JSA - Single or Joint Claim?

Tabitha_T

Hi, my DH is currently on IB JSA and is due to switch to Pension Credits in November (however, God willing he gets a job before then...).

We have an 8 year old child and I do not work (but looking for work). My husband has always been assessed as a single claimant and received £49.55 per week (having been stopped £20.20 for a personal pension).

However, as he recently signed off and back on again (further to a week abroad). When he did a Rapid Reclaim we were told to apply jointly - the JCP explained that as our child was under 16 I did not need to sign on separately but we should do a joint claim anyway.

We have just received our new assessment and they have given us £105.59 per week LESS £78 for my DH's pension, leaving a net weekly amount of £27, less than half what we were getting before the RR! They only stopped £20.20 per week before when he was assessed as single!

Can anybody help or throw any light on this please - we are seriously concerned. Thanks. (P.S. DH's personal pension is £4k p.a.). He has been on JSA since June 2010, IB since Dec 2010.

nannytone_2

you should never have had 2 seperate claims!


how much were you receiving in benefits before the joint claim?

dookar

With a dependant child in the household, it cannot be a joint claim

Tabitha_T

The old rate used to be £99.10 per fortnight, i.e. whatever the weekly single person rate was, £64 something (?), less £20.20 pension deduction = £49.55 per week.

Major problem has been that they lost our original claim, we have had a nightmare with Newcastle Ben Ctr - and consequently, we have had to fill out a brand new JSA1, at which time we were advised to do a joint claim. But they knew we had a dependent child!!!!! We said that we had never done a joint claim before but the woman was most insistent.

Help!!!!!!!!!

nannytone_2

im confused.

he was claiming income related JSA as a single claim, from which they were making a deduction for his pension.

what were YOU living off?

Tabitha_T

Well, half of the IN JSA, plus his £4K pension plus TC. Why the confusion?

epitome

You are confusing the terminology

"Joint claim" does not mean a claim where the claimant (who signs on) is claiming for their partner (who does not sign on).

"Joint claim" is only used to decribe a claim for a couple without children who both go to the jobecentre to sign on, it is a claim they are both equally responsible for, they both HAVE to look for work and both HAVE to sign on.

In your situation one of you HAS to be the claimant, that person will go to the job centre, the other will not go. Details of both people (and children) HAVE to be taken on the claim.

Just to confuse things further when and how long for was the last time YOU worked?

How much pension does he get per week/ per month?

epitome

It sounds to me like he either did a JSA conts claim initially
Or he did a JSA IB and incorrectly stated that he does not have a partner.

only in these two scenarios would they pay him as a single person. £67.50 week

nannytone_2

the OP would be getting NI crediys if the child benefit is in ger name as the child is under 12

Caz3121

Was your husband by chance on contributions based JSA before the reclaim

CB JSA allows you to keep £50 per week of the pension and then deduct the rest £ for £ from the JSA
IB JSA does not have a disregard and the whole lot is deducted from JSA (I am assuming the £78 per week is the total of the pension)

although the numbers are slightly out this could account for the difference in the deduction


edit: just looking at the last line in your original post re dates. It looks like his JSA payment should have been zero when he moved over to IB JSA in Dec 2010 if he was in receipt of his pension at that date as the £50 disregard would have stopped

epitome

In regards to your answers to the above post....How long has he been claiming JSA?

If you answer all the questions asked in the various posts so far when you next come to the thread it will help you to get the answers you need....and we won't have to point out the questions you did not yet answer.