This will be complicated....

hotrocks68

Hi all,i'll try and keep this as short as possible and any advice would be appreciated.
After leaving school i worked for British Rail for nearly 14 years.For the following 12 years i was self-employed working in construction,paid my taxes but no National Insurance since British Rail.
Anyway i had ongoing problems with my back and decided to quit work and travel Europe while i was still able.This i did,and after 2 years i am now in Germany but on the verge of going home to England.
In a bank account that i had redirected to my mums before leaving England i have about 8k in the current account and 9k in an ISA.I also have 30k of premium bonds.
It will be difficult finding a job,what with my bad back,if at all.
I basically want to know what will happen when i arrive back in England.I will need to find somewhere to live.Will i be entitled to any help paying for accomodation? Will i be entitled to any income support?
What can i do?

Vader123

You will need to pass a residence test if you have been out the country (to basically see if you are returning to the UK for the purpose of claiming benefits).

You can't claim income support (as you are not disabled or a lone parent) so you will have to claim JSA if you are job seeking. Or if you feel your back prevents you from working (but not from travelling?) you will need to claim ESA.

With your savings however it will mean you will not get anything means-tested.

So i think the answer to your questons is "no".

Can you not look at claiming in Germany? Their economy seems to be picking up. Or return to the UK and live with your mum using savings to live until you find work?

Vader

Caz3121

your savings are more than £16k so you would not qualify for any means tested benefits. Your lack of NI contributions also will affect any claim for contribution based JSA or ESA

stazi

Because you have more than £16K in capital, the answer is 'no' to housing costs, and any income related benefit. You are not be entitled to any contribution based benefit as you owe HMRC 12 years Class 2 S/E NIC, and have not worked for more than 2 years.

qwertyuiop12345

As you mentioned paying your income tax, did you have an exemption certificate for the national insurance payments?

Even if you had been paying NIC's whilst working in this country, you still would not have the correct contribution record in the relevant tax years to make a claim now, as you have been abroad in the last few years.

If you do owe money for 12 years of class 2 NIC's (around £1500) then that will bring the cash in your bank accounts below the £16k limit. But I imagine the premium bonds are still a problem with regards to claiming any means-tested benefits.

You can get a copy of your national insurance record from HMRC. There are options to make late payments and voluntary payments, but these do not have the same rules with regard to elligibility for contributary benefits. However you may want to make sure you have a sufficient record for a state pension.