Benefits entitlement

My husbands cousin has been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma and is undergoing immunotherapy ipi/nivo.  He is struggling to pay his bills and is just about managing to work albeit he is not highly paid.   He has asked us if we can help him financially.  As he struggles to manage his affairs on his own, we help him as much as we can.  I was wondering if he is allowed to claim any help from benefits that could help him pay his bills.  He has no mortgage or rent to pay as we assisted him and his mother to buy a house together a few years ago so that she could spend her last few years with her son, she has now passed.  He therefore pays out usual council tax, gas electric, etc. but he is struggling with that , we are also concerned if the cancer gets worse and he can no longer work how he will manage without us helping him.  He is 60 years old.  Thank you 

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  • Hi Jools53, 

    I am sorry to hear about your husband's cousin being diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma and that he is struggling to pay his bills. It's very nice of you to help him as much as you can but I can understand why you would want to look into benefits and financial help he might be entitled too and it's worth doing your research well and finding out whether there is any financial support he could claim. 

    I'd certainly recommend that you, or your husband's cousin, contact the Macmillian benefits advice line and they also have a very detailed benefits and financial support page. They will be able to give you some advice and support. Have a look too at our website which has a page specifically on what cancer benefits you could claim and I would strongly recommend you also have a read of our page on financial support and cancer which will signpost you to a range of resources which might be available to him. 

    I hope this gives you a few pointers and that you will be able to find some financial help for your husband's cousin. Other members of our community will no doubt have been in a similar place before and been through a similar process of researching and hopefully finding financial support they were entitled to. I hope they will be along shortly with some recommendations as to what he should possibly apply for. 

    I hope that you will find out more soon about what benefits he might be able to get in his particular circumstances.

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Dear Lucie, thank you for your comprehensive response.  I will definitely look into those for him.  

    Really appreciate that.  Kind regards Jools

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