Advice for my lodger please

Raine66

My lodger is a lovely lady who is 53 and unlucky enough to find herself having to claim JSA. She has tried to get jobs (i have helped her fill in the application forms) but no luck so far. She claims housing benefit for the rent she pays me.
She received a letter today to say that her JSA is stopping next week as she has not paid enough NI contributions to cover it any more. What can the poor woman do? (she was living in Spain for a long time and working over there which is probably why but had to return to UK for personal reasons). She is worried stupid and we don't know if her Housing benefit will stop too. She can't get a job out of thin air and what is she supposed to live on while she keeps trying to get one?
The poor woman has been through the mill, lost everything she once owned and I feel so sorry for her. Any advice on this would be appreciated, thanks

benefitbaby

Raine66 wrote: »

My lodger is a lovely lady who is 53 and unlucky enough to find herself having to claim JSA. She has tried to get jobs (i have helped her fill in the application forms) but no luck so far. She claims housing benefit for the rent she pays me.
She received a letter today to say that her JSA is stopping next week as she has not paid enough NI contributions to cover it any more. What can the poor woman do? (she was living in Spain for a long time and working over there which is probably why but had to return to UK for personal reasons). She is worried stupid and we don't know if her Housing benefit will stop too. She can't get a job out of thin air and what is she supposed to live on while she keeps trying to get one?
The poor woman has been through the mill, lost everything she once owned and I feel so sorry for her. Any advice on this would be appreciated, thanks

Contribution-based JSA is only payable for 26 weeks so i guess she has had all of this. She can claim income-based JSA and this is awarded based on other income/savings, from your post i assume she has neither so will qualify.

Housing benefit is payable to people on a low income (and is automatically payable to people getting IJSA) so she just needs to keep the HB office informed and provide any info they ask for.

Raine66

Thank you for this. She is so worried but now she can go in on Monday and ask about this. The letter doesn't mention IJSA, just that her CJSA is stopping. She has no savings so she was panicking when she read the letter this morning. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply :-)

benefitbaby

anytime.

Dunroamin

Does she own (or part own) a property in Spain?

benefitbaby

Dunroamin wrote: »

Does she own (or part own) a property in Spain?

If HB is currently in payment then this is unlikely to be an issue as the local authority will already have done a means-test to establish eligibility.

epitome

Does she own any property anywhere or have savings of more than £16000 in any currency aywhere in the world?

All savings and property details are required by DWP for JSA (IB).

When she applied for JSA she may have already applied for JSA (IB) and already be entitled to it. It's just that when they pay out JSA they always pay JSA C first until that runs out then they send a letter saying JSA C is running out - but ridiculously they do not say in that letter that if she continiues to sign on her JSA will switch to JSA IB.

Or it may be the case that she only applied for JSA C...in which case she needs to ask the jobcentre for an JSA3 form.

If she can remember applying for JSA....if she answered the questions about how many bank accounts she had and how much money was in each account then she has already applied for JSA IB.

If in doubt she should phone JSA processing (number will be on that letter) and ask them if she has an entitlement to JSA IB already, and her money will not stop if she continues to sign on.

benefitbaby

epitome wrote: »

Does she own any property anywhere or have savings of more than £16000 in any currency aywhere in the world?

If she is getting HB already as OP says then she has no savings above £16k and no property that exceeds the same capital limits.

epitome

Doesn't harm to ask the question, to ensure there has been no misunderstandings in the past which has allowed her benefits on a false statement whether knowingly or unknowingly made.

benefitbaby

epitome wrote: »

Doesn't harm to ask the question, to ensure there has been no misunderstandings in the past which has allowed her benefits on a false statement whether knowingly or unknowingly made.

Sorry, I didn't mean my post to sound like a lecture

Raine66

She lost her home in spain and came back here penniless and now in a messy divorce. She has had such a bad time of it. She doesn't remember what she claimed for originally but has to sign on Monday so now feels happier that she will still get some money. It is awful that they just send these letters out like this without explaining it all. Do they not realise the stress and upset it causes...especially to someone who is feeling very vulnerable anyway.
We cannot thank you enough for your advice and comments :-)