Not entitled to a penny!

Wizo

I am an IT contractor and have been out of work for over three month. I tried to claim benefits (JSA / Housing) but they tell me that I did not pay enough NI and am not entitled to any because of this. (I still don't get this as I have been paying employees and employers NI - although as a limited company my income was largely dividends based.)

My wife works 16 hours a week and I also have a wreck of a house in France that I can not sell. Apparently because of the House in France they tell me they regard this as savings.

Basically - I am up the creek without a paddle. My wife's income barely pays for food and petrol (for her to get to work).

Even though I have paid into the system for over 30 years I am not entitled to a bean? Then I met a friend who was in the same boat and it occurred to me that there is a group in society that the government will let go to the wall. No help, no safety net, no benefits what so ever.

I have never ask for anything from the state and the first time I do nothing. The rules surely must be wrong. At the moment I am trying to do deals with creditors but most are saying no.

Is there anywhere I can go from here to get help?

Dave101t

ive always wondered how the pond-life classes, too young to contribute much if they have ever worked, get all their benefits?
your not alone, i get nothing too.
i believe its the savings aspect that prevents you getting the benefits, not the NI contributions or lack thereof.

CocoPopsLover

one of my friends is an IT contracter and he is in he same situation as his OH works but job centre are paying his NI contributions and thats it, apparently, if he had done his accounts for the previous tax year, he would have been entitled to contribution based JSA as that is rewarded irrespective of his OH's earnings

dmg24

Why can you not sell the house in France? Most properties will sell, albeit possibly not for the price that you want for it. Did you pay Class 1 Conts in the relevant two tax years (06-07 and 07-08)?

Dave101t, the reason that you cannot get income based JSA is because you have over £16,000 in savings.

CocoPopsLover, a self employed contractor would not receive conts based JSA just by completing their accounts. They would still need to have paid the correct NI Conts.

cuddlymarm

Hi

I was self employed until we closed our business down. I couldn't claim anything because self employed contributions don't count towards contribution based jobseekers allowance and because my OH works I couldn't claim income based either.
I doubt I'll be able to claim much in the future either because my employer seems quite keen to have lots of people doing a few hours rather than a few full timers ( so no NI contributions are getting paid)

Cuddles:rotfl:

CocoPopsLover

dmg24 wrote: »

CocoPopsLover, a self employed contractor would not receive conts based JSA just by completing their accounts. They would still need to have paid the correct NI Conts.

Yep and that!!!

mouseymousey99

Any assets left in the business? You could sell? Re the house, its got to go really hasn't it? If you are now unemployed could you spend the time doing a tart up? Could your wife not work full time?
If you have creditors are you still trading, or are you insolvent?

Oldernotwiser

Wizo wrote: »

I am an IT contractor and have been out of work for over three month. I tried to claim benefits (JSA / Housing) but they tell me that I did not pay enough NI and am not entitled to any because of this. (I still don't get this as I have been paying employees and employers NI - although as a limited company my income was largely dividends based.)

My wife works 16 hours a week and I also have a wreck of a house in France that I can not sell. Apparently because of the House in France they tell me they regard this as savings.

Basically - I am up the creek without a paddle. My wife's income barely pays for food and petrol (for her to get to work).

Even though I have paid into the system for over 30 years I am not entitled to a bean? Then I met a friend who was in the same boat and it occurred to me that there is a group in society that the government will let go to the wall. No help, no safety net, no benefits what so ever.

I have never ask for anything from the state and the first time I do nothing. The rules surely must be wrong. At the moment I am trying to do deals with creditors but most are saying no.

Is there anywhere I can go from here to get help?

Thanked you in error.

Surely the reason why contractors pay themselves through a limited company is to minimise the amount of taxes and NI paid by paying most of the money in dividends? In this case, the strategy seems to have backfired on you and made you ineligible for benefits.

As has previously been said, you can't expect to get means tested benefits when owning another propery; however run down it is, it'll be worth more than the capital limit for claiming benefits and you may need to sell it.

itsnotfair_2

The biggest down side for the self employed is they can only pay class 2 contributions and that prevents them getting JSA.

It happened to us 10 years ago, we had 20 years in a shop paying what we were asked to, NI tax etc we were not allowed to pay class 4 as an employed person can.

I had a small job (like about £3000pa) and 3 kids and a mortgage. We got nothing. We were told by the bank hard luck on the PPI we should'nt have closed the shop, yet we could not afford to keep it, it was our fault they said.

We were told by DHSS we should have saved for such an eventuality.

We had relatives who helped us out. Thank goodness.

I would sell the France house cheaply, they probably believe it's worth a mint. Maybe your wife can get more hours. If she gets under about £7000 you may get WTC.

Oldernotwiser

itsnotfair wrote: »

The biggest down side for the self employed is they can only pay class 2 contributions and that prevents them getting JSA.

.

But look at the money they save by doing so!

zenmaster

From the DWP website -

You will need to have been employed within the last 2 relevant tax years (currently April 2006 to April 2008) and have paid, or been credited with, National Insurance (NI) contributions on those earnings

There are 2 "Contribution conditions" which are detailed below:

To satisfy the First Contribution Condition, the customer must have:
• paid Class 1 contributions on earnings of at least £2100 in either of the last two Relevant Income Tax Years 06/07 or 07/08
To satisfy the Second Contribution Condition, the customer must have:
• a combination of paid Class 1 contributions on earnings and / or awarded credits of at least £4200 in both 06/07 and 07/08
• by credits we mean credits that are awarded whilst claiming Jobseekers Allowance, Sickness (ESA) or periods of Approved Training.

It's not exactly clear, is it?

I am also an unemployed subbie and I am getting contribution based JSA. I checked my payslips for the relevant years and both showed contributions on earnings > £4200. I took the payslips as evidence when I signed on but they didn't ask to see them, just relied on my NI number.

If you have your payslips (if not, why not? ) then you can verify this by checking the December of each year. There will be a field called something like "NI Pay". This should exceed £4200 in each case. If it does than query it with the jobcentre as they may have made a mistake. If it does not then you should probably have a word with your accountant.