help/support/etc.

[thomas16]

hi,

 

i am not sur where to post this so here goes.......i recently lost my husband of 57 and am now alone in france with our 12 yearold.  i am not receiving any help whatsoever, so can somebody please advise me.  should i be getting family allowance, income support, and help with school bits and bobs.  i have no income apart from a little house which belongs to our house and i get 330e a month.  i am looking into bereavement pension in the uk, well i have applied and have been told that it is likely that i will get around 80 pounds per month.  although i have the small income from the house, i still have to buy food, diesel, house taxes,car/house insurance plus all the other utilities.....what a mess to be left in. can anybody shed light on this.  i am also trying to find out if i can get free french lessons.  we have only been in one year and i did start taking lessons but stopped when this happened.  my hus band was due to go back to the uk to resume some sort of work, but this was not to be.  thanku.paris[:(]  ps.  i also have to pay for my medical not much but still 50e per 4 months

[JayJay]

Hi Thomas16,

I'm so sorry, poor you & please accept my heartfelt sympathy. A friend was in a similar situation, although she doesn't have a child. She did get the the bereavement allowance which is not much & is only payable for 52 weeks. Also the bereavement payment, which is one off & £2000. The links for these are below. She is fully in the system here & fills in a tax return. So she did get help from here as well. I can't remember fully what it was, but will find out from her tomorrow & let you know, unless someone else comes up with that in the meantime. I do know that because of her extreme low income she did get RMI, all health costs paid, she also had a payment for wood too. I can't tell you anything about child allowance, sorry. Others on here will know though.

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/dev_008411.xml.html

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/dev_008417.xml.html

Take care

Jenny