Info on JSA please

cydney65

Hi all, I hope someone can help me.

When you have been on contributions based JSA for 6 months and you are assessed for income based JSA, I presume they look at your partner's income and savings as well as your own (she is on state pension). If so, do they take any debts into account? Also, if your partner uses her savings to pay off part of the mortgage, would JCP see that as trying to get rid of savings so I could get IB JSA?

I hope this makes sense? I'm not on JSA at the moment but I'm trying to understand the system in case I fail the ESA when my IB comes up for renewal in September.
Thanks

MrsManda

Debts are not taken into account.
In terms of deprivation of capital (i.e. paying off the mortgage when you don't need to with savings) the Decision Maker takes into consideration circumstances such as the timing of the payments. So for instance if your partner reduces her savings now and you are not applying for income based benefits until September then they may decide that the two are unconnected as there is 6 months between them.

allen35

As your partner is state pension age have you thought about applying for Pension Credit as a joint claim, your partner could make the initial claim and disregards for this benefit is £1 per £500 is classed as income over £10,000, depending on how much her state pension is you may be better off

cydney65

Thank you both for the quick responses, they have given us food for thought. This ESA thing is worrying me silly, I just want to be prepared for all outcomes.

Jowo_2

I believe that the early repayment of loans (which I assume covers mortgages) where there is no legal obligation to do so can be considered deprivation of capital. I am not sure whether or not a modest timelag between paying a big chunk off a mortgage will make much difference. Best to get expert advice - this is a complex area. I've seen a legal case summary online where a mature person paid off their mortgage (I think when they were made redundant) and was treated as if they deliberately deprived themselves of capital by the DWP and this was overturned by a judge.