Redundancy - what benefits?

soon2bjobless · 9 January 2005 at 5:33PM

I work full time and I have just been given 3 months notice of redundancy. Is there a phone number I can talk to someone and find out what i am enititled to? I need to know exact amounts - as long as I know figures I wont panic so much.

I have been looking at Jobcentre plus and dont understand. I know I will be entitled to JSA but my partner and daughter both receive Disability living allowance (lowest rate for him and highest rate for her) - will I get this on top of JSA or will they deduct it? is my Child benefit added or deducted? will I get Child tax credit?

I will be entitled to redundancy pay - not a huge amount - will they take that off my benefits?

Its been a very long time since I had to deal with the benefits system - we live in an isolated village so theres no benefit offices nearby - i dont even know where the one I would have to sign on is!

Could anyone even give me a rough ball park figure that I could work on?

Thank you.

Ted_Hutchinson · 9 January 2005 at 6:33PM

Your probably best advised to put your details in the calculator here ENTITLED TO

However the DLA claims are separate and only affect your claim beneficially. So (assuming you don't find another job quickly) when you have used up your Contributions Based JSA you go onto means tested Income Based JSA, which is income support for those who are not themselves disabled or Carers.

You don't say if your husband works or not, this affects your claim as a couple or if either of you claim Carers Allowance for looking after the person on High Rate Care DLA this also will have a beneficial impact on any future means tested benefit claim.
You also don't mention if your renting or have a mortgage.

Here's a useful Link to a Redundancy Help website Fran found recently

soon2bjobless · 9 January 2005 at 8:56PM

Thank you very much for your quick reply........

My partner was self- employed but now cant work as he has a degenerative neck problem - it took us all our efforts just to get him DLA and the lowest rate. He cannot work due to pain so we decided I would work and he applied for and was granted Carers allowance for looking after our daughter.

We have had our mortgage for 4 years - we used up a years insurance when he found out he couldnt work but that I presume is it - we were told we couldnt claim anymore.

I did try that "ENTITILED TO" site but couldnt make it out but with other figures from the job centre site I came up with the following

£87.30 for couple on JSA
£16.50 Child benefit
£31 Child tax

making a weekly total of £134.80

I presume I will be on the cont-based JSA for 26 weeks - will I have both lots of DLS and Carers allowance on top? Would I then go onto either income base JSA or Income support - would then the DLA and Carers allowance be taken off?

Thanks IA.

Ted_Hutchinson · 10 January 2005 at 12:26AM

The DLA as I said before carries on anyway whatever benefit you claim. The disability allowance money is for the extra costs of disability so they are on top of whatever other money or benefits you have coming in.

You don't seem to have clicked the blue word MORTGAGE yet to find out if you might get support with the mortgage interest you pay?

I think you would be best advised to see an experienced Welfare Rights office as that way you will be sure you are arranging your benefits claims to best advantage. See the BenefitsandWork guide to Getting help with your benefits here

Testee · 15 January 2005 at 7:50PM

You've been given some real good and useful advice here.

I just wanted to add (as I have recently been made redundant and been round the system) that your redundancy payment will not affect any benefits and will be tax free however if you are given any payment of wages in lieu of notice then this is taxable and you should wait until the end of that lieu of notice period before you sign on. JSA starts being paid when your lieu of notice period ends - some JobCentres are not explaining this and having you sign on in the iterim even though you are not going to receive benefit - this is crucial because your 26 weeks contribution based JSA entitlement starts when you first sign on irrespective of whether you are receiving any benefit. So for example if you were given 8 weeks payment in lieu of notice and sign on immediately after your last day of work you will only receive benefit money for 18 weeks. If you do receive a lieu of notice payment and don't sign on for that period then you need to ask the JobCentre for a form to get your National Insurance contributions paid for the period of time your lieu of notice period lasts.

One advantage to living in a rural area is that there is a good chance once you have had your initial interview to register as unemployed you may well be able to sign on by post which is what I do - saves you the two-weekly trip to town!!

Also if you get made redundant you do not have to wait the usual six months to take advantage of the new version of JobClub which offers you courses on CV writing, interviewing etc and help to find a new job.

soon2bjobless · 16 January 2005 at 1:55PM

Thanks for your reply.

I didnt know about that loophole in the JSA - thanks very much.

I also didnt know about the Job seekers club either - I have never written a cv in my life and will need help!

Testee · 16 January 2005 at 3:25PM

There's just so much to know and find out about isn't there. I can't remember what this jobclub thing is called but the one in my area was pretty good - they also have computers, internet access, stamps, stationery, telephones, newspapers there - all are free of charge for job searching if you can get yourself on the programme. And they pay your travelling expenses - it's not available in every area of the country but definitely worth asking about. They also have a programme on the PC to help you work out possible careers and job paths that you might be suited to based on a whole load of questions, I thought it was pretty good and certainly threw me up some stuff I hadn't thought about.

Good luck.

deemy2004 · 25 January 2005 at 4:23AM

Hey !

I know this is naughty in this regard, but err hmmm, if you are not aware of impending redundancy, cough, cough, splutter, splutter there is always insurance against redundancy which pays, I think upto 60% of your salary for a year. There needs to be a clear 3 month period from signing up to the policy

salaryprotect.co.uk

YorkshireBoy · 30 January 2005 at 1:01PM

Testee wrote:

I just wanted to add (as I have recently been made redundant and been round the system) that your redundancy payment will not affect any benefits and will be tax free however if you are given any payment of wages in lieu of notice then this is taxable and you should wait until the end of that lieu of notice period before you sign on.

I was made redundant 2 years ago, and received 3 months salary in lieu of notice. I spent the 4 week consultation period talking to Job Centre and Citizens Advice Bureau (I had already secured another job) and the main reason for "signing on" with the Job Centre was to ensure they pay your NI contributions during the lieu period, or until you start your next job, whichever happens first. Otherwise, your state pension could suffer in later years.

My advice would be to visit/telephone both Job Centre and CAB as soon as you are aware your circumstances are to change.

HTH
YB

Spendless · 30 January 2005 at 3:23PM

Hi

When i was made redundant at the end of 1997 i received 6 weeks money in lieu of notice. I signed on straight away even though i didn't receive any money till after the 6 week period was up. This was so i received a credit for my NI as a previous poster has mentioned.

In my case i was single with no other income and my understanding was that in the event that i hadn't found work once the JSA contribution based time was up i would go straight onto JSA income based.

If the above is correct, for me it would make no difference to my money if i claimed JSA during the in lieu period or not. The only difference it made was i continued to receive a NI credit for the in lieu weeks by signing on.

Now say i had a working husband/partner at that time.By signing on in the 'in lieu' period for 6 weeks, I would then have only been able to claim money for 18 weeks. After this i wouldn't have been eligible for JSA- income based because i had a working partner.

Is this correct?

If so. The OP mentions a husband on DLA. If she goes onto income based JSA would the DLA be affected or not? If it does then i can see why you would delay signing on, if it doesn't surely it doesn't make any difference.

To the OP - you mention a child. Which of you claims Child Benefit? If it is yourself then your NI should be covered by the HRP (Home Responsibilities Protection) in your CB.

If i've got any of this wrong will someone please shout up? Or maybe Fran or Ted or someone can clarify.

BTW - sometimes i've noticed that certain things (i think school dinners and perscriptions are examples) only apply to JSA-Income based. Is this right? If so it might also be worth signing on in the 'in lieu' period.

squarecat · 1 February 2005 at 9:58AM

Just a quick point, don't forget that once in the notice period for redundancy, that you can take any time off for interviews. Find out if they have a 're-training' budget. Check if any 'perks' of the job can carry on (staff shop, health club membership) until the end of the year etc.

Redundancy - what benefits?

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