Redundant Wife

50Twuncle

My wife faces redundancy on Wednesday - she has worked half days for the last 2 years - I was made redundant last year and am claiming ESA (contribution based) - Will my wife be entitled to any benefits ?
She has been earning about £6,500 pa for the last 2 years - so I am concerned that her NI contributions will not have been enough ?

karenx

Dependant on her NI she might be able to claim JSA. That will be for 6 months, then after that household income and savings will be taken into account.
Are you claiming housing benefit at the moment?

50Twuncle

HB - no - I am just receiving ESA (contribution based) + DLA - I have been working for almost 30 years - paying my NI contributions
Is there no way of determining whether my wife has paid enough NI over the last 25 + years that she has been working ?
According to DirectGovs website

"You will need to have been employed within the last 2 relevant tax years (currently April 2007 to April 2009) 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 07/08 or 08/09

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 07/08 and 08/09
• by credits we mean credits that are awarded whilst claiming Jobseekers Allowance, Sickness (ESA) or periods of Approved Training"

I take it that "Anyone earning over £4200 over both the last 2 years" passes the test ??

Tehya

Hello,

If she's not entitled to JSA and you have no other income but your ESA you will be able to put her on your claim.

You will still be entitled to your ESA (Cont Based) but they'll add on some ESA (IR) to take into account your wife. Depending on which group you're already placed in this will increase your amount so you'll receive (as a couple) somewhere between £125 to £150ish per week but with the income related part you would be entitled to full HB and CT Benefits plus free prescriptions etc.

Tehya

Tehya

PS I see you're already DLA if it's middle or higher care your wife could claim Carer's Allowance but if she is placed on your ESA claim they take the Carer's off you and give you a premium instead which is £29 a week instead of the £53 CA.

50Twuncle

I am claiming medium care DLA (which is independant of savings) as is contribution based ESA ....
Carers allowance is dependant on savings - I received a redundancy payment - so Carers allowance would be zero - I assume that if my wife was added to my ESA - that we would be treated similarly - ie payment reduced to zero ?

dmg24

21Twinkle wrote: »

I am claiming medium care DLA (which is independant of savings) as is contribution based ESA ....
Carers allowance is dependant on savings - I received a redundancy payment - so Carers allowance would be zero - I assume that if my wife was added to my ESA - that we would be treated similarly - ie payment reduced to zero ?

CA does not take savings into account.

50Twuncle

dmg24 wrote: »

CA does not take savings into account.

Not as such - but it does indirectly in that if my wife is claiming Jobseekers Allowance - it will need to be "Contribution based" due to my savings - and according to Direct Gov - anyone claiming Contribution based JSA is not entitled to any CA !!:(:(

50Twuncle

Tehya wrote: »

PS I see you're already DLA if it's middle or higher care your wife could claim Carer's Allowance but if she is placed on your ESA claim they take the Carer's off you and give you a premium instead which is £29 a week instead of the £53 CA.

What do you mean by "Placed on my ESA claim" ?
At the moment - I am in the "Work Related Activity" grouping ....

dmg24

21Twinkle wrote: »

Not as such - but it does indirectly in that if my wife is claiming Jobseekers Allowance - it will need to be "Contribution based" due to my savings - and according to Direct Gov - anyone claiming Contribution based JSA is not entitled to any CA !!:(:(

You cannot claim CA at the same time as any JSA.

Tehya

21Twinkle wrote: »

What do you mean by "Placed on my ESA claim" ?
At the moment - I am in the "Work Related Activity" grouping ....

If your wife was included as part of your ESA claim i.e. claiming as a couple but from reading what else you've said this couldn't happen anyway as you have savings because claiming as a couple would require you having no other income because it's income related like Income Support.

As far as I can see if your wife has not paid her full contributions then she's not entitled to JSA (BC) anyway.

As already said she could get Carer's Allowance even with saving as long as she's earning less than £95ish per week (amounts change in April).