Redundancy can cause a lot of stress and uncertainty, especially when it comes to your finances. Whether it's your job or that of someone close to you that's been affected, you'll need to get to grips with your financial situation as quickly as possible. Nigel from Lloyds TSB offers practical and factual information to help guide you during this challenging time.

There’s never a good time to be made redundant. For many, it will mean your financial situation will change. The best way to prepare yourself is to get a good understanding of your finances as quickly as possible. You can do that in a few simple steps:

• First and foremost, don’t ignore the problem.
  
  
• Spend some time calculating your income and outgoings so you can prioritise important commitments. You should pay all your essential bills first, such as your mortgage, utility bills (electricity, gas, water), insurances, council tax and housekeeping.
  
  
• Know your rights. As an employee of any company, you have some basic rights to information and a say in what happens to you. There’s a range of things you should find out such as notice periods, redundancy pay and legal requirements.
  
  
• Get some practical help. Understanding your complete financial situation is key to solving any problems you may be experiencing. Your bank is a useful place to seek guidance and support.
  
  
• Budget, budget, budget. Cutting costs will relieve some of the financial problems you may face. An easy and simple way to do this is to draw up a budget.
  
  
• If you think you may struggle to pay your mortgage, call your mortgage provider right away. They’ll be able to offer advice - the earlier you contact them, the better.
  
  
• Find out what you're entitled to. There are various allowances you can claim to tide you over while you look for another job.
  

If you’re going to be made redundant from your job, you should be treated fairly by your employer and there are certain steps they would be expected to follow. You may also be entitled to a redundancy payment. In addition, your employer could still be a valuable source of information about such things as health care, the company car, company loans, redundancy payments, time off for interviews, pensions etc. You need to ensure you have all the relevant facts to hand in order to start planning your future and your return to work.

Make sure you know:

• Your date of redundancy.
  
  
• The date you’ll receive any redundancy package.
  
  
• What the package offers and how it’s been calculated.
  
  
• What will happen to your pension.
  
  
• If you can take time off for interviews for new jobs while you are still employed by your current employer.
  
  
• If you’ll get any help with finding and applying for jobs, for example, use of telephone, computers, photocopying, etc.
  
  
• If your employer will help with any form of re-training.
  
  
• If your employer will supply you with a reference.
  
  
• How long will you have use of any other benefits, such as a company car.