Support for Mortgage Interest Discussion Area

zappster1966

If BevG is earning £35k p.a. wouldn't that be remunerative work (24 hrs p.w. or more) ? In which case her partner wouldn't qualify for JSA(IB) or SMI either ...

Only JSA(IB), Income Support & ESA(IR) customer's will qualify for SMI, unfortunately.

yomama2

Some time it is too easy to judge others and say they lived above their means. The current climate means that if unfortunately loose your job, regardless of how well you have managed previously you can only survive for so long/12 months if you are not able to get a new job. I am only just starting to build up debt having exhausted my mortgage insurance payment and not having secured a job in 12 months. I have never claimed benefit before and am disgusted at the unreasonable approach to SMI benefits. While working in a well paid "secure" job I remortgage my home several times to pay for much needed repairs and maintenance. I have now been asked to provide receipts for work that took place 10 years ago or benefit will not be paid?

Is it reasonable to expect that I would have kept reciepts for works for that long? Does any one have suggestion for how I can prove I used my remortgage for home improvement rather that debt clearence? Does any one else feel that the fact that I have always been employed and would have spent my hard earn money the way I want to without thinking that 16 years later the DWP would ask me to justify it? Does any one have a crystal ball?
Oh and by the way, my mortgage is only 96K so we are not talking about a spending spree!

rtt45s1

I have just seen and read the detailed requirements for Support for Mortgage Interest . I have 1 question as i am unsure on if i can claim.
I have now been 13 weeks unemployed on job seekers allowance(contribution based) married with 1 child (15yr old) and have a mortgage.
but the legal requirement is for income base on J,S,A . Am i eligible with this support or not as i'm a bit confused on what supprt i can get .
Andy

paul42_2

Martin,

I am on job seekers allowance since my firm went into insolvency on the 5/1/09,how do you go about claiming the interest back on your morgage from the government?Do you speak to your own mortgage company,who never mentioned this to me,or is there a specific department to contact please?

Thanks

Paul

Ocean007

rtt45s1 wrote: »

I have just seen and read the detailed requirements for Support for Mortgage Interest . I have 1 question as i am unsure on if i can claim.
I have now been 13 weeks unemployed on job seekers allowance(contribution based) married with 1 child (15yr old) and have a mortgage.
but the legal requirement is for income base on J,S,A . Am i eligible with this support or not as i'm a bit confused on what supprt i can get .
Andy

Hi Andy,

I've also just reached 13 weeks on contribution based JSA and the only comprehensive looking info I'd found on the internet was at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/resourcecentre/mortgage-interest-changes.pdf

In this document, which is an equality assessment, they never differentiate between contribution & income based JSA so I thought that meant both types are eligible. The recent update on the Jobcentre website specifies income based JSA only(http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_016128.xml.html)

I'm waiting for a call back from a mortgage expert at the jobcentre to clarify this. I really hope the jobcentreplus info is a misinterpretation of the new changes.

Ocean007

Okay, an SMI update...

I've spoken to someone in the mortgage department at DWP and she explained the following:

When you sign on for contribution based JSA you are also assessed for income based JSA. You can only receive one benefit at a time though so even if you are eligible for both you will only receive one payment and your paperwork will only mention that you are on the one benefit.

If you are on contribution based JSA and reach your 13 weeks you will only be eligible for SMI (support for mortgage interest) at that point if you are also eligible for income based JSA (ie your income & savings are below a certain threshold).

If you aren't eligible for income based JSA you would not be able to claim SMI. You could continue claiming contribution based JSA and when that expires after 6 months you could see if you were eligible for income based JSA (assuming your savings have dropped after being used for living expenses) and at that point the 13 week clause would begin.

This is a more complicated area than the initial press releases suggested and the advice of the lady at DWP was to check with your Jobcentre with regards to your particular circumstances.

Hope that's of some help.

zappster1966

That's not correct, I'm afraid. Not all JSA(C) customers apply for JSA(IB) ... perhaps because they've got a partner who is working full time ... so they're NOT automatically considered for JSA(IB) ... because they haven't even claimed it.

At the thirteen week stage mortage interest kicks in ... and that may bring JSA(C) customers into JSA(IB) territory, but JSA(IB) is affected by savings, earnings, pensions, partner's work etc etc.

Best advice is to discuss your own circumstances with the Job Centre financial adviser when you make your claim, they'll keep you straight about what to apply for & when.

We_Are_The_Mods

I'm stuffed. My claim went in before the 39-13 week waiting period was changed, so I still have to wait 39 weeks.

To make matters worse my mortgage payment protection claim has been refused.

As already mentioned above, single white male home owners get nowt.

Ocean007

We Are The Mods,

This document suggests otherwise (bullet points 4 & 5 in section 4.1):

"Those people in the system who have served 13 weeks or more of their waiting period by 5 January will receive SMI from that date;

those who have served a period of less than 13 weeks at 5 January will receive SMI on the date at which they have served a full 13 weeks."

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/resourcecentre...st-changes.pdf

We_Are_The_Mods

link doesn't work mate.

I have queried it twice and consulted the National Debtline and they both give me the same response, if you made the claim before the change then you still have to wait 39 weeks, I've already gone 13 weeks but I don't qualify for any help until mid June.