List of other benefits available to jobseekers

Johneeee

Hi,
I was made redundant at the start of the year and am claiming JSA and Council tax benefit. I am not entitled to housing Benefit as I finished paying off my mortgage last year. This was very lucky as paying off this large sum placed me back to near zero capital hence fortunately making me able to claim benefit once redundancy hit.
I have just been shopping around to get better gas and electricity deals, and after about 2 hours web searching I found out:
1) I may be entitled to a social tariff hence saving on my gas and electricity bills.
2) I may also be able to get all kinds of free home energy improvements like cavity wall insulation, solar panels, loft insulation, energy saving bulbs etc.
I also now take advantage of free prescriptions and dental care, recently having my first dental checkup since dentistry was privatized over a decade ago! but nobody really tells you about these things. I usually sort of stumble across them and make a mental note to take advantage of them.
It got me wondering if there are any other offerings I should be taking advantage of while I've got the chance during my hopefully short stint of unemployment. You hear about people who make a living long term from milking the system like this, but where do they get all their info from on what they can try for?
Surely somewhere there is a list of what you can get and where/ who from? I have paid sickening levels of income tax throughout my working life and want to leverage unemployment to the max and milk the system for every penny of this I can get back. When I got my first decent job and saw how much tax was coming out of my monthly salary, I very nearly cried. I will return to work pretty soon I imagine and will resume paying taxes, so they'll win in the end, but I'd like to come out of this phase of my life with the satisfaction of having got as much of this money back out of the system as is humanly possible. I'm sorry if anybody is offended by the borderline sociopathic nature of these sentiments.
J

purplepardalis

Are you on contributions based or income based JSA? I'm on contributions based and don't get anything other than £64.30 a week. No free prescriptions, no dentistry or anything. Ok, I didn't expect a thank you card for paying £1300 a month in tax and national insurance but I did think I'd get a little more help!!

aanguralla

Hi Purplepardalis,

I did receive contribution based JSA for the first 6 months but am on credits only since then. No benefits at all, no prescriptions, dentist etc. No one tells you what you could be entitled to until you miss it through ignorance. I find it very hard to get anyone anywhere who could give information prior to the need to apply for relevant benefits. Thanks.

dmg24

Your entitlement to other benefits is very much down to individual/ household circumstances. If you post some information regarding your household income and circumstances on the Benefits board we will be able to help you further. Before you do that, have a look at www.entitledto.co.uk, this will give you an idea of your entitlement.

robredz

Good job you'd paid off the mortgage prior to redundancy, as they would have hit you with "deprivation of income" if you used the redundancy money to pay off a mortgage. This would deny you income based elements of benefit once conts ran out.

aanguralla

Hello Johneeee,
Agree with you to gain as much you can since JCP makes it very difficult for people and do everything in their power to deter you and it seems reluctance to pay people what they are due. No one official really tells you what you can apply for or how to do it. From recent experiences while unemployed, I am now so stressed and frustrated due to lack of information from JCP office or anywhere else. You may be entitled to some benefit at the local leisure centre, if you are interested! Best of luck.

aanguralla

Hi,
I paid part of my mortgage with a lump sum pension from ex-employer. Is this same as paying from redundancy funds? As my JSA(CB) is being assessed at present, would I be hit with deprivation of income?

dmg24

CB JSA is not affected by capital, so you will be fine for six months. You may have a problem after that, but you need to speak to the Benefits Processing Centre, not the people at the JCP.

stockport

purplepardalis wrote: »

Are you on contributions based or income based JSA? I'm on contributions based and don't get anything other than £64.30 a week. No free prescriptions, no dentistry or anything. Ok, I didn't expect a thank you card for paying £1300 a month in tax and national insurance but I did think I'd get a little more help!!

For anyone on contribution based JSA you can get a form from JCP (HC1 I think) where you can claim for help with NHS costs. I've waited six months for an eye test as I didn't know about the form.

dmg24

stockport wrote: »

For anyone on contribution based JSA you can get a form from JCP (HC1 I think) where you can claim for help with NHS costs. I've waited six months for an eye test as I didn't know about the form.

Help is available, however it does take into account household income, so if the claimant's partner is working they are unlikely to qualify.

stockport

dmg24 wrote: »

Help is available, however it does take into account household income, so if the claimant's partner is working they are unlikely to qualify.

Your quite right. My point was that I was entitled to free prescriptions etc for past six months, but didn't know. I was told by JCP staff that I couldn't claim unless I was on I.B. JSA.