Contributions based job seekers allowance

dan160987

Hi everyone,

Im after a little bit of advice if possible.

My partner has recently been made redundant (second time in 12 months) whilst on maternity leave.

She was working 30 hours per week prior to march 2011 (first redundancy) she managed to find another job fairly quickly (end of april 2011) but this was only 8-16 hours per week.
in august of this year she took maternity leave and was paid maternity allowance (she hadnt been at the new job long enough to claim stat mat pay, but could claim top rate mat allowance due to previous position).

My question is will she be able to claim contributions based JSA. Means tested is out of the window because my pay is too high (£25,000)

Hope fully she wont be claiming for too long as she is a trained teaching assistant and will be going back to work part time in the new term (september)

I am in a fair amount of debt, which i have taken steps to deal with via this forum, and we really have relied on the mat pay so losing the 500 a monthit brings in will really harm us.

any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

dan

dseventy

If she is not looking for a job until he new term (september) then she will not be able to claim JSA in the mean time.

HTH.

D70

dan160987

hi,

thanks for the response. i may have been unclear, she is looking for a job, in the retail sector part time temporary. our little one is six months and moths MA ends at the end of april so has been looking for 4-6 weeks now. she has got a job lined up (though no formal offer) for september but would need to claim jsa till then should no suitable position come up in retail before september.

cheers

epitome

Just tell her to claim jsa conts as soon as possible, she will find out if successful within 3 weeks, so nothing ventured, nothing gained.

At the start of the phone call make sure she knows to ask for JSA contributions based as anything else will be a waste of her time.

dan160987

Hi guys,

i have noticed a few people have had the same question as me and there arent many answers other than applyu and cross fingers.

so i did a lot of digging to put my mind to ease and it seems that i have found the formula they use to work out whether or not you have made enough contributions for jsa conrtibutions based

add www.
lawcentreni.org/EoR/benefits-and-tax-credits/jobseekers-allowance.html
have a gander, lots of good (lightly confusing information there)

cheers

dan

cant post links so

2. CONTRIBUTION-BASED JSA

A person may claim JSA(C) if s/he satisfies all the common rules and:

satisfies the contribution conditions;
earns less than the prescribed amount;
if s/he has certain pension income, this is low enough;
is not involved in a trade dispute.
If a person does not qualify for JSA(C), or does but needs additional benefit (for partner and/or housing costs) s/he may qualify for JSA(IB).

2.1 Contributions and credits

In order to be entitled to JSA(C) a person must have paid a certain amount of national insurance contributions and/or credits. These contributions must be of the sort paid by employees (Class 1 contributions).

Class 1 contributions are paid as a percentage of wages, and the total wages on which a person pays contributions in a year is called the earnings factor. For example, if Mr X earned £100 per week for 52 weeks, his earnings factor for the year would be £5,200. Contributions are not paid on earnings below a certain figure. This is known as the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL).

Between the LEL and the primary threshold, a person does not have to actually pay national insurance contributions but will be treated as having done so. Earnings on or above the primary threshold require that contributions must be paid. Contributions treated as paid are deemed the same as contributions actually paid.

Year

LEL

Primary threshold

2004 – 05

£79

£91

2005 – 06

£82

£94

2006 – 07

2007 – 08

2008 – 09

£84

£87

£90

£97

£100

£105

2009 – 10

£95

£110

2010 – 11

2011– 12

£97

£102

£110

£139

If looking for work and signing on, a person will be awarded national insurance credits. One credit is awarded for each week of unemployment. Each credit has an earnings factor equal to the LEL which applies in the year the credit is awarded (in 2011/2012 it is worth £102 per week). Credits can help satisfy the second contribution condition of entitlement to JSA(C).

2.1.1 Contribution years

The National Insurance system has different start dates for contribution years and benefit years. The benefit year starts on the first Sunday in January each year, and ends on the day before the first Sunday of the next year. The contribution year starts on 6 April of one calendar year, and ends on 5 April of the following calendar year.

Both contribution conditions for JSA(C) require that contributions be paid or credited in the last two contribution years. These are the contribution years which are completed before the start of the benefit year in which the claim is made.

For example, if a person claims JSA(C) in October 2011, the last two complete contribution years will be 6 April 2008 to 5 April 2009, and 6 April 2009 to 5 April 2010. Contributions in these years, and these years only, determine entitlement to JSA(C). If a person claims JSA(C) in February 2012, the last two complete contribution years will be 6 April 2009 to 5 April 2010 and 6 April 2010 to 5 April 2011.

2.1.2 Contribution conditions

First condition

The first condition for qualification for JSA(C) is that a person must actually have paid contributions with an earnings factor of 26 times the LEL in one of the last two contribution years.

The LEL in 2008/2009 was £90 so 26 times the LEL is £2,340. The LEL in 2009/20010 was £95, so 26 times the LEL is £2,470.Therefore, to pass this condition, a person claiming in 2011 would have to have earned and paid contributions on at least £2,340 in 2008/2009or£2,470 in 2009/2010.

A person must also have worked a minimum of 26 weeks during one of the last two complete tax years. However a person can still fulfill her/his contribution criteria by working longer than 26 weeks but not by working any less than this period. In effect, unlike the previous first condition rule (prior to legislation changes in 2010) a person cannot reach the earnings limit by working for less than 26 weeks in one of the tax years to satisfy this condition. These contribution rules are the same for ESA(C).

The first condition is relaxed so that sufficient contributions paid in any one year are enough if the person was:

entitled to Carer’s Allowance in the last complete tax year before the relevant benefit year;
working for more than two years before the first day of the period of limited capability for work and was entitled to a disability or severe disability element of WTC during that period;
entitled to credited contributions because s/he had been in prison or detention and a conviction was subsequently quashed.
Credited contributions do not count for this condition.

Second condition

The second condition is that a person must have paid or been credited with contributions with an earnings factor of 50 times the LEL in both of the last two contribution years.

For a claim in 2011, the two contribution years would be 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. Fifty times £90 is £4,500, so if a person earned and paid contributions on £4,500 in 2008/2009, the second condition for the year 2008/2009 would be satisfied. For 2009/2010, a person must have earned and paid contributions with an earnings factor worth at least £4,750 (£95 x 50). Again, credits can be combined with paid contributions to satisfy the test.

Alternatively, in either year, a person might have earned and paid contributions on at least £2,340/£2,470 (and so satisfied the first condition) and then received 25 credits, making the contribution record up to the sum needed.

As a further possibility, a person could have been incapable of work for one contribution year and received 50 credits for the next year, thereby satisfying the condition for that year.