Can EVERYONE claim Job Seekers Allowance?

dmg24

telboyo wrote: »

I receive a military pension of 6k P.A because of this I rec:eive no JSA or stamp, without JSA you cannot get any other benefits. Also I am not eligible for training etc as the first question they ask is:

"Are you in receipt of JSA"

You can still sign on to receive your stamp. You are eligible for LHA/ HB and CTB etc even if you do not claim JSA.

Jowo_2

Genesis wrote: »

They wont give it to you if you were self employed & you lose your business.

Some self employed people, either through ignorance or choice, do not pay the appropriate NICs, they opt to pay a lower class, and that could be the issue?

PasturesNew

Jowo wrote: »

Some self employed people, either through ignorance or choice, do not pay the appropriate NICs, they opt to pay a lower class, and that could be the issue?

Well, you can put me down as ignorant then.

I pay two lots of NI. £2.50/week is one (class 2?) - and the other one is paid based on income (class 4?), which I think is about 10% of earnings.

It's easy to be ignorant because if you do guess/suspect there's something else/different, then you can't understand the system anyway. I'm ignorant because until your posting just here I had no idea there were "appropriate NICs", I assumed they were all the wrong sort and self-employed had to lump it.

telboyo

dmg24 wrote: »

You can still sign on to receive your stamp. You are eligible for LHA/ HB and CTB etc even if you do not claim JSA.

I didn't know that- I hear all these stories of people getting zillions of pounds from the social but I cannot figure out how. I was 47 years of age before I entered a jobcentre dole office a/nd I found them to be most unhelpful / non-commital people I have ever met.

Any question I asked was answered with " I am not sure you will have to ask someone else"

I received my rejection letter the day before my interview with them- the letter said I would not get JSA but my stamp may be paid.
I decided to go to the interview. It was snowing on the day of my interview upon entering the Jobcentre I got past the 3 bouncers down stairs and was told by the receptionist that all appointments were cancelled. So I went home only to be called by the Jobcentre and reprimanded for non attendance. Rearranged for Monday- on Monday I was told by the downstairs staff "All appointments cancelled due to SNOW"

Explained to them that I had travelled twice for this appt and I would like to see some one. They sent me upstairs to "Desk 2"
The desks had no numbers on them. 6 desks 9 staff and 4 bouncers and no customers so I approached the first member staff who told me "john" was dealing with me. so I went down the row of desks to find John, gave him all my details which he used on the computer to call up my file, he started to interviw me and ask me what I was doing to find a job and repeating the conditions of JSA. I explained that I had been disqualified but like to ask a question about NI.

Q. what does "may Pay your NI contribution mean"?
A. It means we may pay your NI contribution

Q. What are the criteria?
A UM
Supervisor A It means we may pay your NI contribution
Supervisor A I don't know you will have to speak to the number on the letter.

The letter came from the office I was sitting in.

I Now realize that I have not missed anything by not dealing with dole office before.

Jowo_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

Well, you can put me down as ignorant then.

I pay two lots of NI. £2.50/week is one (class 2?) - and the other one is paid based on income (class 4?), which I think is about 10% of earnings.

It's easy to be ignorant because if you do guess/suspect there's something else/different, then you can't understand the system anyway. I'm ignorant because until your posting just here I had no idea there were "appropriate NICs", I assumed they were all the wrong sort and self-employed had to lump it.

I don't know the detail of this at all so I'm perhaps confusing the issue - perhaps its just the initial Contributions based JSA that is refused for some self employed who then get the income based one instead - on the Direct Gov site it says the following

"There are two types of Jobseeker's Allowance, 'contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance' and 'income-based Jobseeker's Allowance'.
Contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance.

You may be entitled to claim contribution-based Jobseekers Allowance if you have paid enough National Insurance contributions. Jobcentre Plus can pay this for up to 182 days. Generally, self-employed contributions will not help you qualify for contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
This is based on your income and savings. You may get this if you have not paid enough National Insurance contributions (NICs) (or you've only paid contributions for self-employment) and you're on a low income."

Middle_Sister

From what I understand I qualify for JSA as I have paid the maximum necessary contributions therefore will get JSA for 6 months (unless anyone knows differently) .... HOWEVER after the 6 months because of savings etc I will not be claiming JSA as I do not want to disclose my savings etc. ..... HOWEVER I believe they ask you all your monetary details when you originally apply for the JSA (with the necessary contributions) ... I presume this is because after the 6 months they can cut you off because they already know about your situation.
What I want to know is ...... do I have to give them all my details at the outset as I only want the JSA for 6 months that I qualify for and after that will no longer claim anything.

CCFC_80

Middle_Sister wrote: »

From what I understand I qualify for JSA as I have paid the maximum necessary contributions therefore will get JSA for 6 months (unless anyone knows differently) .... HOWEVER after the 6 months because of savings etc I will not be claiming JSA as I do not want to disclose my savings etc. ..... HOWEVER I believe they ask you all your monetary details when you originally apply for the JSA (with the necessary contributions) ... I presume this is because after the 6 months they can cut you off because they already know about your situation.
What I want to know is ...... do I have to give them all my details at the outset as I only want the JSA for 6 months that I qualify for and after that will no longer claim anything.

Yes That's a fair summary.If you are certain you have paid enough NI contributions in the previous 2 tax years,08-09 and 09-10,you do not need give details of your savings if just claiming CB JSA.As a previous poster has stated I assume that you are not going to claim Housing and Council Tax benefit where you would have to state your savings.

After the 6 months and you were still out of work you would only be able to claim Incomes Based JSA but you can still get your NI contributions credited which would count towards your state pension.

charlie792

Well Im entitled to nothing for JSA. My partner's salary is considered sufficient to live off (minimum wage!) and Ive not worked enough to claim for contribution allowance. Infact we're not entitled to claim for anything whatsoever...not even tax credits....