JSA Contributions based - am I eligible after maternity leave a year ago?

cyrilj

Hello, hope someone can advise. I was made redundant at end Dec. I knew it was coming but I felt reassured as we have mortgage insurance. However this means I need to be signed on so I applied not thinking anything of it have been employed for 15 years since Uni.

This morning I received a letter from Benefits saying I am not eligible for contributions based JSA as I have not made enough NI contributions for tax year end 2010 and 2011. I was still at my employer both those years and on a good salary however I was on maternity leave for tax year end 2010... Does that mean my NI contributions were not being paid? As I type this I pretty much know the answer but I can't believe it - didn't think maternity would stop me then being able to get JSA and then no mortgage insurance!!!! I checked my payslips and I did pay NI during 2010 and 2011 but I don't know what the minimum requirement is?

Evidently I will call them on Monday am but I just wondered if anyone can shed some light. However most of you I imagine will be doing something more exciting on a Saturday night!

Thanks for any advice.

midnight_express

You need to have paid 52 x the lower earnings limit in prevoius two tax years. This amount changes every year. In practice you would have had to paid NI conts on about £6,000 of earnings each year I think the directgov site can give you the exact figures.

You can still sign on as long as you are actively seeking work.

drwho2011

cyrilj wrote: »

As I type this I pretty much know the answer but I can't believe it - didn't think maternity would stop me then being able to get JSA and then no mortgage insurance!!!!

See above post regarding NI credits and signing.

Do you have a partner, if you don't and you don't have savings over £16,000 then you should be able to get income based JSA.

agrinnall

It might be worth ringing the National Insurance enquiries helpline to check exactly what NI contributions have been recorded for the last two years.

cyrilj

Thanks for all your advice I will act on it all tomorrow.