JSA new claim denied

mococomo

Hi, I was in full-time employment for five years, then went self-employed the last two years, however, I haven't worked in four months and am down to my last bit of savings (which will only last me up to two months as i'm still paying full rent).

I've just applied for JSA and council tax and housing benefit (I rent by myself), however I have received a letter stating my claim has been denied as I am working over 16 hours a week? I haven't worked at all since November so have no idea where this came from? I am now in quite a panic as i was relying on getting jsa and also as my housing benefit and council tax claim is waiting on this decision.

I will speak to jsa tomorrow but wondered how long the process takes once I tell them they have made a mistake, to make a new decision (I have already waited 4 weeks for this decision). Also, as I have less than 2k left, even if there is a hold up with my jsa claim, can i get my housing benefit and council tax?

Please help as very panicked here!

dmg24

How long is a piece of string?

If it is a simple error, it could be sorted out immediately, or within a few days of being referred to a Decision Maker. If more information is required, this could lengthen the process considerably.

You would be best to repost when you find out the reason for them saying this.

clb776

you can apply for lha etc based on income so get a claim in asap

aj2703

I thought you couldn't claim JSA if you claim from being self employed...?

If this is wrong can someone give advice as my mate is self employed but no work for ages. I told him to claim but he said he was told he couldn't as he was self employed.

DX2

aj2703 wrote: »

I thought you couldn't claim JSA if you claim from being self employed...?

If this is wrong can someone give advice as my mate is self employed but no work for ages. I told him to claim but he said he was told he couldn't as he was self employed.

They can apply for Income based JSA rather than Contribution based JSA.

Oldernotwiser

aj2703 wrote: »

I thought you couldn't claim JSA if you claim from being self employed...?

If this is wrong can someone give advice as my mate is self employed but no work for ages. I told him to claim but he said he was told he couldn't as he was self employed.

He can claim if he's actively seeking employmnet, not just waiting for some self employed work to come along.

mococomo

clb776 wrote: »

you can apply for lha etc based on income so get a claim in asap

Sorry, what's lha? I'm new at claiming benefits so only know the basics...

healy

mococomo wrote: »

Sorry, what's lha? I'm new at claiming benefits so only know the basics...

LHA is Local Housing Allowance.

NASA_2

They can still decide that you are in 'remunerative work' or 'gainfully employed' even if you have physically stopped working. Unfortunately the system is a bit limited with regard to the letters that go out.

clb776

lha is local housing allowance...housing benefit basically! go to your local council and get a claim in asap and ask for it to be backdated to the date your savings dropped below the threshold(no harm in trying!). Dependant on age and wether or not you have a family, it will vary how much you are entitled to, your local councils website will let you know the current rates.

mococomo

Thanks everyone for your replies. I found out that the initial phone interviewer took down erroneous information which I am now paying for. I brought proof to JSA centre today to show that i haven't had paid work since Nov but they have had to reopen my claim as they have closed it already, and apparently it will take around a week for them to get the paperwork as it has already been shipped off to a different centre? Can't believe they can close a claim and ship paperwork that quickly when it took them 5 weeks to process the form in the first place. I only received the decision on sat (they sent the letter on Fri). How in the world did my claim have enough time to be sent somewhere else? Also, what kind of system is this that doesn't keep the claim open for a least a week for you to refute. While all this is happening, my HB claim is frozen. What a ridiculous system.