What Do I Do After Being Made Redundant

d3liberate · 26 July 2015 at 4:44PM

Hello Forum,
I'm new here and have a lot of questions which I hope you knowledgeable people can help me with or point me in the right direction.

In summary, I am 33 years old, and I have just lost my job of almost 10 years, effectively my only job after I graduated from university. It was completely unforeseen and probably too complex to explain here, but my employment was terminated without notice and I have been given a substantial severance payment plus statutory payments which I have settled on.

Fortunately, I have no dependants and no mortgage and renting privately from a friend so financially, at least for the short term, I am not in a desperate situation.

It is my intention to find work, but this may take some time, as I do not just want to take any job. I had quite a senior position in a large company, on a good salary and need to get back in a similar position with another company.

Q1. My first question is regards to benefits. Am I entitled to claim contribution based job seekers allowance now? Its only £73.10 per week which I don't really need, but i'm more interested in the other benefits associated with being unemployed (ie: dental, prescriptions, travel, council tax etc)

Q2. Will my savings (which are over £16,000, affect me claiming job seekers allowance?) or does this only affect income based job seekers?

Q3. If I decide to go into a full time post graduate course in September, will I still be able to claim job seekers allowance or any benefits, while I am studying?

Q4. Can I back date my claim for JSA to the date of my termination notice at work, which was 3 weeks ago. During that time, although I was terminated from work, it was subject to a settlement agreement so technically I wasn't sure what my position was, or if I could get reinstated or take them to employment tribunal etc

In summary, I really don't want (or need) to depend on state handouts, but I have also worked since I was 16 right through until this month and have paid a lot into the system and don't want to dip too much into my limited savings until I get back into a decent job so could do with all the assistance that I can get.

Appreciate any advise you can offer.

rochja · 26 July 2015 at 7:43PM

The best advice is to get down the jobcentre and get definitive answers. There is a definitive answer to Q3 with regard to JSA and that is if you are in full time study you are not a jobseeker so cannot have the allowance. Just one word of warning: jobcentres are godawful places that can waste your time and sap your will to live

Torry_Quine · 26 July 2015 at 7:53PM

d3liberate wrote: »

Hello Forum,
I'm new here and have a lot of questions which I hope you knowledgeable people can help me with or point me in the right direction.

In summary, I am 33 years old, and I have just lost my job of almost 10 years, effectively my only job after I graduated from university. It was completely unforeseen and probably too complex to explain here, but my employment was terminated without notice and I have been given a substantial severance payment plus statutory payments which I have settled on.

Fortunately, I have no dependants and no mortgage and renting privately from a friend so financially, at least for the short term, I am not in a desperate situation.

It is my intention to find work, but this may take some time, as I do not just want to take any job. I had quite a senior position in a large company, on a good salary and need to get back in a similar position with another company.

Q1. My first question is regards to benefits. Am I entitled to claim contribution based job seekers allowance now? Its only £73.10 per week which I don't really need, but i'm more interested in the other benefits associated with being unemployed (ie: dental, prescriptions, travel, council tax etc)

Q2. Will my savings (which are over £16,000, affect me claiming job seekers allowance?) or does this only affect income based job seekers?

Q3. If I decide to go into a full time post graduate course in September, will I still be able to claim job seekers allowance or any benefits, while I am studying?

Q4. Can I back date my claim for JSA to the date of my termination notice at work, which was 3 weeks ago. During that time, although I was terminated from work, it was subject to a settlement agreement so technically I wasn't sure what my position was, or if I could get reinstated or take them to employment tribunal etc

In summary, I really don't want (or need) to depend on state handouts, but I have also worked since I was 16 right through until this month and have paid a lot into the system and don't want to dip too much into my limited savings until I get back into a decent job so could do with all the assistance that I can get.

Appreciate any advise you can offer.

Presuming you have enough NI contributions which seems likely then you will be eligible for contribution based which lasts for six months although hopefully you wont need it for that long.

However that doesn't entitle you to help with prescriptions, council tax etc as these are all means tested and so have to be applied for on that basis. Your savings over £16,000 will mean that you will be illegible on that basis.

d3liberate · 26 July 2015 at 8:14PM

Thank you for the reply. Of course I will get advise from JSA but before I even consider giving them a call, I want to understand my options.

I was reading on the Citizens Advice website that if you have been dismissed from your job it will affect the benefits you claim. You may be able to get contribution-based or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Housing Benefit, or Council Tax Reduction but there are special rules about how these will be paid following your dismissal. You will not usually be able to claim Income Support following a dismissal as you will have to be available for work.

I really don't understand my position, as it wasn't clear. I was dismissed without notice, but paid my statutory 9 weeks in lieu notice (one week for every full year worked) and given a severance payment. The reason for the dismissal was primarily performance related (not gross misconduct or misconduct) but they opted for reasons I still do not understand to terminate my employment with immediate effect.

So it seems I may not be even able to claim any benefits!

What makes me 'available for work' ?

I am available for work but I really don't understand what to do.

Torry_Quine · 26 July 2015 at 8:19PM

Yes as you were fired then you can be sanctioned for up to six months. Why did you say you were made redundant as I would have answered this before?

d3liberate · 26 July 2015 at 8:27PM

I wasn't technically fired as I understand it. To be fired without notice, you have to do something of gross misconduct, which I didn't do. They just said my performance had slipped in recent months and this combined with my role becoming redundant anyway meant they took the view of wrapping it all up sooner.

Legally I could have taken them to tribunal for unfair dismissal but thought it easier to settle and move on. As part of the settlement, they can now give any reason I want for terminating my employment, redundancy being one of them, so if I go down that route, then it would be better for me in terms of claiming benefits and future employment?

p00hsticks · 26 July 2015 at 11:25PM

d3liberate wrote: »

Q1. My first question is regards to benefits. Am I entitled to claim contribution based job seekers allowance now? Its only £73.10 per week which I don't really need, but i'm more interested in the other benefits associated with being unemployed (ie: dental, prescriptions, travel, council tax etc)

Assuming you're not in an area where Universal credit has been rolled out, you'll be eligible for Contributions based JSA for six months despite your savings. However, as others have pointed out, if it is decided that your behaviour contributed to your dismissal you might be sanctioned for a time and receive no money - if the company is prepared to describe it as redundancy then that would probably be better for you, both in terms of applying for benefits and for future job applications.

However, receipt of this CB JSA won't automatically unlock the side benefits like dental treatment, prescriptions that you mention - those only apply to the mean tested (income related) version of JSA, which your savings will exclude you from.

Those on a low income may be able to get help with dental & prescription costs via the NHS low income scheme

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/nhs-low-income-scheme.aspx

Your level of savings mean you won't be eligible with help with rent.
https://www.gov.uk/housing-benefit/overview

Council Tax reduction schemes vary from council to council so you'd need to follow up with your particular council, but again it's likely that your savings will preclude you from getting anything;

https://www.gov.uk/apply-council-tax-reduction

Moneymaker · 27 July 2015 at 4:42PM

When I was in a similar situation I stayed away from the Job Centre. Honestly, it's soul-destroying. They make you jump through hoops. I just concentrated on finding employment. Luckily, the assistance of an appointments bureau was part of the package. In the end, however, none of it helped and I was offered employment by a friend. (Networking is really important.)

The second time I was made redundant, I started up my own business the very same day with my £500 redundancy pay. It was scary at first but it all worked out. In fact, three years later, one of my neighbours sidled up to me, smirking, and told me that it was obvious I'd won the lottery. And he was serious!

andyuk01 · 28 July 2015 at 6:45AM

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago, sacked without notice and signed a compromise agreement

Needed to claim JSA to trigger payments on unemployment insurance

When asked about the reasons for leaving just state you signed a compromise agreement and are not legally able to discuss it, you sign a statement to that effect

I assume your agreed reference with your employer states redundancy as the reason for leaving

AJ1982 · 29 July 2015 at 3:47PM

Sounds like you were released under a Compromise (now I think called Settlement) agreement. During which point you would have likely agreed a reference.

Neither of those are dismissal per se. The company is now bound by the reference (I actually wrote mine, I was made redundant) so as long as you have this down, just stick to that story and you are doing no wrong. The company are then bound by this reference. Both sides are not permitted to discuss the agreement, so I just refer to the refernece.

And Kudos if you got more than £16k, nice

d3liberate · 30 July 2015 at 12:19PM

Cheers for all the advice. Naturally I have a few more follow up questions. I can confirm I have been released under a compromise (ie: settlement agreement)

Q1. Tax. Due to the large severance payment (not paid yet), plus 9 weeks payment in lieu of notice, plus payment up to termination date, plus accrued holidays, I received a fairly chunky salary for July 2015 of over £15K but it was heavily over taxed, so I would be entitled to a tax refund. I'm probably not going to work for most, if not all of the remainder of this tax year so should I apply for the refund now, they say to wait 4 weeks!

Q2. JSA. Apart from the soul destroying connotations, is it worth me claiming benefits for 6 months? Thats just £1900 total but they also pay by NI contributions which would otherwise cost me £14.10 per week (Class 3) so I save a further £400 odd.

Its pocket money in the grand scheme of things, but it will give me a little motivation to explore opportunities and speak to a few people.

The two questions are linked, as they say you can't claim a tax refund if you are on JSA or something like that. Its all too confusing for me.

What Do I Do After Being Made Redundant

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