Contribution Based JSA only

oshoshitzu
oshoshitzu Posts: 93 Forumite
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in Benefits & tax credits
Would the National Insurance Class 1 credits from Carers Allowance (claimed from Feb 2013 to July2017) allow me to claim contribution based JSA ?

I'm not sure if the Class 1 NI credits from Carers Allowance are the same as Class 1 NI credits from payed employment

Comments

  • sammyjammy
    sammyjammy Posts: 7,386 Forumite
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    One is paid and one is credited, credited Class 1 contributions can be used towards entitlement but at least one of the two tax years has to be paid contributions is my understanding.
    "You've been reading SOS when it's just your clock reading 5:05 "
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 17,946 Forumite
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    oshoshitzu wrote: »
    Would the National Insurance Class 1 credits from Carers Allowance (claimed from Feb 2013 to July2017) allow me to claim contribution based JSA ?

    I'm not sure if the Class 1 NI credits from Carers Allowance are the same as Class 1 NI credits from payed employment
    Answer is yes they do, see here
    https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/disabled-people-and-carers/caring-someone/pension-and-national-insurance-carers#toc-what-credits-can-carers-get-
  • epitome
    epitome Posts: 3,199 Forumite
    oshoshitzu wrote: »
    Would the National Insurance Class 1 credits from Carers Allowance (claimed from Feb 2013 to July2017) allow me to claim contribution based JSA ?

    I'm not sure if the Class 1 NI credits from Carers Allowance are the same as Class 1 NI credits from payed employment

    Contributory benefits (ESA & JSA) have 2 criteria
    FCC and SCC

    FCC is wholly based on earnings
    SCC is based on earnings or NI Credits

    A claim to either JSA C or ESA C to start in 2017 will use tax years (TYs)
    14/15 & 15/16

    A claim made to start in 2018 will use TYs
    15/16 & 16/17

    If as you have indicated, your CA was continuous from 2013 - 2017
    You will definitely satisfy SCC for TYs
    14/15, 15/16 & 16/17

    From an ESA C point of view, to satisfy FCC, DWP would normally use the same TYs looking for sufficient earnings. But because you have had CA recently, the DWP can use any TY in your lifetime to look for sufficient earnings. So if you used to work full time you would generally have no problem at all in becoming eligible for ESA Conts.

    I am not sure about JSA Conts but I would be very surprised if JSA C does not have the exact same rule as ESA C does.
  • epitome
    epitome Posts: 3,199 Forumite
    Oh, and by the way,

    You will generally make a new claim, then be told you have not qualified for ESA Contributory. This because the processing staff don't check that you have had CA end recently.
    What to do in this scenario, phone ESA ask them to answer
    "Did I satisfy SCC 2nd Contributory Condition?"
    They will either know what you are talking about or they won't. Either way it does not really matter. If they say "yes you satisfied SCC" that's good news and what we would expect. You then do not bother discussing the situation with them..... either they know what I typed above or they don't know about it, it doesn't matter what they know, which is why you do not discuss it with them...

    All you do is:....
    Ask for a call back from the Processing Centre and you ask that they write in the request that
    "You want FCC, 1st cont cond, to be relaxed due to having had Carer's Allowance" and you want a call back to have it confirmed that FCC will be relaxed.

    Also by the way....
    You should look at Income Related ESA unless you know you would be not entitled for some reason. A claim for Income Related ESA will automatically include a claim for ESA Conts.

    But if you have over £16,000 there's no point claiming ESA IR
    or if you have a partner working full time.
    or a partner on an Income Related Benefit already.
  • oshoshitzu
    oshoshitzu Posts: 93 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    epitome wrote: »
    Contributory benefits (ESA & JSA) have 2 criteria
    FCC and SCC

    FCC is wholly based on earnings
    SCC is based on earnings or NI Credits

    A claim to either JSA C or ESA C to start in 2017 will use tax years (TYs)
    14/15 & 15/16

    A claim made to start in 2018 will use TYs
    15/16 & 16/17

    If as you have indicated, your CA was continuous from 2013 - 2017
    You will definitely satisfy SCC for TYs
    14/15, 15/16 & 16/17

    From an ESA C point of view, to satisfy FCC, DWP would normally use the same TYs looking for sufficient earnings. But because you have had CA recently, the DWP can use any TY in your lifetime to look for sufficient earnings. So if you used to work full time you would generally have no problem at all in becoming eligible for ESA Conts.

    I am not sure about JSA Conts but I would be very surprised if JSA C does not have the exact same rule as ESA C does.


    I was talking to someone at Carers UK who told me that there is a

    different rule regarding claiming JSA cont rather than ESA cont:

    This is it:

    The extra conditions for contribution-based JSA


    It has two contribution conditions which are similar to that of contributory ESA, however the exception for carers for the first contribution condition is different for contribution-based JSA.
    The exception for carers for contribution-based JSA is that there is a special rule for carers which means that the ‘relevant benefit year’ for working out whether you meet the contribution conditions can sometimes be the year your Carer’s Allowance began, if you claim contribution-based JSA within 12 weeks of a Carer’s Allowance claim ending. This means that you might be able to claim contribution-based JSA based on years you were working before you became a carer.
    Your contribution-based JSA will stop after six months.

    Here is the link:

    https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/help-with-benefits/other-working-age-benefits#sec2.

    They told me that in order to get JSA cont I would also need a certain amount of payed (from employment) NI class 1 contributions. I think they said I would need 26 weeks worth and these would needed to be taken from the tax years April 2010 to 2011 or April 2011 to 2012.

    I last had payed employment from late Nov 2009 to early 2010 July. Which means, it seems, that I would not qualify for JSA cont.
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