Job seekers and savings

bigmomma051204

Hi - i am currently facing redundancy and am starting to really deal with the fact that i may be out of work for a time (work for local council and there are 740 jobs being axed in the dept i work in... nowhere to redeploy us all to and any jobs that do turn up locally, there will obviously be a LOT of competition!)

My husband is currently off work and has been for 3 years nearly due to a accident which has left him unable to work and registered disabled... he gets ESA, DLA and a teeny bit of housing benefit. He has just had the last in a line of operations so was hoping to slowly get into work after April time when he is recovered more but of course, in the beginning he would have to build up to working full time which would mean his benefits would probably be all but cut to nothing and we would totally rely on my wage which although good, would not have been enough really but we would have had to survive... obviously if/when i am unemployed, we will struggle to make this happen which is a major shame as he is desperate to get back to work We have a little boy of 6years - so if we both have to work full time, we would have no way of picking him up from school or dropping him off as the school offers no wrap around care and as we live in a rural area, there are no nurseries or child minders... plus, if i was working in a min wage job (which i have NO problem with doing i might add) we would never be able to afford the childcare anyway...sorry, i seem to have sounded off

SO my question, i have currently got about £7,000 of savings - not much i know, but i have never had any debt and i manage to save a teeny bit when i can so i am proud will this amount affect my entitlement to claim any benefits? I thought it was a higher amount than this (£16,000 was in my head..) BUT i spoke with Citizens advice bureau who said that as i have saving of any kind, it will basically mean i entitled to nothing at all until i have used those savings... is this correct? She told me straight out that i should realise that "there are other people who havent been able to save money due to their circumstances, so why should i get anything from the state" .... She made me feel awful and as if i was such a bad person for even asking..... It just sounds so unfair that i should be punished for being frugal and trying to get something better for my family for years now when other people who dont try to save etc, just get benefits etc given to them... i feel totally despondant after my conversation with the CAB lady and left their office the other day feeling like i may as well give up because i wont get any help at all.... sorry if i sound miserable :A

seven-day-weekend

If you have been working and paying NI for the two relevant tax years, then uou can claim Contributions-based Jobseekers' Allowance for six months, which isn't means-tested and therefore your savings or other household income won't matter.

If you claim any means-tested Benefits (such as Income-based JSA, or help with rent and Council Tax) then your household income and savings will all be counted (except your husband's DLA) in the means test. If your income is too high you will not be able to claim means-tested Benefits.

If you have under £6k in savings this does not affect any means-tested Benefits. Between £6k and £16k, Benefit is reduced in increments. If you have more than £16k, then you will not be entitled to means-tested benefits.

So no, you don't have to spend all your savings before you can claim.

Hope this helps.