JSA and NI

claire16c

Can anyone tell me is there any advantage to claiming JSA, for the purpose of national insurance?

I ask this because I have just returned from travelling round the world (before that I was working full time for 3 and half years) and am now back, and have a job starting in October.

My husband is back to work already, and because we rent from family, the rent on our house isnt too bad and so we can cope on his wage for now until I start a job in October, or if I can find a temp one til then.

I wasn't even considering claiming any kind of job seekers allowance, because I've never claimed any sort of benefit before, to be honest havent even got a clue where the nearest job centre or anything like that is, and I figure if we can cope on my husbands wage, I sort of don't feel like I should be claiming it?

However, someone told me that I should claim it, not just because Im entitled to it, because if you don't it can count against you in terms of national insurance payments? My friend also got made redundant, and wasn't going to bother with getting JSA, but a woman at I think the job centre told him he should sign on, because the time signing on counts for the years you have worked for a pension?

Does this sound right or totally crazy?

pcombo

So you have a job starting in October which is 2 and a half months away.

You cant claim JSA to fill that gap, while claiming JSA you need to look for work, possible calling employers emailing etc. But since you have a job in 2 months you wont be doing that.

So i dont imagine you would qualify for that reason, But i could be wrong.

BoroPhil

Don't tell them you are starting a new job, you could always be looking for something short-term in the interim. I would claim simply because you are entitled to it and yes I think there might be negative NI implications if you don't.

claire16c

Pcombo - Well I saw someone else on another thread who told the job centre they have a job starting in September, but they told her she still HAD to keep looking for jobs. And also, I am actually looking for temp jobs online at the moment, just havent found anything yet.

Phil - Thanks. Do you know how much JSA is btw? Also do they ask how much your partner earns? Because he works as a personal trainer and because we have only just come back he only has a few clients and his wages change every week, and has been told he wont be getting a payslip til end of August because his company pays a month in arrears so I wouldnt have any type of proof?

BoroPhil

£53.45/week if you are 16-24, £67.50/week if you are over that age. paid fortnightly.

I think you are able to claim for 6 months if you have sufficient NI contributions in the previous 4 years, so it depends on how long you have been travelling? If so, your partner's income is irrelevant. It's only if you wanted to claim for longer than 6 months or didn't have sufficient contributions that your partner's income would become relevant.

btw, it will probably take them 3-4 weeks to get your claim up and running and make the 1st payment, though it will be backdated to the day you apply.

Caz3121

The dates they will look at to assess your national insurance contributions are April 08-09 and April 09-10. If you have sufficient NI you will be entitled to CB JSA if you are actively seeking work.
If you do not have sufficient contributions in that period they will look at income based JSA however if your partner earns more than £102 per week you will not get any payment but will get your NI stamp paid which will count towards your state pension

Voyager2002

Yes, the information about NI and your pension is correct. You should 'sign on' for JSA, or at least for the 'credits' or your pension could be reduced.

As mentioned above, a condition of claiming JSA (or even just the credits) is that you are actively seeking work. In your situation, that means trying to find some kind of temp work, which is just what you are doing anyway.

claire16c

Thanks everyone, looks like I should do it then for the pension thing more than anything, and I guess I am entitled to it and will be handy money to have if I can't find a temp job.

I was travelling for 8 months, but before that had 3 and a half years of full time paid work, so was at work for April 08-09 and april 09-10, and I know I paid a hell of a lot of NI so imagine it should count!

So I guess I just need to actually find out where the job centre is now!