Help please - where do I stand?

-Pickle-

Hi, we're a bit shell shocked at the moment and could use some advice. My OH was dismissed from his job yesterday. We don't believe his dismissal was fair and it certainly wasn't supported by immediate management so will be taking advice on this separately. However, in the meantime, we are trying to figure out what to do and how we are going to manage financially. It is the first time we have ever been in this position so don't really know what to do.

We had been saving for a house so do have some savings which were intended to be used as a deposit. It has taken us a long time to save and we don't want to end up back at square one. I don't know if we are expected to use these savings to live on or whether we are entitled to any benefits at all. I know my OH isn't keen to try and claim benefits but I don't want to lose what we have managed to save, especially as mortgage interest rates are so much higher the lower the deposit you have (not that buying a house is an option until we are back on our feet job wise).

To complicate things, I also lost my job at the end of February. I registered online for JSA last week and am waiting for my appointment to come through though I thought I would have heard by now. On my form I stated that I wasn't claiming for housing or council tax benefot due to my partner's income however, circumstances are now completely different so my information is completely wrong.

We are desperately trying not to panic at the moment, probably still in shock from it all...

teabag29

If you put on the form your partner was working you wouldnt be entitled to jsa as its his job to support you financially, jsa is only if you are both unemployed so you need to make a new claim stating you are both unemployed. It will be a joint claim but only 1 of you will sign on each fortnight. they will fill out the housing and council tax benefit forms with you at the appt. It can only be backdated to when you ring them so do this asap. Also regarding your savings it very much depends on how much savings you have. If you have savings over 16k then you will get contribution based jsa rather than income based which differs in amount. The savings are likely to affect housing and council tax benefit though. HTH x

-Pickle-

teabag29 wrote: »

If you put on the form your partner was working you wouldnt be entitled to jsa as its his job to support you financially, jsa is only if you are both unemployed so you need to make a new claim stating you are both unemployed. It will be a joint claim but only 1 of you will sign on each fortnight. they will fill out the housing and council tax benefit forms with you at the appt. It can only be backdated to when you ring them so do this asap. Also regarding your savings it very much depends on how much savings you have. If you have savings over 16k then you will get contribution based jsa rather than income based which differs in amount. The savings are likely to affect housing and council tax benefit though. HTH x

Why would it be my partner's job to support me? Is that really the case? It sounds very old fashioned and we are not married but even if we were, I don't think it's his responsibility. We were not very high earners...

From what I've read so far this morning, I didn't think both people in a couple needed to be unemployed to apply for JSA. Nevertheless we are now.

Our joint savings are probably around £16k give or take a few thousand. I haven't checked lately but we did have some very big bills that needed to come out of it in Jan and Feb. As a matter of interest though, is that the amount for a couple or each?

Also, if the savings we have spent the last six years getting together for a house deposit are going to count against us, would we be better off using them to pay off our debts. We owe family money (which they were not in any rush for seeing as they're very keen for us to get on the housing ladder) and also have a credit card each. I know it's not money saving to have savings when we have money on credit cards, but it was the only way we could get what was supposed to be a deposit together.

sleepless_saver

teabag29 wrote: »

If you put on the form your partner was working you wouldnt be entitled to jsa as its his job to support you financially, jsa is only if you are both unemployed so you need to make a new claim stating you are both unemployed. It will be a joint claim but only 1 of you will sign on each fortnight. they will fill out the housing and council tax benefit forms with you at the appt. It can only be backdated to when you ring them so do this asap. Also regarding your savings it very much depends on how much savings you have. If you have savings over 16k then you will get contribution based jsa rather than income based which differs in amount. The savings are likely to affect housing and council tax benefit though. HTH x

Almost all of teabag29's post is completely wrong apart from the last sentence.

The OP could well be entitled to contribution based JSA in her own right, as could her husband. If their savings are too high for them to get HB/CTB, that does not mean they are entitled to contribution based JSA, it would mean that they didn't get HB/CTB.

OP, if you have heard nothing since you registered a claim for JSA on line in February, phone DWP on 0800 055 6688 .

And your husband should do the same. At the appointment, he can explain that he has been dismissed but he believes it is unfair and is taking action to contest the dismissal.

teabag29

I assume you live together? If that is the case then they would not let you claim jsa as you are a couple so they take into account his income also. If you live separately then thats a different matter entirely and you can claim jsa as a single person.

Jsa is paid fortnightly and for a couple is around £205 (a little higher if both are over 25 i think) but this is income based, i dont know what the rate is for contribution based. However i think your savings will stop you getting housing/council tax benefit or they may just make you pay a contribution.

RAS

teabag29 wrote: »

I assume you live together? If that is the case then they would not let you claim jsa as you are a couple so they take into account his income also. If you live separately then thats a different matter entirely and you can claim jsa as a single person.

Jsa is paid fortnightly and for a couple is around £205 (a little higher if both are over 25 i think) but this is income based, i dont know what the rate is for contribution based. However i think your savings will stop you getting housing/council tax benefit or they may just make you pay a contribution.

WRONG again.

If Pickle is entitled to contribution based JSA, then she can claim this for 6 months irrespective of whether or not her partner ios working. After 6 months the only option would be incomes based JSA, to which she would NOT have been entitled had he been in work.

Pickle, there is a real risk that OH will be sanctioned for losing his job; it is essential that he gets signed on NOW because the sanction date starts from the date of application, not the date he lost his job.

Then you need to make joint claims for Council Tax benefit, housing support (check the LHA rate for your are).

Bloomin_Freezing2

Could be wrong, but whenever we have had to claim any benefits they ask if we have 6k in savings, so maybe 6k or more will have a big effect.

To be honest if you have 16k in savings you should be using it for the situation you have now found yourselves in. Yes it would be a shame to have to start saving up for a house deposit again but s**t happens.

sleepless_saver

Bloomin_Freezing2 wrote: »

Could be wrong, but whenever we have had to claim any benefits they ask if we have 6k in savings, so maybe 6k or more will have a big effect.

To be honest if you have 16k in savings you should be using it for the situation you have now found yourselves in. Yes it would be a shame to have to start saving up for a house deposit again but s**t happens.

If they are entitled to contribution based jobseekers allowance, the amount of savings they have will not affect their JSA. What savings will affect is entitlement to housing benefit and council tax benefit.

rogerblack

-Pickle- wrote: »

Our joint savings are probably around £16k give or take a few thousand. I haven't checked lately but we did have some very big bills that needed to come out of it in Jan and Feb. As a matter of interest though, is that the amount for a couple or each?

It's both.
For a couple, the amounts are added, but the capital limit is the same.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch29.pdf

For an exciting (not really) read on these issues.

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/1178/

The decision in http://www.administrativeappeals.tribunals.gov.uk/aspx/view.aspx?id=1828 would also seem to be very useful.

"
52. Therefore, although I accept that the appellant and his wife were prompted largely to settle their credit card bills at the particular time that they did so by their desire to claim income-based jobseeker’s allowance, I am satisfied that the payment of those debts, which is well documented by bank statements and credit card statements, was in any event reasonable because it was for the purpose of avoiding further substantial liabilities for interest payments. Accordingly, I am satisfied that paying the bills was not for the purpose of obtaining jobseeker’s allowance or income support or increasing their entitlement to those benefits and that the tribunal erred in law in finding otherwise.

"

dmg24

rogerblack wrote: »

It's both.
For a couple, the amounts are added, but the capital limit is the same.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch29.pdf

For an exciting (not really) read on these issues.

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/1178/

The decision in http://www.administrativeappeals.tribunals.gov.uk/aspx/view.aspx?id=1828 would also seem to be very useful.

"
52. Therefore, although I accept that the appellant and his wife were prompted largely to settle their credit card bills at the particular time that they did so by their desire to claim income-based jobseeker’s allowance, I am satisfied that the payment of those debts, which is well documented by bank statements and credit card statements, was in any event reasonable because it was for the purpose of avoiding further substantial liabilities for interest payments. Accordingly, I am satisfied that paying the bills was not for the purpose of obtaining jobseeker’s allowance or income support or increasing their entitlement to those benefits and that the tribunal erred in law in finding otherwise.

"

I am scared by the contradiction in that judgment!

rogerblack

dmg24 wrote: »

I am scared by the contradiction in that judgment!

Yes - the earlier decisions are nowhere near as favourable for credit card debts.

Only more recent judgements or changes in law would supercede this though.
As I understand it - not being an actual lawyer.