Hi, my name is mumoftwinsalday! — Scope | Disability forum
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Hi, my name is mumoftwinsalday!

mumoftwinsalday
mumoftwinsalday Community member Posts: 7 Listener
Hi everyone! Im a newbie here.
Would there be help for me as im really clueless and worried that I dont know much. My personal situation is a bit complicated. My kids and I are living outside UK. My husband and i bought a house in Cardiff both on our names. Now we are separated not divorce. My xhusband is living and working in Middle East. We have rented that house out to a family. All finances controlled by my xhusband. I want to go back to the UK with my 7-yr-old twins and go back to our house. My worry is that I dont have financial capability to keep the house or pay for the bills. The house is still under 5 year contract which is 2 more years before we could sell to avoid penalties. My friend is happy to accomodate us temporarily. Any advice you could give me. The rent money goes to my xhusband and mortgage payment on his bank account. Any help i could apply for so i could pay bills? Not sure if my xhusband  would pay the mortgage once we go back to our house. My son is recently diagnosed with spectrum disorder autism. 

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,359 Disability Gamechanger
    HI and welcome,

    I'm one of the community champions here on scope and i'm here to help and advise others.

    You say you're living outside the UK but you don't state where and how long you've lived where you're living. If you could answer that then i'll be able to help you further.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • pink_princess
    pink_princess Community member Posts: 181 Pioneering
    Hi @mumoftwinsalday

    i am also I'm one of the community champions here at scope here to help and advise others. 

    I just wanted to say welcome to the Community ?
  • emmarenshaw
    emmarenshaw Community member Posts: 710 Pioneering
    edited February 2020
    A warm welcome to the community  
     @mumoftwinsalday
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @mumoftwinsalday - I'd like to welcome you to the community as well. I'm sorry to read about your situation, but hope if you would kindly answer Poppy's questions, that you will be helped further by her, & get some answers. :)
  • mumoftwinsalday
    mumoftwinsalday Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    Sorry for late reply due to 8 hour time gap between us. We are in the Philippines and been here for 3 years. My twins and i are all British citizens. We will go back to Cardiff sometime in May 2020. I have some worries about how I could survive there. I worked all the time I was in UK for 10 years never applied for any benefits whatsoever before. Now ill be a single parent and jobless. Need to care for my children. No family in UK only friends but because my son is recently diagnose of autism spectrum disorder our access to support in the Philippines is not a common thing here. My son will not achieve his full potential here that's the reason of going back to UK.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,359 Disability Gamechanger
    The only benefit that you could claim will be universal credit because this is 1 payment each month because it's replaced the old benefits  but because you've been out of the country for more than 2 years you will have to satisfy the habitual residence test (HRT) even though you are a British citizen but having a property in the UK may help you with the HRT but having tenants living there could cause problems. When you do arrive here i'd advise you to speak to an advice agency near you.

    You won't be able to claim for help with your mortgage payments if you live in your home until you've been claiming Universal Credit for 9 consecutive months with zero earnings. If you do claim Support for mortgage interest (SMI) then it will be a loan and will need to be repaid back if you sell the house in the future. https://www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest/what-youll-get

    The other issue here could be your house. As it has tenants in it then the rental income from them could be classed as income when claiming Universal Credit.

    Unfortunately, this won't be a straight forward claim for benefits when you do arrive and face to face advice will definitely be needed.

    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,359 Disability Gamechanger
    To add to this information, you won't be able to claim DLA for your child until they have lived in the UK for at least 2 years.

    For child benefit then you'll be able to claim this once you've been here for 3 months.


    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • mumoftwinsalday
    mumoftwinsalday Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    Thanks a lot everyone.
  • mumoftwinsalday
    mumoftwinsalday Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    How about when the tenant leaves the house? Ive given them notice to quit tenancy. Will that help us in anything? Is it going to be more problem for me? 
  • mumoftwinsalday
    mumoftwinsalday Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    Ive found your comments very helpful. At least Im getting idea of what somehow applies to my case. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,359 Disability Gamechanger
    Will you be living in the house once they leave? If so then because you have a mortgage then you won't be able to claim for help with that until 9 consecutive months of zero income when your claim for Universal credit starts.

    Also because UC is a means tested benefit any savings/capital of more than £6,000 will affect the amount you can claim by £4.35 per month for every £250 over that amount. Savings of £16,000 and over and you won't be entitled to any UC. The home you live in is not counted as capital.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • mumoftwinsalday
    mumoftwinsalday Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    I dont have that much savings. The rental money all went to xhusbands bank account? If he is not living in UK when we get back, he is not going to sign to agree on any loans that is connected with me. If he is going to pay the mortgage im not sure. Its a wait and see. But paying the bills is going to be a problem. So no help for me? Only child benefit after 3 months. Could i apply for any loan without xhusband's signature? He is not gonna help me
  • mumoftwinsalday
    mumoftwinsalday Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    The habitual residence test- i had lived in UK for 12 years before we left for the Philippines. That will not count, is it? Do i need to wait for sometime before I could apply for universal credit?
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,359 Disability Gamechanger
    As advised because you have been living outside the UK for more than 3 months you'll need to satisfy the HRT as explained in my other comment. Please have a read of that link i posted.

    For help with the mortgage through SMI then this will only pay for the interest on the mortgage, which will need to be repaid back in the future. It doesn't pay for any insurance or any missed mortgage payments.

    As it will be at least 9 months before you can claim this if you can't pay the mortgage in the meantime you'll need to contact your mortgage lender.

    If you do find work then any earnings you receive each month will mean another month of waiting for the SMI because you can only claim it if you haven't work at all for 9 months. I'm unsure whether you'll need him to sign the loan agreement, i'm assuming not because it's you that will be claiming the loan.

    Are you able to speak to your ex partner to ask what the financial arrangements will be when you do move back? Will he be paying maintenance for the children? If he does then this won't be classed as income when you do claim a means tested benefit.

    It certainly won't be straight forward.




    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.

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