JSA (Con or Income) & Income via Insurance

pfpf

hello.

my wife and i really are new to any form of claiming benefits but my OH is going to be in this position on Monday.

i will try to be brief but concise and hopefully may get some answers. i have done quite alot of searching and reading but dont understand the basics so i am struggling.

our position is, we are a married couple with no children, i dont work but claim no benefits (please dont go into this issue, its personal circumstances). my OH works full time.

JSA

is either Income based or Contribution based. my wife has worked for 20 years, the last 15 for the same place, she will be redundant on monday the 26th Jan.

i assume she will get "contribution based" JSA but what if "income based" would actually be better for us due to free prescriptions etc that you would get on "income based"? would the JSA interview pinpoint this issue and award accordingly?

OH went to job centre last week and was given a telephone number to ring next wednesday, 2 days after redundany, is this normal or should she phone on monday?

what will be asked of her during this telephone "interview"? and will she get JSA from Monday even if she only phones on Wednesday?

Mortgage cover

OH has protection insurance against redundancy which should kick in, she is in the process of getting her employers to fill in their section. there is a section to be filled in by the job centre, at what stage would the JC do this for us? on the 1st visit after the telephone interview?

Importantly, and leading onto my final question. will this cover we get be counted as income from a point of view of being accessed for which form of JSA she will get and any claim against Council Tax? having done some sums it appears that with the cover we get no help at all with CT but without the cover we would get full rebate - it doesnt seem fair that if we try to look after ourselves a little, we get no help at all.

finally, my OH will have a redundancy payout which along with her final wage slip will give her around £6000.00 give or take £200.00. i have read something about a £6000 limit where if you have this sum its unlikely you will get benefits other than JSA(contribution). if thats the case how long before the JC review your savings as after 1 month of paying mortgage and bills this would be below £6000.00

if the insurance is taken as being income, what if we declare it and then for some reason the insurance wont pay out? would it be better to not declare it and then declare it if we get a payout? we dont get anything from the policy for 30 days.

thanks for reading all this way, and any thoughts would be appreciated.

thank you.

pfpf.

cw18

pfpf wrote: »

finally, my OH will have a redundancy payout which along with her final wage slip will give her around £6000.00 give or take £200.00. i have read something about a £6000 limit where if you have this sum its unlikely you will get benefits other than JSA(contribution). if thats the case how long before the JC review your savings as after 1 month of paying mortgage and bills this would be below £6000.00

Savings of over £16k will stop any and all means tested benefits. Savings between £6k and £16k mean you lose £1/week of means tested benefits for every £250 or part thereof (so if you have a total of £6800 you lose £4/week).

But savings will not impact contributions JSA, which it sounds like she'll be entitled to for the first 26 weeks.

I've no idea what the score is if you'd actually be better off on the means tested but are entitled to contributions based.

suelees1

She'll get contribution based JSA for herself of £60.50 with a top up of income based JSA to 94.95 (your "applicable amount" which is what the law says you need to live on) as I assume she'll be claiming for you both.

IMO she should ring JCP the day after she finishes work. The 'phone interview is an actual claim for JSA plus any Council Tax Benefit to which you might be entitled so they will ask questions relevant to the claim - the exact same questions they ask everyone.

Council Tax Benefit will be paid in full as long as your income doesn't exceed your applicable amount and you don't have capital in excess of £6K.

You will need to ask about them signing the mortgage PPI. This will be to prove to the insurers she is considered as unemployed and actively seeking work if this is what the PPI policy stipulates.

Any PPI payments will not be regarded as income for JSA. Normally you would claim your housing costs from JCP but have a waiting period of 13 weeks. However they won't pay it as long at the PPI covers it. As soon as the PPI stops you will become entitled.

Cheryl (CW18) in the last post has explained correctly about capital.

sammyjammy

Of course it is your right not to explain to us why you do not work but dependant on the circumstances you may have to make a joint claim with you partner (this would mean you are both bound by the law to claim the benefit) unless you meet the requirements not to, this is a requirement for claiming income based JSA but not for JSA contributory benefit.

Edited to add: she should make the telephone call on her first day of unemployment, advice to leave this until the Wednesday is wholly incorrect and is likely to result in loss of benefit for those two days unless you can prove misdirection.

pfpf

suelees1 wrote: »

She'll get contribution based JSA for herself of £60.50 with a top up of income based JSA to 94.95 (your "applicable amount" which is what the law says you need to live on) as I assume she'll be claiming for you both.

do you mean she can claim for me even if i am not actively seeking work? i dont claim any benefits and dont wish to do so.

suelees1 wrote: »

Any PPI payments will not be regarded as income for JSA. Normally you would claim your housing costs from JCP but have a waiting period of 13 weeks. However they won't pay it as long at the PPI covers it. As soon as the PPI stops you will become entitled.

this is the main area i am confused about. the "PPI" amount is £500.00, will that affect the "top up of IB JSA" you mention above and will it be classed as income for Council Tax claims?

we dont get the PPI for the 1st 30 days, at what point should this be declared? during the 1st phone call interview?

thanks so much for taking time to answer my questions.

pfpf

sammy.

i am not interested in my OH claiming anything for me, the mention above of IB JSA is the first i have heard of been able to claim anything for me.

i am happy for my OH to claim purely for herself, contribution JSA.

so is the additional IB JSA based on a joint claim? if so we wont do it.

thank you.

pfpf.

k1mmie

I had to go through the interview on the phone on the Monday, however was not given a date for first interview until the Friday. They took the claim from the Monday. They ask all the questions on the phone and asked me to go to the jobcentre to pick up a claim form and complete it by Friday. They told me you are not eligible for the first three days and count the week part of thereafter. They will ask you on the phone if you are claiming as a sole person or for a couple in which case she will have to provide your national insurance details and personal details. They will also ask about money you have.

Council tax is a totally different ball game. Nightmare. Called them to enquire about procedure. They give you a date for a telephone interview a week later. They then call you and ask for bank details and amounts in accounts. They want NI numbers. They also want to know about your benefits that you have registered for. They then want to come to the house a week later and ask for photocpoies of proof of ID - One with NI number on, one other proof. Copies of bank statements. etc.... so the list goes on and get you to sign the form for information you gave them on the phone. They then base your claim on the outcome of the JSA outcome.

pfpf

k1mmie wrote: »

I had to go through the interview on the phone on the Monday, however was not given a date for first interview until the Friday. They took the claim from the Monday. They ask all the questions on the phone and asked me to go to the jobcentre to pick up a claim form and complete it by Friday. They told me you are not eligible for the first three days and count the week part of thereafter. They will ask you on the phone if you are claiming as a sole person or for a couple in which case she will have to provide your national insurance details and personal details. They will also ask about money you have.

what is the form you have to collect and fill in if they have already taken all the details over the phone? what kind of questions are asked? is there anything we should have to hand before making the call?

So if I don’t want to be part of her claim and bound by any benefit rules she needs to make a sole claim or can she claim for me herself?

i dont want to claim anything and dont want to give them my details. i am happy for her to claim Contribution JSA but if they want all my details for any IB element does it rule us out for IB?

suelees1 wrote: »

The 'phone interview is an actual claim for JSA plus any Council Tax Benefit to which you might be entitled so they will ask questions relevant to the claim

k1mmie wrote: »

Council tax is a totally different ball game. Nightmare. Called them to enquire about procedure. They give you a date for a telephone interview a week later. They then call you and ask for bank details and amounts in accounts. They want NI numbers. They also want to know about your benefits that you have registered for. They then want to come to the house a week later and ask for photocpoies of proof of ID - One with NI number on, one other proof. Copies of bank statements. etc.... so the list goes on and get you to sign the form for information you gave them on the phone. They then base your claim on the outcome of the JSA outcome.

so even after the initial call to JCP you then have to go through a further claim process for TC benefits? that seems an extreme process for CT benefit, anyone would think we were criminals.

cw18

pfpf wrote: »

sammy.

i am not interested in my OH claiming anything for me, the mention above of IB JSA is the first i have heard of been able to claim anything for me.

i am happy for my OH to claim purely for herself, contribution JSA.

so is the additional IB JSA based on a joint claim? if so we wont do it.

thank you.

pfpf.

Anything that's means tested will treat you as a couple, and look at income for both of you. If you decline to claim for JSA as a couple but could do so, then any other benefits offices will either make it difficult for your OH to claim what she's entitled to OR will do the calculations as if the JSA had been awarded at the rate for a couple. The fact you say you don't "need/want it" is also likely to trigger much more in depth investigations into family income/savings, as they'll be likely to think you're hiding something.

Refusing to claim something you're entitled to is likely to cause major problems for you as a family unit at the moment.

cw18

pfpf wrote: »

i dont want to claim anything and dont want to give them my details. i am happy for her to claim Contribution JSA but if they want all my details for any IB element does it rule us out for IB?

simply put -- yes!

pfpf

ok, i have just re-read the whole thread and things are clearer now, thanks alot for all the input.

i only mentioned IB JSA in the OP as i didnt really understand the implications.

we have nothing to hide and we have never claimed any benefits, but i dont want to be tied to being "actively seeking work" so dont want to be considered for extra benefits based on that. if my OH can claim them without me being tied to anything then thats fine and they can have my details.

the reasons for this are personal and emotional but as i said, i dont want to discuss it.

our savings will be whatever the redundancy package is plus final pay slip (around 6k). i expected my OH's claim to be £60.50 Con JSA along with our PPI for the mortgage. anything else like IB and CT benefit would be a bonus and what is what i was on here trying to find out about.

on a final note, what qualfies someone for contribution JSA? does 15 years full time on a modest income count?

thanks everyone for your help.