Are there any benefits i can claim if i take an apprenticeship

KingDean

Hello,
I have came on here to ask this question to see if anyone knows after spending 30 minutes in my local job centre and 40 minutes in my local council office and both of them being clueless asking me to check on the directgov website which does not have the information i am looking for.
Since i was made redundant at the beginning of the year i have been unable to get re-employed in a similar role with the skills i have, i have been offered an apprenticeship with a local IT company at £95 pw, and as long as i pass all qualifications and training in the first year i would be taken on permanently with a decent wage. The problem i have is that i live with my fianc!e and we have a 2 month old baby, she lost her job a few months before the baby was born as they did not want to renew her temporary contract. She is currently looking for a part-time role but is having the same amount of luck as me, we live in Northumberland and the small amount of jobs that come up have hundreds of people apply, i even have a few friends with uni degrees that are getting turned down for counter jobs in ASDA and McDonald's as to many skilled people are now applying for these types of jobs. I was wandering if anyone on here knew what benefits we would be entitled to/ or loose if i take this apprenticeship and my fianc!e is still unable to get a job. Currently at the moment my fianc!e gets income support and i get JSA, we also get Housing benefit, council tax benefit, child tax credit, and child benefit. I am really wanting to get back into work i just do not want to be put into a situation were i am unable to pay the bills just to do so, any advice or information on this would be greatly appreciated. Also i am 24 years old and my fianc!e is 22, not sure if that makes any difference.
Thanks
Dean

bestpud

You shouldn't be receiving JSA and your fiance shouldn't be receiving income support as you are a couple and are living together.

What you are doing is fraud so I'd sort that out ASAP.

As for the apprenticeship - it seems worth the sacrifice if you are guaranteed a job on passing the course.

You would still receive child related benefits, probably some housing and council tax benefit and maybe working tax credit too (not sure if they count an apprenticeship as paid work.)

Get your current situation sorted though, because a prosecution for benefit fraud will not look good on your CVs!

KingDean

Hi thanks for advice sorry i hadnt made it as clear in the first post, but we are on a joint claim, we are not claiming as 2 single people living together, her benefit though is still classed as income support as she has recently had a baby, i'm the one currently who has to sign on for both of us, i think its once our child is 7-8 months her part of the claim switches back to JSA. She does not want to wait that long though before going back to work, we are quite lucky and both have big families who are able to look after our son if she is able to get a job around 20 hrs a week. The main thing the job centre and council office were clueless about was because it's an apprenticeship it's classed as full time education, but as it's through college i wouldn't be able to access any student loans.
Thanks
Dean

PippaGirl_2

I would think she could claim IS and all the other benefits as before and you drop your JSA claim. When she declares your income into the household there may be a smalll deduction from the IS as your apprentiship amount is greater than the JSA amount. Check but I think that is what will happen. Good luck with the apprenticeship, they are hard to come by, well done and in one years time you should be sorted.

bestpud

KingDean wrote: »

Hi thanks for advice sorry i hadnt made it as clear in the first post, but we are on a joint claim, we are not claiming as 2 single people living together, her benefit though is still classed as income support as she has recently had a baby, i'm the one currently who has to sign on for both of us, i think its once our child is 7-8 months her part of the claim switches back to JSA. She does not want to wait that long though before going back to work, we are quite lucky and both have big families who are able to look after our son if she is able to get a job around 20 hrs a week. The main thing the job centre and council office were clueless about was because it's an apprenticeship it's classed as full time education, but as it's through college i wouldn't be able to access any student loans.
Thanks
Dean

Being in a relationship and living together means she isn't entitled to income support, even if she has just had a baby.

You haven't mentioned any disabilities so there is no entitlement to income support for either of you.

Do you mean she is exempt from seeking work to meet her half of the jsa claim?

Councils do get confused over apprenticeships but you should be able to claim housing and council tax benefit. You will definitely be able to claim child tax credit and child benefit too.

It's just working tax credit I'm not sure about.

bestpud

PippaGirl wrote: »

I would think she could claim IS and all the other benefits as before and you drop your JSA claim. When she declares your income into the household there may be a smalll deduction from the IS as your apprentiship amount is greater than the JSA amount. Check but I think that is what will happen. Good luck with the apprenticeship, they are hard to come by, well done and in one years time you should be sorted.

She can't do that. Joint jsa is the correct benefit for their current situation.

asher_2

I have been advised that as an apprentice my daughter will be classed as employed, and no longer in full time education, so I assume the same would apply in your case?

jfdi

2 types of apprenticeship - one's a training one (probably classroom based with some Work Experience), one's an employed one (usually like a job with Day Release). If they train in-house it could be either, so check with them.

If you do the employed one (& this is what it sounds like) you can claim Working Tax credits, HB & CTB etc.

fannyadams

GO HERE and put the numbers in
see what else you can get
good luck!