job seekers

j2b

ive ben working all my adult life and have now been made redundant so ive signed on and been told i can get income based and contribution based job seekers allowance but i dont know if they mean ill get both at same time or 1 at a time. ive got 4 young kids eldest being 7 and at school does having children make a difference to the amount yuou are given just need to budget as this is first doing this like i say been working all my life. any advise welcomed..thanks.
j2b

briona

Hi j2b

Welcome to MSE.

You can only claim one type of JSA at any one time.

In practice this means since you have made enough NI contributions over the past two tax years, you will be able to claim contributions-based JSA for 6 months. This is NOT affected by any savings you may have or by your partner's income.

If after 6 months you have not found employment, you will be assessed for income-based JSA. As its name suggests, your eligibility for it depends on what other income you have available to you – your partner's salary or any savings for example.

For income-based benefits, you can have savings of between £6,000 and £16,000. You lose £1 of benefits for every £250 or part thereof you have in savings. If you have more than £16,000 in savings you will not be eligible to claim any income-based benefits.

Current rates for both types of JSA are £50.95pw for people aged 16-24 and £60.30pw for people aged 25 and over. There is no extra payment for dependents.

Briona

j2b

thanks Briona
:eek:
so im in for a big shock going from £413p/w to just £50 i thought i may get a little more than that hopefully child tax credit will go up.
j2b

Tigsteroonie

j2b wrote: »

thanks Briona
:eek:
so im in for a big shock going from £413p/w to just £50 i thought i may get a little more than that hopefully child tax credit will go up.
j2b

Tax credits are normally calculated on the previous year's income (08/09) which, as you were working, would have been higher. You will need to phone the Tax Credit people and ask them to recalculate your award based on your estimated income for the current year (09/10) which will probably be lower as you are no longer earning. You'll need your P45 details to hand when you call, and tell them what benefit you are expecting to receive.

dmg24

j2b, do you have a partner? If so, do they work?

briona

j2b wrote: »

thanks Briona
:eek:
so im in for a big shock going from £413p/w to just £50 i thought i may get a little more than that hopefully child tax credit will go up.
j2b

Put like that, it does sound like a huge drop, however you may be entitled to other benefits as well. Obviously some of these are means-tested and as such would be affected by having a working partner and/or savings.

Council Tax Benefit
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018923

If you rent: Housing Benefit (or whatever it's called these days)
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018926
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018928

If you own: Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_180321

Obviously you've got your Child Benefit. I'm not sure how you'd be fixed for Child Tax Credits since I don't know a lot about them. See: http://taxcredits.hmrc.gov.uk/Qualify/WhatAreTaxCredits.aspx

Hopefully someone else will have a few more ideas.

Briona

j2b

yep have partner she doesnt work looking after 3 little one all day and she gets carers allowance for 1 child whom has disability this child gets dla. seems unles you rent house from local council you have to waait 13 weeks for any help with housing as i have mortgage.

briona

j2b wrote: »

yep have partner she doesnt work looking after 3 little one all day and she gets carers allowance for 1 child whom has disability this child gets dla. seems unles you rent house from local council you have to waait 13 weeks for any help with housing as i have mortgage.

Unfortunately so, but it's better than the 26 week waiting period of old!

Did you got any redundancy pay that would keep the mortgage paid for the next 3 months? If not, contact your lender ASAP to see if you can negotiate a payment holiday or to ask for reduced payments for the next couple of months.

Briona