JSA & Morgage Interest Support

supermonkey

Hello everyone,

I recently had the form through regarding this and sent to my lender as requested thinking that I would soon receive some extra help.

I have now received the JSA letter about this and am totally confused. It doesn't say they will be paying an extra £xx per month to cover interest at all, but it says they will pay direct to my lender and indicates they take the amount they pay off my JSA allowance.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Thanks

supermonkey

can anyone advise?

[Deleted User]

They will pay it direct to your lender and you will have to make up any shortfall in the mortgage(if any),as I understand it the amount will be shown as a payment to you then it will be deducted from the total,if that makes sense?

supermonkey

hi, yes that all makes sense, but the letter indicates that i will no longer get a jsa allowances, just the smi but its about the same amount.

alwaysonthego_2

You will still get your JSA!

NASA_2

Its procedural I believe, they add the amount on, then take it off again and pay it directly to the lender. It shouldnt affect the amount you get in your hand.

It has to be paid directly to the lender IMO as some unscrupulous people would simpply use the money for things other than what it is intended for. Its amazing how annoyed some people have gotten when advised that money intended to help them with their mortgage was paid directly to who it is meant to go to:rolleyes:

That is just an observation on a small amount of people I have dealt with personally.

cazzybabe

NASA wrote: »

Its procedural I believe, they add the amount on, then take it off again and pay it directly to the lender. It shouldnt affect the amount you get in your hand.

It has to be paid directly to the lender IMO as some unscrupulous people would simpply use the money for things other than what it is intended for. Its amazing how annoyed some people have gotten when advised that money intended to help them with their mortgage was paid directly to who it is meant to go to:rolleyes:

That is just an observation on a small amount of people I have dealt with personally.

Is this the case???

My hubby has just qualified for SMI and rec'd the letter which does indicate the interest will be paid but you will not get any JSA - £64.30.

I told him that that is not true due to what i have read on this site.

However, he was due to receive his JSA yesterday (Tues - sign on day last thurs) it has not come thru. He has telephoned the BDC ? who tried to explain there wont be any money as the income on our family has changed - news to me, as nothing has changed at all. When he explained the only thing that had changed was now becoming eligible for SMI she said " ah thats it then, i can see a payment has been made of 20p (not into our account it hasnt) and this was to continue to entitle us to free dental. prescriptions etc."

She did then say that she would look into it further and he should receive a telephone call within 3 hours, that was at 10am today - still no call.

I work 13.4 hours per week.

Can someone please tell me if we will lose the £64.30 pw but get the interest paid instead?

dmg24

Receiving SMI will not stop the usual JSA entitlement. Has your husband been claiming for 13 weeks, or is he close to 26 weeks (SMI claims can take a while to process)?

NASA_2

cazzybabe wrote: »

Is this the case???

My hubby has just qualified for SMI and rec'd the letter which does indicate the interest will be paid but you will not get any JSA - £64.30.

I told him that that is not true due to what i have read on this site.

However, he was due to receive his JSA yesterday (Tues - sign on day last thurs) it has not come thru. He has telephoned the BDC ? who tried to explain there wont be any money as the income on our family has changed - news to me, as nothing has changed at all. When he explained the only thing that had changed was now becoming eligible for SMI she said " ah thats it then, i can see a payment has been made of 20p (not into our account it hasnt) and this was to continue to entitle us to free dental. prescriptions etc."

She did then say that she would look into it further and he should receive a telephone call within 3 hours, that was at 10am today - still no call.

I work 13.4 hours per week.

Can someone please tell me if we will lose the £64.30 pw but get the interest paid instead?

IMO the change in money is down to something else but that is only a guess.

You should never take anything on this site as fact so, despite the fact I think I am right, I can always be wrong.

The 20p thing means they are taking in 'other income' of £64.20. That in itself makes me think there is something else other than housing costs coming in to play. Housing costs dont round off to exactly £64.20 in order to keep 10p JSA(IB) payable.

cazzybabe

Hi

Thank you for responding so quickly.

He is now upto the 13th week (redundant from 3rd august). He has been receiving the Contributions based jsa although they say he is also qualified to Income based.

He got a letter a few days ago dated 5th Nov saying he is entitled to the SMI from 30th Oct to 11 Feb 2010. It show the interest amount per week and total weekly being the same figure of £178.61.

The letter reads 'We will take the money from your jobseekers allowance to pay straight to your lender at the end of every four weeks.'

I earn £436 per month - £100.61 pw basic. The only time my hours increase is normally during the summer months and a few hours last month.

Now the only thing that has changed is: we rec'd a letter from our council dated 6th Nov telling us 'Your claim for Council tax benefit has been reviewed following notification that you have been awarded Income Based jobseekers allowance.' We are now entitled the same amount as we were previously awarded which is the full council tax.

I do not know why this happened, i just thought it may be because of the SMI letter dated 5th Nov???

We really are appreciative that the SMi has kicked in but what are we supposed to live on? £64.30 pw is not much but every little helps especially when we still need to top up the mortgage by over £400 per month.

It would be helpful if the BDO telephone when they say they will ie. within 3 hours. My husband does not like to pester - he finds the process extremely degrading. He has worked from the age of 15 through to the age of 51 when he was made redundant without any employment gaps. He cannot however bring himself to ask these questions to anyone. Hence the job falls to me !!

We get £286.84 Child tax credit and £132.80 family allowance every 4 weeks. We did also get £128.60 JSA fortnightly the last payment being on the 3rd November.

If anyone is able to offer further advice please do not hesitate.

dmg24

I wonder if they have changed his claim to income based JSA only, which is why your usual payment has stopped (this should not happen until 26 weeks) but you are still getting SMI.

The only way you will know for sure is to pursue the matter with the JCP.