After some advice/help please.

tinshed

I was made redundant May this year and have been on contribution based JSA since. This is now due to end on the 26th of this month. Im told that I can claim Income based JSA if I qualify.

My partner works 21hrs a week and takes home £138 per week. I purchased a mortgage protection scheme last year(thank god) so I recieve £450 per month on that. I also have been using my redundancy payment to pay this bills, but this will only last another month at most.

Basically i want to know if I have to declare the £450 i receive per month which in effect pays our mortgage. If I do declare it im assuming they will take this into account as an income?

Im confused to how the hell the system works.

Caz3121

Without the mortgage protection, your partners income is still too high for you to receive a JSA payment (>£105 per week) You can still sign on for NI credits

tinshed

Thanks for that.
Are you serious that my partners income is to high to receive income based JSA? Ive paid taxes for the last 20 years how on earth are we not entitled to anything?

nannytone_2

a couple is expected to live on £105 ish a week (after housing cosys) you would qualify for council tax benefit, free prescriptions/dental/eye tests due to low income though.

your taxes arent kept in a pot with your name i'm afraid. even people that have never worked are entitled to exactly the same as you.

suelees1

I obviously don't know the details of your claim or these payments but I'd look into having the mortgage protection paid directly to the lender. If it's seen as actual income you won't be entitled to any help with means tested benefits.

If it's accepted that it's not income then you should be entitled to some council tax benefit

Are the payments reliant on you being unemployed ? If so you will need to keep signing on for JSA even if it's just for NI credits.

I'm assuming the mortgage protection payments have a limited lifespan so when they expire as long as you continue with your JSA claim you should start gettting immediate help with your mortgge from the Jobcentre.

As nannytone suggests obtain form HC1 for help with health benefits such as dentist, optician possible full prescriptions etc.