Warning! Big benefit payments shake-up: frequency and pay-day will change for most

PhiltheBear

richard9991 wrote: »

if you have reached 60 then you do not have to be available or activly seeking work as you can claim pension credit of £130 per week and they pay your credits for ni

Correct. But I AM actively seeking work. I want a job. I don't want to live on pension credit or JSA. This isn't a lifestyle choice - it's a matter of circumstance in a crap economy.

The head of my Jobcentre was interviewed on TV not long ago. She said that they were putting in extra help for the 'professional, middle-aged' who were now out of work because of the recession. So I asked about it. It doesn't exist. It was a blatant lie.

Jobcentres seem only able to deal with untrained / untrainable people. They are completely useless at anything else. And my local paper has job ads which are 90% for NHS staff who have already been trained. I've been told that some of the jobs I've applied for have had over 400 applicants. So please don't think it's a simple matter of going out and plucking a job off a tree. It isn't. And there are lots more people like me. (In fact there's even a House of Commons motion being put forward specifically trying to get more help for the unemployed over 50s).

Zara33

PhiltheBear wrote: »

Correct. But I AM actively seeking work. I want a job. I don't want to live on pension credit or JSA. This isn't a lifestyle choice - it's a matter of circumstance in a crap economy.

But surely you can see that at the moment you would be better off claiming Pension credit rather than JSA until you get back on your feet again.

PhiltheBear

Zara33 wrote: »

But surely you can see that at the moment you would be better off claiming Pension credit rather than JSA until you get back on your feet again.

The only difference is that I wouldn't have to sign on. The money is the same (it's a cunning trick to get you off the JSA statistics).

mal4040

I received a letter in February to tell me my payments would change from fortnighty to 4 weeks in arrears, there was no offer of any advance to help me out. I was paid my benefit on the 4th March then I had to wait 5 weeks, until I was paid again on the 7th April. I was lucky I had some savings that I was able to use to get me through this period, but I was not happy about it.:mad:

richard9991

PhiltheBear wrote: »

The only difference is that I wouldn't have to sign on. The money is the same (it's a cunning trick to get you off the JSA statistics).

JSA £64.50 pw Pension credit £130.00 pw how is the money the same.

richard9991

mal4040 wrote: »

I received a letter in February to tell me my payments would change from fortnighty to 4 weeks in arrears, there was no offer of any advance to help me out. I was paid my benefit on the 4th March then I had to wait 5 weeks, until I was paid again on the 7th April. I was lucky I had some savings that I was able to use to get me through this period, but I was not happy about it.:mad:

dla is not one of the benefits that is affected it is weekly payments ie incap income support jsa etc.

NASA_2

richard9991 wrote: »

JSA £64.50 pw Pension credit £130.00 pw how is the money the same.

There is a pensioners premium on JSA. Not sure how much it is this year.

richard9991

ESA wrote: »

There is a pensioners premium on JSA. Not sure how much it is this year.

i see but he says he has to spend £5 per fortnight to sighn on pc you dont need to sigh on but there would be nothing to stop you looking for work though even if you dont sighn.

NASA_2

richard9991 wrote: »

i see but he says he has to spend £5 per fortnight to sighn on pc you dont need to sigh on but there would be nothing to stop you looking for work though even if you dont sighn.

Some people like being compelled to look for work though they are few and far between.

PhiltheBear

richard9991 wrote: »

JSA £64.50 pw Pension credit £130.00 pw how is the money the same.

When you get to 60 you have a choice of staying on JSA or moving to pension credits. For reasons I don't understand the government has decided that at the age of 60 you need more than twice as much to live on. Basically what happens is that they increase the JSA payment to equal Pension Credit. It makes no difference, financially, which one you get. The only difference is in statistics - that is, if you go onto Pension Credit you are no longer counted as unemployed. The only practical difference is that you have to sign on for JSA.

The reason for continuing to sign on is the (very faint) hope that something will happen in the DWP to help 'older' people find work. For example, Gordon Brown talked up a big thing about moving unemployed bankers into teaching. (Why bankers would want to be teachers I have no idea). Underlying that is the fact that there are areas in which there is considerable unemployment - such as social work, teaching, nursing, etc.

What there isn't is any way of retraining without a lengthy course. If you do decide to retrain then for anything other than really basic skills you a) have to fund it yourself and b) you no longer get benefits - which is self-defeating as many people can't even borrow the money to pay for the course and support themselves through it because (yes, you've guessed it) they aren't employed.