Being made redundant - entitlements/how to get by???

[Janus]

My brother was made redundant about 10 days ago from a job that he started in August (travel industry - badly hit by September 11th). The company were very underhand in their treatment of staff and basically told the whole company on the 29th of January that they were now redundant and wouldn't get their last month's pay or the month pay/notice pay they were entitled to. They have since found out that the company was also not paying any National Insurance for their employees.
My brother lives with his partner (who has a house and mortgage but all in her name) and has a nearly 2 year old. His partner works 2.5 days a week but has managed to increase her hours to full time while they work out what to do.
My brother went to the DSS to sort out some kind of benefits to keep him going until he starts getting paid, he has never claimed before in his life.
After explaining his circumstances he got a letter yesterday to say that (partly because of the non-NI payments) to bring up his family, help pay the mortgage, the bills, buy food, etc, the DSS will pay him £7.25 A WEEK. What the hell is this about? He is already feeling crap at losing a job and the worry of carrying on caring for his family so how this has hit him hard.
Does anyone have any advice? He will be contacting the DSS on Monday to query this 'benefit' and I am still convinced they must have made a mistake - does anyone know what he should do?
I feel angry and upset for him and would love to give him some kind of positive advice.
Thanks.

[Tinker]

Janus, don't have any specific advice but I think a chat at his local CAB would be helpful.

[jasper]

This probably does not help your brother but his firm will be in big trouble for not paying NI on behalf of their employees. As NI is paid by employers along with their employees tax, I wonder if they have even been paying his tax. Did he receive his pay net of tax and NI?
He may have to seek legal advice on this one.

[robinw]

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[Janus]

Thanks, this is certainly a start. My brother has been fully employed for about 9 years, paying full NI, it is only for the past 4 or 5 months he has not paid (or rather the firm did not pay). The company, Campus Travel, made themselves bankrupt, fully liquidated their assets, etc, before closing down, so there's no money left and, I assume, no company left to sue.
I will definitely suggest he see a CAB person before he queries his payment as they may suggest some more helpful advice, like you suggest maybe temporarily moving out would help but his girlfriend is likely to freak if he did this (but that's another story!).
Thanks again and any more good advice would be gratefully received.

[EmmaM]

My hubby was made redundant two years ago. The first thing we did was to contact the bank, the building society and our credit card companies to let them know the situation. They were all really brilliant and understanding - we worked out minimum payments and completed various forms which entitled us to insurance. In fact, Bank of Scotland allowed my hubby to pay a very small monthly amount for over a year - even though he managed to find alternative employment just a month after being redundant. I know many people are reluctant to let financial institutions know they cannot afford to pay them, fearing the worst, but it really is the best thing to do. As long as you keep them informed of what is going on they will bend over backwards to help you.

Another thing hubby did was to sign on as a temp at various recruitment agencies. It doesn't pay alot, but heck of alot more than £7.25 a week. One day he even drove a beer lorry to Suffolk! After being in a stressful situation with his previous job a change of scenery did him good and although there was the money worries, he was happier in himself.

The job centre in our next town runs a job club which hubby used as well. They give people the free use of email, fax etc to apply for jobs, they have all the job ads in various newspapers and someone was even able to help him amend his CV and put together something much better. Might be worth checking out if your town has similar facilities.

Once you get over the initial shock and depression of being made redundant there are plenty of things you can do to pull yourself up again. We managed to keep on our childminder, but we reduced hours, so hubby had a few hours free to write letters, attend interviews and do some work, but he also enjoyed extra time with our son.

He was very lucky that he found employment just a month later and on very similar wages, 3 months after that he found a new job where he has been ever since and is really happy.

Your brother has had 10 days to let it all sink in, now is time for action. I bet he'll have a new job before Easter (if not sooner) and will be able to put this all behind him. Good luck to him.

[debster]

Hi Janus

Me and my partner are very familiar with the DSS as we were both made redundant last October. My understanding of the benefits are that you can either claim Contributions based Income Support (dependant on your NI COntributions for the 2 years from April 1999 to March 2001) or Job Seekers Allowance which is based on the combined income of the whole household. They take into account everything incuding any savings over £3000 (per family not individually) and also things like child benefit believe it or not! £1 for every £250 over £3000 is deducted. They do not take into account anything like mortgages or childcare etc. The only reason I can think of for this derisory amount is that your brother's partner earns too much in their eyes. He definitely needs an explanation from the DSS.

Aren't Campus Travel quite well known around colleges etc? The name certainly rings a bell. I can't believe they've been so underhand. It makes you so mad.

[robinw]

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[Janus]

Thanks again, I am going down to see him this week so will pass on all the info. As it happens his previous job to Campus (yes, the big student travel firm who were top, above STA, until just last month, buggers that they are) have just offered him 'temporary' work to get him by, so he can have time off for interviews, etc. He starts this week and is really relieved as this is ideal to keep him going. So, I think he's feeling a bit happier, can see light at the end of the tunnel and doesn't have to jump at the first job that comes along. You never know, this may work out for him in the long run.
Thanks again everyone.