isil
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- Nov 15, 2007
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Ok so I've started work and have encountered a few problems along the way 
The main thing I'd say is that you need to tell the lone parent advisor everything and not expect them to actually help you out.
I went to see mine thinking she'd help
I told her that I'd applied for a budgeting loan because I needed to pay upfront nursery costs and buy clothes for work.
I got turned down for the budgeting loan because when they did the check, I wasn't on income support any more. So I got declined for that - sigh. And I shouldn't have.
So I rang the lone parent advisors back and asked if they could help. Basically the advisor I spoke to said that if I'd TOLD the advisor I saw that I needed help with upfront childcare costs, they'd have been able to pay them for me. It seems to me that because I said I'd applied for a budgeting loan (even though I hadn't been approved) and didn't explicitly say 'I need you to help me pay childcare costs' they didn't offer me help with it!
Then, by the time I asked about it, I wasn't on income support any more and her exact words were 'our hands are tied, we can't offer you any help'.
arrrgh. My message to any single parents going back to work is to just keep asking and checking.
I'm having to borrow money from a friend (who only this one time can help me out because she's got some inheritance) which is such a pain in the arse. The tax credits (per bloody usual) are taking ages to get sorted so there's no joy there either! You get the £250 grant but that doesn't go very far when everything else stops and I don't get paid til the end of the month!
/rant sorry lol
The main thing I'd say is that you need to tell the lone parent advisor everything and not expect them to actually help you out.
I went to see mine thinking she'd help
I told her that I'd applied for a budgeting loan because I needed to pay upfront nursery costs and buy clothes for work.I got turned down for the budgeting loan because when they did the check, I wasn't on income support any more. So I got declined for that - sigh. And I shouldn't have.
So I rang the lone parent advisors back and asked if they could help. Basically the advisor I spoke to said that if I'd TOLD the advisor I saw that I needed help with upfront childcare costs, they'd have been able to pay them for me. It seems to me that because I said I'd applied for a budgeting loan (even though I hadn't been approved) and didn't explicitly say 'I need you to help me pay childcare costs' they didn't offer me help with it!
Then, by the time I asked about it, I wasn't on income support any more and her exact words were 'our hands are tied, we can't offer you any help'.
arrrgh. My message to any single parents going back to work is to just keep asking and checking.
I'm having to borrow money from a friend (who only this one time can help me out because she's got some inheritance) which is such a pain in the arse. The tax credits (per bloody usual) are taking ages to get sorted so there's no joy there either! You get the £250 grant but that doesn't go very far when everything else stops and I don't get paid til the end of the month!
/rant sorry lol
