has been made redundant and besides being gutted he is finding the benefits people less than helpful. His biggest concern is his mortgage and whether he can claim anything similar to rent benefit that he can use to help with his mortgage? Anyone know?
I would recommend that he gets in touch with the citizens advice bureau and they will be able to advise him best
His local authority will have a housing options team. They will be able to advise him on any benefits he is entitled in terms of housing. They should also be able to advise on any mortgage rescue/help schemes. There were a number of these running but I'm not sure what the latest funding position is.
I was made redundant and had the same problem. Fortunately I had mortgage protection so I didn't lose my house. I was told that I wouldn't receive anything as there we no provisions for mortgage payments. Personally I can't see the difference between having your rent covered and having your mortgage covered - it's still about keeping a roof over your head. It's nice to see that some people get up to £500 a week towards their outgoings though.
Exactly what my mate said. He can't see a difference between paying a landlord rent and paying a home owner the same amount in mortgage payments. The thought of losing his home is making him ill.
I think it's a problem he will need to sort out with his mortgage provider. I take it he has no redundancy cover?
The argument would be probably be that it's not up to the state to pay for someone's property. What I would say is that if they are paying rent which is going to a landlord they are paying their mortgage and giving them a nice little bonus on top. I think if they covered your mortgage for twelve months and allowed you to pay it back in the same manner as a student loan then I think that's the least people deserve.
but thats whats causing all the trouble someone complaining what someone else is getting. yes there should be a way to stop people abusing benefits system(including rich landlords) but the point of benefits is that when people really need them they should be there no one should be afraid to lose their home because they have fallen on hard times. but the trouble is whenever benefits are mentioned it creates a race to the bottom and that shouldn't be the case. i wish mario's friend all the best and hope he gets things sorted .and let's stop persecuting people on benefit and and expose where the real money crimes are with the top wealthy people money laundering and tax evading.
he should speak to his mortgage company straight away. They are under instructions from the government at the moment to go easy on folk and not repossess. I suspect they will offer him a mortgage holiday for a few months if he has equity in the property.
Thanks everyone, all advice appreciated. He has spoken to his mortgage provider and they seem willing to help but not indefinitely and he's going to next to nothing in redundancy payments. His missus only gave birth to their second child about a year ago so he's the sole provider. He's nearly 40 so going to find it hard to find anything at the minute.
its at least a couple of years since I last processed Jobseekers Allowance but if memory serves, if he gets just Contributions based Jobseekers Allowance then he'll just claim for himself and Mortgage (interest only) help will not be available. if he qualifies for Income based JSA, then this is to all intents and purposes is means tested, and however much he eventually gets he will receive help with the Mortgage Interest payments. This info will be readily available at the Job centre. Sorry if this still seems a bit vague but it is a benefit whereby payments depend on people's own individual circumstances. As an aside, All JSA processing for this area, and indeed much of Yorkshire, is now done in Glasgow.
A bit more information here that may be of help http://www.dwp.gov.uk/other-specialists/mortgage-lenders/
