Help! Lost Job, No benefits

binksieboy_2

Hi All,

I recently lost my job due to severe financial problems which my company could not help me with, in fact, they gave me the option to resign or be sacked as I was "unsuitable" after 11 months in the role.

I was advised by a friend who works for JCP that as I had had to resign, I wouldn't get any benefits.

We have tried to make my partners limited income stretch as far as we can but having covered rent, CT, phones, and some money on gas, electric and food. we have now run out of money and will run out of food on sunday.

Can someone please advise whether I should be getting benefits and whether I would receive a payment from the social fund to keep us going?

Any advice is gratefully received. Thank you

pmlindyloo

binksieboy wrote: »

Hi All,

I recently lost my job due to severe financial problems which my company could not help me with, in fact, they gave me the option to resign or be sacked as I was "unsuitable" after 11 months in the role.

I was advised by a friend who works for JCP that as I had had to resign, I wouldn't get any benefits.

We have tried to make my partners limited income stretch as far as we can but having covered rent, CT, phones, and some money on gas, electric and food. we have now run out of money and will run out of food on sunday.

Can someone please advise whether I should be getting benefits and whether I would receive a payment from the social fund to keep us going?

Any advice is gratefully received. Thank you

As regards your employment 'problem' I suggest you post on the Employment forum with more details in case you have a claim for constructive dismissal.
(At the moment because you have resigned then you will be sanctioned as regards JSA.)

If you did put in a claim for constructive dismissal then you may then be entitled to contribution based JSA (if you have paid NI contributions during the last 2 years - approximately)

As regards other benefits then it will depend on you and your partner's houshold income/savings, your ages, the hours your partner works and whether you have children.

You could put your details into the benefit calculator on www.turn2us.org.uk and see what that says.

Or you can give us some more information

The possibilities are Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Tax Credits.

As your partner is working it is very unlikely that you would be entitled to a Crisis LoanBudgeting Loan/Community Care Grant as these all have strict criteria and qualifying circumstances.

Edit: Should say that to be able to claim constructive dismissal you usually have to have been working for a year or more. However, without knowing all the circumstances it is difficult to be more specific.

BigAunty

I don't quite understand why an employee would expect their employer to resolve their personal debt problems but then I don't understand why they would be expected to resign, either. I'm aware that some jobs in the financial sector require the employee to have a good financial record - my friends and I have had credit checks carried out before being offered contracts before.

I believe the JSA sanctions come in when the claimant can't demonstrate they had good reason to leave so hopefully you can pursue this angle and find out further info on how you could challenge or prevent a sanction.

Even those sanctioned can apply for a lesser hardship sum - again, look into this. Did your pal not tell you about this?

You can double check your benefit entitlements on the Turn2us online benefit calculator - not being eligible for JSA would not prevent a problem with getting HB or CT discount as they are based on income. As per the previous post, contributions based JSA runs for 6 months and depends on having paid sufficient NI in the previous 2 tax years.

If you do not have dependents, and your partner is working 30 hours per week on a very low income, you might be eligible for working tax credits - that calculator will let you know or you can double check at CAB or on the HMRC website.

Many cities and town operate food banks who will give a supply of basic food to households, though sometimes they require a referral from places like the Citizens Advice Bureau or social workers but not all. Do ask CAB and google to find if any food banks are operating in your area.

Hopefully other posters can tell you about DWP loans and their criteria that you could apply for, rather than the pay day loans which I picked up from a historic post is one of the reasons for your financial plight.

Are you getting any expert help with your debts? The Direct gov website has good info on this, the Debt free wanabee board also has posters who have good knowledge on how you can sort them out, either by writing them off or paying a token sum.

RAS

Hi

If you are sanctioned, you need to be aware that failing to sign on for JSA makes matters WORSE. The sanction starts from the time you sign on so delaying signing on only lengthens tha time you have no money.

Also you may be able to apply for hardship allowance even if sanctioned but that would depend on what income your OH has after applying for the relevant benefits.

p00hsticks

binksieboy wrote: »

I was advised by a friend who works for JCP that as I had had to resign, I wouldn't get any benefits.

I'm not sure that they're a particularly good friend, unless they also advised you to go along and start signing on straight away anyhow, as any sanction applied due to you resigning would only start to take effect from the point at which you first sign on.

miduck

The first thing you need to do - claim JSA! Resignation is not an automatic sanction, you will be asked your reasons and then a DM will decide whether to apply a sanction, whilst this is happening you will still receive payment.

Is your reason for leaving relating to bankruptcy, and that not being compatible with your role? If so, if you explain this, and the reason for BR is not a frivolous one, you *may* not be sanctioned at all.

JimmyTheWig

BigAunty wrote: »

I don't quite understand why an employee would expect their employer to resolve their personal debt problems but then I don't understand why they would be expected to resign, either.

Maybe they couldn't afford to get to work every day / on time.
Maybe the employee would expect the employer to allow working from home / combining shifts (e.g. working 8 hours one day rather than 4 hours on two different days) / flexi-time to allow them to travel during off-peak times.
Maybe the employer wasn't happy with these suggestions and wasn't happy with the employee not turning up when they should have done.

[Not saying this was the problem - I don't know the OP - just an example of when it might be an issue.]

wayne0

pmlindyloo wrote: »

If you did put in a claim for constructive dismissal then you may then be entitled to contribution based JSA (if you have paid NI contributions during the last 2 years - approximately)

he said he'd been working there for 11 months... so unlikely a CD claim would work. you should of claimed for JSA either way, and housing benefit/council tax benefit...

however, if your partner earns more than 112 quid plus 10 disregard you would not get any jsa...

you can still put a claim in though, but money wouldnt flow for a few weeks at the earliest...

wayne0

miduck wrote: »

you will be asked your reasons and then a DM will decide whether to apply a sanction, whilst this is happening you will still receive payment..

not true... you wont recieve a payment until the DM has looked at the case either way... most cases are simple, so appear that its automatic. but the DM Still looks at the facts and clicks the "OK" button...

miduck

wayne0 wrote: »

he said he'd been working there for 11 months... so unlikely a CD claim would work. you should of claimed for JSA either way, and housing benefit/council tax benefit...

however, if your partner earns more than 112 quid plus 10 disregard you would not get any jsa...

you can still put a claim in though, but money wouldnt flow for a few weeks at the earliest...

The OP may have a claim for CB JSA, which would not take into account his partner's income.

wayne0 wrote: »

not true... you wont recieve a payment until the DM has looked at the case either way... most cases are simple, so appear that its automatic. but the DM Still looks at the facts and clicks the "OK" button...

You don't seem to know what you are talking about - where there is a doubt as to whether the claimant left employment voluntarily a form is completed and sent to the DM. In the meantime, the "OK" button that you refer to is clicked, but by a processor - there is no reason why a DM should look at every claim that is made. The reason for this is because it could take weeks (in some cases, months) for a sanction to be decided, as this will include writing to the employer, waiting for a reply, and so on.

I have seen several posts where you have given wholly incorrect advice. Could I suggest that you check your facts before giving misleading advice?

amcg100

You are entitled to apply for Jobseekers allowance. They will doubtlessly refuse it because you left your employment, but you can then appeal and claim exceptional circumstances. Whilst your appeal is being processed you would be able to apply for assistance from the social fund.