Hello. advice and/or support wanted

awain

Hello.
I hope this is appropriate. very new to online groups.
my adult son has Asperger's, always been very successful despite multiple challenges.
multilingual, studied abroad (with support) returned back to the UK, did a Post grad teaching qualification. subsequently became a qualified modern foreign language teacher. Sadly due mainly to lack of support, understanding and his struggle with classroom behaviour management, he has not successfully secured a full time post.
very skilled, accepted a job with HSBC, however, covid, working from home, and all the isolation and anxiety that goes with this, has rendered him so low, and anxious, he was forced to reduce his hours (leading to financial hardship) continued to struggle with the challenges of working from home. has had to take sick leave due to the levels of anxiety associated with working from home. employer sick pay has ended, and he is now struggling on SSP, and is very low in mood. right now, he could use some advice/support.
Any thoughts much appreciated. 
Alison

poppy123456

HI and welcome,

I'm sorry to hear this. He could look at claiming Universal Credit but whether he could claim this will depend on his circumstances. If he lives with a partner then they'll need to claim as a couple because it's a means tested benefit. If he has savings/capital of more than £16,000 he'll be excluded from claiming.

As he's claiming SSP from his employer this will reduce his UC entitlement by 63% for every £1 he earns. I'd advise him to use a benefits calculator to check entitlement. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=f67c5fee-0b47-4714-9ba7-1dc71e4f5afc

Claiming the UC will also depend on how long he's been back in the UK for. If he is entitled to anything once he's used the benefit calculator, he would need to send in fit notes from his GP for the UC claim to start the work capability assessment process off.

New style ESA maybe possible once his SSP has ended providing he's paid the correct amount of NI contributions in the previous 2 tax years. If he claims this as well as UC then the NsESA will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

PIP (personal independence payment) may also be possible but it will depend on how his conditions affect him against the PIP descriptors. He will also need to have lived in the UK for 2 out of the past 3 years. More information here regarding this.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/

Hope this helps.

awain

Poppy123456
Thank you so very much. i am trying to encourage him to look at any financial entitlement, and your info is great.
ultimately he is desperate to find a way back to using his language skills. Gain meaningful employment, doing what he excels at. sadly without support of some kind, this is unlikely.
manny thanks

poppy123456

You're welcome. Scope have a support to work programme that maybe helpful to him, here's a link with information for that.

https://www.scope.org.uk/employment-services/