Married can i claim??

shykins

well having just got back from a wonderful honeymoon my main client (i am self employed and have been for many years) tells me he is considering closing down.. without him i could not carry on so would have to close up and sign on as unemployed

the question is can i just sign on and claim unemployment benefit?? (or whatever its called now) someone told me i couldnt as i was married now ... if not what else could i claim instead. .. also what sort of sums could i expect to receive

i have a child of 8 so finding another job that works around him is extremely unlikely... we already get WFTC etc would it make a difference to that?

my partner ooops now husband works part time (24hrs) and has a minimal wage although he is soon to recieve a pension from his old company.. i spose his income would be around £10 or £11k..

any advice would be appreciated

thanks
xx

Ted_Hutchinson

Jobcentre Plus - Jobseeker's Allowance
Benefits for people looking for work cab adviceguide.

If you have a good enough NI contributions record you can get Contributions based JSA for six months however it then changes to Income based and the fact your husband has a full time job will prevent this being paid despite the fact his wages are relatively low.

Spendless

As Ted said JSA contribution based is based on you paying enough NI in previous 2 tax years.

If you have lost your income you should report the change to tax credits as you may be entitled to extra money from them. You can check here
https://www.entitledto.com

shykins

so does that mean that as my partner is working 24hrs a week after the 6 months i get nothing at all for me??

sorry if i am being thick but sometimes u get bogged down reading those sites

is there another benefit i could claim other than seeing if my WFTC etc increases

thanks for your help so far

Alleycat

Hi,

Not sure what you could claim, but could you not work part-time or around your husband's part-time hours? If childcare is a problem, you could work evenings, weekends or during school hours? You may not get paid a massive amount, but every bit helps!

Alley

Savvy_Sue

Is it impossible to find other clients?

Ted_Hutchinson

shykins wrote:

so does that mean that as my partner is working 24hrs a week after the 6 months i get nothing at all for me??

Income SupportIf you or your partner are in remunerative work, neither of you will normally be able to claim Income Support. For most people remunerative work can be defined as paid work of 16 hours or more a week (24 hours or more for a partner). Working hours are averaged when they change from week to week.

shykins

looks like i am goin to have find more work or more clients..

if husband works one hour a week less then we can get something.. crazy isnt it

makes me wonder why i paid my stamp all these years as a single person even when married ... always paid tax etc in my own right.. soon as i am married suddenly i am not an independent again <sigh>

thanks for all your help guys

camper

eh?
You don't pay the 'stamp' as a single or married person. Depends solely on if you are employed, self employed or voluntary.
Self employed does not cover you for JSA or Incapacity benefits, only your pension. (Class 2 or 3)
Class one covers contributary benefits, payable for 6 months, income not considered(except pensions over £50 per week)
The tax you pay makes no difference at all to what you can claim-its government money.

Alleycat

Can I be really stupid and ask what a stamp is? And, no I don't mean the obvious, sticky thing with the queen's mug on it!!

camper

Opps sorry. In the 60's and 70's people bought a 'stamp' (a real sticky thing!) and put on their card. Now its all done via payments on a computer system, so you or I don't have the visible proof of payment, except for the P60 issued each year by the employer.