Looking for a bit of advice...again.

[Oddkid]

Ridersite has proved to me in recent months that it has seemingly bottomless sympathy. You've shown me a lot of kindness this year and D-Rider is also being given a lot of support. I hate to ask for help again but i'm struggling to find an alternative.

So far this year has been beyond a joke. Some of what has happened i'm still not comfortable talking about. Will is the only one who will understand at this point and for the secrets i am truly sorry. What i will say is that since march i have taken a shattering blow in my personal life which thankfully at long last it seems i might recover from that was followed so soon by my loss of home and then a third incident which i will now mention.

If you recall i mentioned some time ago that i had lost my home and then that i moved into a flat. This move and my new home cost me altogether £1200 which i covered with what money i had left to hand and then with an overdraft. Understandably i anticipated living on the breadline for a couple of months while i payed back the overdraft. At this point i was about £950 overdrawn.

Two weeks after i took the flat one, D-Rider came into contact with... an entourage of people at Wasgrave hospital (I found out about that days later). They were there visiting me as i had crashed the Mille in an incident that still remains inexplicable. To my knowledge my injuries were just concussion some pulled muscles and bruised ribs. The mille has a buckled front wheel, broken indicator, broken mirror and a smashed tail light. All in all about £200 worth of damage, pretty lucky.

This isn't the worst of my problem. Caterpillar wouldn't let me return to work until i was fully fit based on the physical nature of the job and their serious view on health and safety. Despite really trying to go back and earn some money, they wouldn't let me return for the first four weeks which took me up to the factory summer shut down. All in all i've lost 6 weeks pay (about £1500)

I managed to scrape through on my first months rent with what i had left over and a little bit of money given to me by my parents (who owe me frankly seeming it was their argument that lost me my home in the first place.) My second months rent however is due in two days time and i'm short of the money. I have a contingency to cover it so i'm not here begging for money.

The issue in question is that with my lack of income, i have been forcced to ask for help from the state. This has been met with no sympathy whatsoever. Firstly, D-Rider asked me about my SSP, apparently because my employer is an agency i only receive about £40 a week, half of what seemingly anyone else receives. I tried to ask for housing benefits to cover my rent for one month. After two meetings and plenty of form filling i recieved a letter in the post telling me i earn too much to get benefit. £40 a week is too much for housing benefit? Currently i'm waiting to recieve even more forms concerning another benefit i might not qualify for.

As it stands the benefits i feel i'm owed won't help me concerning the upcoming rent payment but i have utilities and council tax to pay aswell and even if the benefits come too late they'll go a long way to keeping my head above water.

Frankly i'm disgusted that the state seems unwilling to help the honest tax payer in times of need but will happily provide housing, tax cuts, mobility allowance, housing benefit, jobseekers allowance and god knows what else to the dole dossing wasters who sit outside McDonalds day in day out smoking their life away. Aren't benefits supposed to be a short term income for people in an emergency, not a full time way of life?

Can anyone offer me any help on what to do to get some financial help for the next couple of weeks at least?

[MartDude]

Bloody hell, another good guy in the shit for reasons not of their making!

I've no recent experience of the benefit system, but several acquaintances have found the Citizens Advice Bureau very helpful in similar circumstances.

Keep your chin up, try not to let it drag you down, it will work out in the end.

[Samray]

I would have thought council tax benefit should be straightforward and would see off one obligation.
http://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/h ... -and-bills
Whilst these people can be helpful and by law have to be, you do need to ask the right questions and not wait for them to volunteer information.
As MartDude says CAB should help but they seem less available these days. I'm guessing as their workload increases their funding has decreased.

[D-Rider]

Matt - I've had another look at the government website and can't find anything to suggest you should get less ssp for being an agency worker.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAnd ... G_10018786

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAnd ... /DG_175843

Of course I'm no expert on this - so as others have said, get on to the CAB - they should be able to clarify things.

Hope you get this sorted out - you've had more than your share of hard times.

[Willopotomas]

Like I've said to you mate, you need to kick up a fuss and make some noise. The local rag would be the first port of call. Any kind of government bashing is good business these days.

[Kwackerz]

I have a mate who was having problems with various state departments. I forced her to talk to her local MP, who did a bit of prodding and got stuff sorted. Probably not much help in this case however i suppose it serves to remind you/all of us to think outside the box when things get difficult, there is always somewhere to turn.

Hope things.. in fact no... not hope cos i know they will... LOOK FORWARD to seeing you in a better situation before long.

Chin up, they cant make you pregnant

[Kwackerz]

In fact, after re-reading. Fek it. Find your local MP and write them an email. Explain the situation and mention the system is chinning you off and you need a bit of firepower from them. Remind them youve voted for them. (regardless of whether you did)

[Oddkid]

CAB were my first port of call. I was told on the phone by the advisor 'you don't qualify for anything you'll have to see if theres any family that can help you out.'

Yeah cheers United Kingdom

Cheers for looking into it D-Rider. Christ knows why this sort of thing keeps happening. (Sorry you've had so much bad luck aswell.)

[D-Rider]

Found this too Matt .... might be worth wading through it.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/e14.pdf

[MartDude]

Like I've said to you mate, you need to kick up a fuss and make some noise. The local rag would be the first port of call. Any kind of government bashing is good business these days.

Another good thought - except Matt would have to be in the limelight, and potentially a target for the slurs of the UK equivalent of the Tea Party, aka Daily Mail (et al) reader types

[flatlander]

Nut here used to be a system for emergency loans from the then dhss for things like having or repairing an oven also i once had help from the princes trust or the king george trust
Not sure if it will be available or not but in the meantime the CAB is a good start as has been said. I think but am not sure that the itility companies have hardship schemes too so you may be able to make am arrangement with them to free up some of their cash temporarily. Sorry to hear of your woes. Also contact the direct gov helpline for advice

[Oddkid]

I'm strongly considering petrol bombing the council house to be perfectly flippant.

I would consider some way of tax evasion, its a matter of finding a legal way of doing it.

Hopefully i'm going back to work tomorow the only downside being that i won't be able to go back to the council and complain. I'm still pretty annoyed that i seem to qualify for nothing.

[D-Rider]

I would consider some way of tax evasion, its a matter of finding a legal way of doing it.

You can't - by definition tax evasion is illegal.

What is legal is tax avoidance .... where those who know (usually the monied) exploit loopholes in the tax system to avoid paying tax ..... which means the rest of us who can afford it less than they can, have to make up the shortfall as things have to be paid for somehow.

[flatlander]

I'm still pretty annoyed that i seem to qualify for nothing.

you are still entitled to it retrospectively for the period you were unable to work. I am not clear on the full agency rules but there are rules that dependding on hours worked etc that it is illegal to treat you differently to other employees. Not sure how this applies to benefits.

[Oddkid]

New legislation is coming in starting october that makes it a law for the company to treat me qually to non agency employees.

I still think its shocking how poorly people in these situations are supported by the state.