Redundant and deciding if JSA is worth the effort-some questions?

shellshell

hi there, i hope my response goes a little way to helping you.

my partner lost his job before christmas and i am currently on maternity leave so he couldnt get income based jsa but because he had worked constantly for more than two years and had paid enough national insurance he could get contribution based jsa at 60.50 p.w, it helps a little.
We also qualified for housing benefit and council tax benefit, so you should get yourself down to the benefit and try and claim c.tax benefit.
As for the mortgage help, im afraid that i cant really help you as we rent, but im fairly sure i read some where that you can get help towards your mortgage repayments. The jobcentre should be able to advise you on this.
Did you get any redundancy pay? Because , unless things have changed, my brother in law was made redundant a few years back and when he went to try and sign on i think his payments were going to be adjusted accordingly as to the amount of redundancy he received. Again the job centre should be able to advise you on that.
As for your bad expereinces i really do sympathise with you as my partner signed on 5 years ago and the lady he saw was really snotty, but he now has a lovely advisor.
Dont hesitate because of those previous experiences, if you do have another advisor who thinks they are better than everyone else, then just bite your tongue and know that you have worked very hard for the past few years and due to unforeseen circumstances you are now in this position and that you are entitled to that money. You only have to see them once a fortnight and its only for ten minutes.
Also, as i didnt realise until i spoke with my partners advisor, if you are not claiming any benefit and not working you are not building up your state pension.
Good luck.

Ilona

You have to sign on, it isn't very pleasant but do it. You need your N I contributions covered to count towards your state pension. They will advise you of any other benefits you can claim, I got my council tax payments stopped and got a rebate. They will ask you about all aspects of your life, you need documents to back up any figures. You will feel like tearing your hair out sometimes, but stick with it. Ilona

Naranji

I think you will find that they will not pay the actual mortgage...all they will do is pay some of the interest...not the actual capital then I am sure there is a limit to how long...but don't quote me on this...

Naran x

JaneH_3

Go for it -
I am signing on a the moment but it is a condition of my income insurance. My first advisor at Jobcentre was awful but the one I have now is brilliant - he even encourages me in the study I am doing. After my first few visits to the place I used to come home totally exasperated by the experience. I'd go in with a positive attitude, make an effort to look smart but they just don't care. I told a friend about the experience. She gave me some advice (from a good un nameable souce!!!) Go in looking like a tramp, say nothing, let them do the talking, You'll be in and out in minutes. I hate to say it but it works. It infuriates me that there are people like us who just want to get back to work but that doesnt seem to matter at a jobcentre you are treated like nobody. My conclusion is "treat them like a nobody too.". Go in do what you got to do and get out again.
It's a hassle but gotta be done - go for it - get what you are entitled to and go home again and get on with life. Good Luck

Horace

I echo what Jane says - go and sign on, if only to get your NI paid. Sure a lot of them in the jobcentres are horrid but you need to feel sorry for them - they are there because no-one else will employ them (that's the way I look at it:D ). You don't have to collect giros either as your JSA is paid directly into your bank account which is less trouble than having to go in there each week.

Some of the assistants are helpful and user-friendly so go along smart (it makes you stand out from everyone else who seems to be wearing hoodies and pink tracksuits - I have never figured out why someone always wears a pink tracksuit:rolleyes: ).

Good luck and HTH

zaksmum

Can anyone advise me? It's likely my husband will be made redundant soon, he's never signed on before and is late 50s.

He will get a lump sum from his pension and we have some savings. Will he still get Job seekers Allowance, the contribution based one? I know the income based one is means tested, but he has paid full contributions for over 40 years. His only income will be his company pension.

If he does get it, I seem to remember seeing somewhere that he can only get it for 6 months. Is this correct?

JaneH_3

Yes you can get Contribution based JSA regardless of income but it is only for 6 months. After that you will have to fill in another form to be re-assessed for income based JSA.
I have just reached my 6 months of unemployment. I have an income insurance policy in place which pays me £908 per month. I still got contribution JSA. However I have just had my re-assessment and find that I'm not entitled to any JSA becasue I have my monthly insurance payment. I still sign on I just dont get any JSA.

buxtonrabbitgreen

My oh has signed on. But there has been some mix up aobut his NI. They say he has only earnt £900 last year, actually it was £9000. So up till now after 5 weeks he still hasn't been paid his JSA. It was a mess last time as well. He finally got his 6 weeks payment after he had started a new job. But you have to keep at it. I expect he well get paid eventually, but it is very difficult in the mean time. They are not always very helpful. In fact there are so many unemployed now the jobcentre had run out of signing on forms.

lizzie_dripping

OH went to the JC for the first time ever this week and found them really helpful. He will only be able to claim contribution based JSA but is going to take every penny that he is entitled to, including claiming his train fare to London for the interviews he has been on!

I did find the little sheet he has to fill in about what he is doing each week to look for work quite funny though.

forumfan_2

I have been made redundant twice, both due to site closures and my experience of visiting the Job Centre has been awful on both occasions (different offices each time... due their own site closure).

In my experience, they treat you like you don't want to find another job regardless of whether you have worked since the day you left school. I'm sure there are some lovely advisors out there but unfortunately I didn't have the pleasure of meeting them.

I'm not sure whether it is the same for everyone but I was required to apply for two jobs each week - there were some weeks where, due to my personal circumstances, I couldn't find suitable jobs to apply for so I used to send out speculative letters to employers that might have had the sort of work I was looking for. These were well researched letters that were specific to each company so took a great deal of time to compose. When I produced these letters I was told that I couldn't count these towards my 'two letters a week' because I wasn't applying for a specific job. As if being made redundant through no fault of your own is not demoralising enough to have to deal with this sort of logic is absolutely devastating.

Anyway despite their attitude to my efforts, I continued writing specultive letters alongside the two totally unsuitable jobs that they were then selecting for me and both the jobs I eventually got were through my speculative letters.

Having said all that, I still think you should sign on straightaway as you will not qualify for certain benefits without doing so and at least if you are going through a period where you are lacking motivation the fact that you have to face them every two weeks will force you to get your butt in gear!!