Serious advice needed about benefits, no judgements please.

inspirespirit

I think you should go for it and move. You will be closer to your family. If you have waited ages for a house swap and now have one, you should think of your emotional well being and go for it. You are obviously an intelligent woman and I am pretty certain you will find employment. In the meantime, you will be able to claim benefits.
There was another thread on here recently about a similar issue and this is one of the replies.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=44308180&postcount=2

you should also be able to get housing benefit and CT benefit until you get back on your feet, which I'm certain you will, once you are away from that awful job.
Good luck.

ppolly

What a hard situation! I hope your time off enables you to come to a decision that you are happy with. And very good and better luck for the future.

SueC_2

Going back to the original question:

I know someone who voluntarily left their (very well paid) job and relocated 150 miles to be with their (very well paid) partner. They weren't expecting to receive benefits while they were looking for work in the new area, but popped into the Job Centre to see if anything could/should be done to continue their NI contributions.

Once there they were told, to their amazement, that despite the fact that they had left their job voluntarily, and despite the fact that they were living with someone who earned a pretty penny and could easily afford to support them both, they were actually entitled to 6 months Contributions Based JSA. Once the 6 months were up they didn't qualify for Income Based JSA, but at least they had 6 months in which to find a job, which they did.

Given that I'm not the only one telling a story like this on this thread, I'd suggest re-checking with the benefits people. As someone else has said above, maybe the person you spoke to 'misunderstood' the situation.

Good luck.