Entitled to anything at all?

Fly_Baby

My husband's fixed contract is coming to an end in a few months' time and he was told by his employer that they cannot guarantee that it would be renewed. He has been with the same employer for the past 5 years, all the time on fixed-term contracts.

My husband has been looking for another job but hasn't had much luck so far. So it is a possibility unfotunately that in case his contract is not renewed he will be between jobs for some time.

My question is - will he be entitled to any help/benefits etc as an unemployed and job-seeking person? The Child Tax Credit? If so, then what sort of money are we looking at (approximately)? For how long? It just would be good to know beforehand what our options are financially. I tried the entitledto.co.uk but its calculations are based on present figures whereas presently he is employed.

I am self-employed with about 13,000 per annum and we have two children. We rent. No childcare costs. We also have quite a bit of savings (much more than £8,000 per person), have been saving for a deposit. Is it going to matter in terms of what we are entitled to in case my husbands becomes unemployed? Currently we are only receiving Child Benefit that is not means-testes.

Would be really grateful for at least some estimates.

cw18

Do you not get Child Tax Credits now? Unless your DH has been on over £45k (or thereabouts) a year you should have been entitled to something

Assuming he's been an employee (rather than self-employed contractor) he should have paid enough NI to get contributions based JSA - but that's only £60.50/wk for 26 weeks. After that he'd have to switch to the income based version, and your income (plus over £16k in capital) would mean he's not entitled.

Fly_Baby

cw18, thanks for your information. We moved to the UK seven years ago so my husband has been paying his NI for those 7 years. Would it be enough to qualify for the JSA?

We are due to receive CTC but we were overpaid a long time ago so have not been getting anything until the overpayment is covered. The CTC will resume in April and will be about £11 per week (based on the latest letter from the HMRC).

Fly_Baby

I was also curious about any support with housing costs. We live in a very expensive area (our local LHA is slightly over 200 per week for a 2-bed place) so any help towards rent/council tax would definitely count. But again, I don't know if we can get anything with our savings.

cw18

The NI contributions they look at are for the previous 2 tax years -- so currently 2006/07 and 2007/08.

If he claims on or after 6th April they'll be looking at 2007/08 and 2008/09

healy

cw18 wrote: »

The NI contributions they look at are for the previous 2 tax years -- so currently 2006/07 and 2007/08.

If he claims on or after 6th April they'll be looking at 2007/08 and 2008/09

If he claims after 6th April the tax years would still be 2006/07 and 2007/08. The years change at the start of the benefit year in January.

Fly_Baby

Thanks for your replies. Is that everything - £60 per week? Of course that's better than nothing but I do wonder how other jobless people survive - surely they get more support? Especially if there are children?

noahsmummy

Fly_Baby wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. Is that everything - £60 per week? Of course that's better than nothing but I do wonder how other jobless people survive - surely they get more support? Especially if there are children?

But you do work unlike a lot of jobless couples at the moment due to the recession so you won't only be receiving £60 per week but your wages also.

Fly_Baby

Thanks noahsmummy, but I only earn in the area of 13 000 per year which must be about 900 per month after tax. My income will be enough to clear rent, CT and some of the bills, and that's it. And we have two children - I am sure couple with children do get more than JSA.

If we claim CTC and WTC are they going to be affected by our existing savings?

lauzellen

With regards to CTC/WTC and your savings they do take into account any interest you recieve from taxable savings (i.e. bank interest) but not the actual amount of savings. The tax exempt investments such as ISA's and Personal Equity Plans are not considered at all.

If this amount of interest from taxable savings is less than £300 you do not need to include it. If it is above £300 you declare the amount over the £300 threshold i.e. interest from savings is £550 then you declare £250 under the other income category.

Confusedconsumer_2

I don't know if you will be reading this or if you have solved your problem.
If you are still confused, I suggest that you visit your local Citizens Advice Bureau, they are in the phone book or you can google it, for confidential advice.

www.adviceguide.org.uk is a very useful site.