HELP, Refused Benefit!!!

ddeacon0187

I was laid off from work three months ago and was told to apply for jsa and housing benefit, i did so straight away and have been getting the run around ever since. This morning i called them to ask how my claim is going and they say they cant pay me anything because my partner is a full time University student that recieves a bursuary of £500 a month. We have a 6 month old daughter, my rent is £400 a month plus council tax and bills, how can they possibly think that is enough to support ourselves?? My rent hasnt been paid in 8 weeks, and ive been unable to pay our council tax as i was relying on these benefits been backdated as they told me they would in my benefit interview. There must be something i can do, as i have absoloutly no money coming in. Ive tried calling jobcentre but thay are as much use as a kick in the head, they said they were giving me a call back last friday, which they didnt, and im waiting for another call back today. Ive been attending interview after interview for these benefits, signed everytime, i even got a letter today for another work search session where id have to travel nearly an hour to attend. Im frightened im going to lose our home and theres nothing i can do about it. Ive always worked hard, and my partener is 2and a half years into a 3 year Nursing diploma. [text removed by MSE Forum Team]Please can someone advise me on what steps to take next before my family are out on the streets.

bestpud

Do you receive tax credits and child benefit?

Are you signing on for JSA but receiving no money? Or do you receive contributions based JSA?

midnight_express

If you have always worked you should be entitled to JSA CONTS based. To get this you need to have paid conts in the last 2 tax years. Any means tested benefits will be based on your joint income. I presume you are already getting child benefit.

GiveMeCake

Have you tried talking to the DWP rather than the Job Centre itself? Have you got any advice from CAB at all to check if what you've been told (regarding your partners income) is true?

It seems odd you're attending interviews with them yet they're not giving you any benefits. What are the interviews for? Are the work sessions part of a Work Programme? If so, they only usually send people on a benefit to that so why are they sending you?

Your partner gets a £500 a month bursary. Does she have any other income? Loan? Part-time job? Tax credits?

You should check what you can claim via entitledto.co.uk and as long as you're truthful with the answers you should be told what benefits you can get.

ddeacon0187

My partner gets child benefit of £20 a week, they say thats noting to do with the claim though, ive always worked, even served in the marines for 6 years!! ive been signing as asked to do so whilst they processed my claim but as of today they say they cant pay me anything, they said my partner has to get a student loan, however she cant because she gets a bursurary!!! so much for todays callback, passed 5 now. The application process for these benefits is completly soul destroying.

Notmyrealname

The amount the law and therefore JSA says two adults need to live on is £105.95 a week. The bursary your partner gets is more than that so you don't qualify for income based JSA. If you have enough Class 1 NIC contributions in the previous 2 years you can claim contributions based JSA, which does not take your partners income into account, for 6 months which is £67.50 if you're over 25 but it is only payable for 6 months.

You would however qualify for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. The costs of bringing up your little one would be met by claiming Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit.

In short you need to ensure you are claiming or apply for if you aren't:

Housing Benefit
Council Tax Benefit
Child Benefit
Child Tax Credit

And put in a claim for Contributions based JSA.

ddeacon0187

My partener has no income apart from her bursurary and child benefit, ive been attending interviews and signing on as asked to do so, bear in mind this claim has been in 'process' for nearly 3 months!! I will try contacting the DWP directly tomorrow, hopefully somebody works there who has an ounce of common sense, because the people on the phone at the JC are liars and have absoloutly no interest in helping people whatsoever.

bestpud

Notmyrealname wrote: »

The amount the law says two adults need to live on is £105.95 a week. The bursary your partner gets is more than that so you don't qualify for income based JSA. If you have enough Class 1 NIC contributions in the previous 2 years you can claim contributions based JSA for 6 months.

You would however qualify for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. The costs of bringing up your little one would be met by claiming Child Tax Credit.

In short you need to ensure you are claiming or apply for if you aren't:

Housing Benefit
Council Tax Benefit
Child Tax Credit

And put in a claim for Contributions based JSA.

I agree you should be receiving contributions based JSA if you have no breaks in your employment history, OP? That would not be affected by your partner's income and would last 16 weeks.

I'm not sure about housing and council tax benefits as you are not usually available to full time students. I just looked and it said you can apply for both of you if you are entitled to means tested benefits, but I'm not sure otherwise....

Here's the link I looked at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10034876

Why aren't you claiming tax credits?

sunnyone

bestpud wrote: »

I agree you should be receiving contributions based JSA if you have no breaks in your employment history, OP? That would not be affected by your partner's income and would last 16 weeks.

I'm not sure about housing and council tax benefits as you are not usually available to full time students. I just looked and it said you can apply for both of you if you are entitled to means tested benefits, but I'm not sure otherwise....

Here's the link I looked at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10034876

Why aren't you claiming tax credits?

In cases like this bestpud the none student usually applys and gets paid LHA and CTB, and I agree 6 months of CBJSA should be payable, OP can you confirm your work history for the past three years from now?

Caz3121

There is some information here on what student funding they look at for means tested benefits
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_070816

There is obviously some mistakes here as you are not receiving the benefits you could do. If you have been working the last 2 tax years you should be getting CB JSA, it sounds like there is an error and they have assessed you for income based or you have had gaps in your NI contributions (worth checking the NI number is correct on your last payslips)
You can claim for housing benefit and council tax benefit but they will take some of the student funding into account as per the link above (this does include the loans whether they are taken or not)
Child tax credits will only backdate a certain time so get your claim in now http://taxcredits.hmrc.gov.uk/Qualify/WhatAreTaxCredits.aspx

GiveMeCake

OP double check which JSA you applied for. If you don't have it written down anywhere check with DWP. It may be they've turned you down for Income-Based but you're actually entitled to Contribution-Based and they've failed to tell you this - typical JCP, they did this to me once!

When I applied for IB a few years ago I was told by the JCP to apply for Income-Based which I failed. Then a few weeks later I was talking with a family friend who works for the DWP and she said of course I failed, based on my circumstances it's Contributions-Based I'm entitled to. So I applied for that and of course got it.

Good Luck! I've had many run-ins with the JCP/DWP over the years, just make sure to keep every record of contact with them and if you send them anything keep a copy and always get a second opinion.