Deposit for house has to be used before receiving any JSA?

KimYeovil

If one is not capable of finding employment over the six months of contributions JSA how is one going to maintain a mortgage? The problem highlighted by the OP has been addressed fairly - contributions based JSA is not affected by savings.

barnaby-bear

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Could you clarify this, please, for others on the board.

The "savings" part of certain offset mortgages isn't a savings account (the FSA protection rules different etc) - the "savings" in it aren't savings - they mean your mortgage is lower so you could claim for less mortage interest benefits but also it's not "savings" - if your mortgage company evaporated overnight you would lose the "savings" as wrapped up in the mortgage product..... overpayments - once in the mortgage they don't have to be used to lived on, so people with risks of redundancy I know have been stashing in overpayments knowing they'll be able to take payment holiday and let mortgage catch up without having the savings to negate other benefits....

seven-day-weekend

The interest on the mortgage will be paid after 13 weeks if you are on income-based JSA.

barnaby-bear

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

The interest on the mortgage will be paid after 13 weeks if you are on income-based JSA.

and the more that's already in the mortgage rahter than "savings" the faster you can be on income based rahter than contribution

seven-day-weekend

No....contribution-based lasts six months. It is not means-tested. So having savings doesn't affect it. Your mortgage interest will not be paid if you are on this.

After the six months of course, if you have below the threshold for savings, you can be on the Income-based straight away and then your mortgage-interest will get paid.

eamon

This is the downside of being a homeowner with an outstanding mortgage. You need to be working or have independent means. If you don't find a new job fast enough your savings will quickly run out. But you can't splash out as that is against the rules, instead it can be a slow financial death. I fear for many thousands of people as I don't believe that this will be a quick recession and that the good fairy is just around the corner to save our necks.
To all think very carefully re your finances. This mess is not ending anytime soon.

Eamon

BongoTheWhippet

ceridwen wrote: »

errr.....I have the feeling that you would be stopped at the first hurdle on that one.....ie that you would be required to provide proof that the money was really from a house sale.

I think you'll find it is the Jobcentre's job to prove me a liar, not mine. And I'm notoriously bad at record keeping .

I think where we've come with this post, is to identify that the income-based JSA system is notoriously favourable to recklessly overstretched homeowners, and that it punishes and confiscates hard earned cash from poorer, more prudent workers without their own property.

I think its best to leave it at that. It explains a lot of the mess the UK is in now. Like I said that system deserves all the abuse it currently gets.

barnaby-bear

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

No....contribution-based lasts six months. It is not means-tested. So having savings doesn't affect it. Your mortgage interest will not be paid if you are on this.

After the six months of course, if you have below the threshold for savings, you can be on the Income-based straight away and then your mortgage-interest will get paid.

Exactly if you make sure the savings are below the threshold because already tucked away in a mortgage wrapper rather than paying the mortgage out of a savings account until you hit the threshold.... with planning you can make sure you are below the thresholds.... DOH!

Voyager2002

There are good reasons why we are asked not to discuss policy on this branch. The OP needs practical advice, and there are a number of sensible suggestions that could be given to him. However, the comments about whether or not the present system is "fair" have swamped the practical suggestions.

Perhaps the policy discussion could move to the 'Arms', while someone can offer the OP guidance on what he is allowed to do with his savings in order to qualify for means-tested benefits within a reasonable period. I will just say that so long as they are under 15,000 he will at least get something, and that he should do a search on the term "deprivation of capital" to find out what he is and is not allowed to do with them in order to make himself eligible for means-tested benefits.

Voyager2002

BongoTheWhippet wrote: »

I think you'll find it is the Jobcentre's job to prove me a liar, not mine. And I'm notoriously bad at record keeping .

I think where we've come with this post, is to identify that the income-based JSA system is notoriously favourable to recklessly overstretched homeowners, and that it punishes and confiscates hard earned cash from poorer, more prudent workers without their own property.

I think its best to leave it at that. It explains a lot of the mess the UK is in now. Like I said that system deserves all the abuse it currently gets.

No, if you want them to give you money you provide the relevant evidence. If you don't have the appropriate documents, you don't get the benefit. End of story.

I would also add that your brilliant scheme constitutes fraud, and is IMHO highly immoral. And I do not think the system is unfair, although I personally suffer from it. I have an interest-only mortgage and have built up a fund to pay it off invested in cash mini-ISAs. When I lost my job I found that this investment prevented me from getting any means-tested benefits. I have been unemployed for 18 months and live on child benefit and child tax credits: less than five hundred a month for a family of four! Unfair: but at least I didn't lose my savings by putting them into bank shares or a dodgy endowment.