Joint income level for contribution based JSA

cte1111

I've just called Jobcentre Plus to claim for JSA. I've not been working since mid November, but haven't been signing on, as wasn't actively seeking work in December, and have also had other reasons for not wanting to be working full time.

But I'm now looking for work, and a friend persuaded me that I should claim JSA. So I rang them today. My husband is working part time, and earns about £20k per year. I thought that this put us as a couple above the level to receive any income related benefits, so just expected to be told that I could claim contribution based JSA. Which is fine I think, as I have worked earlier in the tax year, and in previous 3 tax years.

They went through the 45 minute questionnaire, then said that I would need to bring in all our financial statements etc. I was surprised, as this is only necessary for Income based JSA. But the man on the phone said that the system said that it was showing that we were entitled to either contribution or income based. Is this correct?

lv1109

as long as you have paid enough NI contributions over the last 2 years you would be eligible for contributions based JSA and this is not means tested so your husbands income would not be taken into account. We bought all of my payslips and our bank statements in for the initial meeting (when my husband claimed) and these remained untouched in the folder they were in!

As long as enough NI paid you should get £60.50 per week for up to 6 months.

HTH!

LV