Job seekers allowance

sac0018

Thanks for all the replies, they are very useful but still don't understand the logic. There doesn't seem to be any distinction between income assessed JSA and JSA as far as I can see.

sac0018

tonypop wrote: »

This is correct,however I suspect if he claims cont & IB he will also not be entitled as you are deemed to have too much money coming in.

What is cont and IB, as far as we know we can't claim anything, he has some redundancy money which we hope to use to pay off some of the mortgage, but we have a daughter of 17years old who is at school. Iam in part time work also.

dookar

sac0018 wrote: »

What is cont and IB,

JSA is a single benefit consisting of two components. Contribution based and Income based (cont and IB)

Income based is affected by your partner's pension with no disregard, your earnings and hours of work and any capital.
Contribution based is only affected by the pension, following a £50 disregard.

AsknAnswer

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Just out of interest, if he had chosen not to draw his company pension yet even though he was allowed to, does that mean he would have qualified for JSA? Seems a bit arbitrary if that is so.

I don't know about JSA but for other benefits, if there is anything else that would be available to you on application and you choose not to apply for it, they treat it as if you have the money coming in, as it is an available resource.

I know they do this for pension credit for example.

Bogof_Babe

It's an odd one, because by taking a work pension early you sacrifice a proportion of the amount it would be if you left it until you reach the official retirement age relevant for your pension plan.

It would be a bit unfair if you were forced to make this sacrifice, maybe reducing your pension by 50 or 60%, which arrangement then has to last you for possibly 30 or 40 years.

Nicklt

Contribution based JSA takes into account the earnings from the last 12 months (i think) the amount of JSA received for contribution based and none contribution are the same, with Contribution based JSA you are entitled to less help i.e. different schemes etc, which i think is just crazy seeing as you have been contributing to the state.

And yes if he is received £50+ pension he would not be entitled to JSA

Oldernotwiser

It is an anomaly in the system that contributions based JSA (which isn't mean tested on the basis of savings or partner's income) is affected by the receipt of an occupational pension.

It takes many people by surprise - I know it did me!

seven-day-weekend

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

It is an anomaly in the system that contributions based JSA (which isn't mean tested on the basis of savings or partner's income) is affected by the receipt of an occupational pension.

It takes many people by surprise - I know it did me!

It's exactly the same if you are receiving Incapacity Benefit - you can have as much savings as you like and your partner can be a millionaire, or you yourself could have money coming from any other source - but receive over £85 a week from an Occupational Pension and they start reducing the IB.

theartfullodger

still don't understand the logic.

'fraid you never will: Benefits & logic don't go together... there are just rules & regulations that may or may not make sense and may or may not be fair...