Job Seekers Allowance & Bank Statements

nellie47 · 23 January 2011 at 11:49PM

I have been made redundant recently and have made a claim to JSA. My job centre have not yet allowed my claim as they say they need to see my bank statements and have proof of buildings insurance. I'm not claiming for help with the mortgage as this is insured and I'm sure I read somewhere that I am not obliged to let them see the transactions on my bank statement and that a confirmed balance only would suffice - is this correct?

Incidentally, I do not have savings of more than £6000.

Thanks,
Nellie

tcr_3 · 24 January 2011 at 12:12AM

Nellie, they'd only ask for that info if you were claiming income based Jobseeker's Allowance & I assume that's what you've applied for.

You might have private insurance for your mortgage (an MPPI policy), but each policy varies from company to company, from one individual to another.

What I think they're trying to do is to establish whether the monthly income from your MPPI policy exceeds your housing cost payments ... most don't, but some do ... and if you've got money left over after you've paid your mortgage & other qualifying housing costs, they can treat that excess as an income. And that means your Jobseeker's Allowance might be cut. Or might not be ... difficult to say, really, that's why they're asking for more information.

They're not so much interested in how much your savings are, rather they want to see your statements to establish how much your MPPI policy pays out each month, how much your mortgage payment is, your endowment policy, buildings insurance & MPPI premium. And from that they'll be able to calculate if your MPPI will affect the amount of JSA you receive.

You might want to claim help through the DWP SMI scheme anyway, even though you've got an MPPI policy. Because there's a possibility you might qualify for help with your mortgage through the DWP scheme on top of what your MPPI is paying out, but that's entirely dependant on your own mortgage & insurances.

nellie47 · 24 January 2011 at 12:41AM

Thanks for that, TCR. I'm actually claiming for contribution based JSA as my last job lasted for over 3 years. I don't yet know how much the MPPI will pay out as they do not pay for the first month of unemployment. And I have not yet had an ABI1 form stamped by the job centre.

No one has yet answered the question as to the privacy of my bank statements - am I legally obliged to show them my transaction details or will a balance do?

Thanks,
Nell

tcr_3 · 24 January 2011 at 12:49AM

If you're only claiming for contributory JSA, you don't have to show them bank statements, nor buildings insurance details ... nor should they have asked for them. Are you obliged to show them those documents for a conts only claim ? No, not at all.

But tbh I think you've claimed for both contributory & income based, from what you said at #1.

[Deleted User] · 24 January 2011 at 12:51AM

when you apply for JSA you apply for IB and CB,then if you qualify for CB thats what you get for the first 6 months,moving to IB after that IF you qualify,yes they do want to see statements and not balances mainly to make sure you havent deprived yourself of capital to get benefits.

there is a second option if you dont want to do this and its quite simple....dont apply for ANY benefits

tcr_3 · 24 January 2011 at 1:33AM

I think they only routinely ask for bank statements if you declare savings around about the £5,500 mark ? If you don't declare savings near that they won't bother asking. That's what kinda makes me think it's more to do with the MPPI rather than savings.

Woodbine, do you have to apply for both Cont & IB at the same time nowadays ? I thought you still had a choice to claim Cont only or Cont plus IB ?

NickyBat · 24 January 2011 at 8:22AM

Put it this way IF you don't supply them with the information they are requesting whether it be bank statements or anything else, they are well within their rights to close your claim - and they will, so i suggest you give them everything thay ask for, its in your own interests.