Advice....

thomas._3

Morning folks,

Looking for a bit of advice here...

My partner lost his job on Friday but he should get paid for the time he worked up until then, and hopefully the 4 weeks notice money the letter he got spoke about.

I work full time and we split the rent, council tax and bills down the middle, and the money he has coming in from the above should cover us until at least March.

We went to CAB who did the benefit calculator to see if we were entitled to anything whilst my partner looks for work should he not find any before the money runs out.....

Anyway, the calculator thing said my earnings are too high to qualify for housing/council tax benefit and also working tax credits, although like most people have loads of other outgoings such as car finance, insurance, mobile phone bill etc which leaves me with around £100 a month to live on after deducting the cost of petrol to go to work....

Just wondered what kind of JSA my partner should apply for? I have no idea what the difference is between income based and contribution based!

Horseunderwater

There is only one type he could get - that is contributions based, which is currently £71/week and goes up to £71.70 in April.
However, there are many things that you can do to get your outgoings down during this period. See what food is in the freezer and live off of that for a while, buying reduced price items that can be frozen for use later. Making sure that the car is not full up of extra weight so that you use the petrol more economically and driving with less foot to the metal too close to one in front so that you react in plenty of time. Checking out better fuel bills if you can, same with house and car insurance. What xtras are you paying for that you do not need for example. There are people who know loads more than me who lurk and help on another board on this site called debt free wanabees and old style money saving, who can perhaps see what you could cut down on very easily.

thomas._3

Hi Horseunderwater,

Thanks for your reply!

The freezer and cupboards are pretty much full and I said yesterday i wasn't buying anymore food until that has all been eaten! lol

I work 4 nights a week and travel 40 miles on A roads each shift, been sticking to 40/50mph which I think works out around 35mpg/£6 per journey.

Our gas and electricity is set at £81 per month so we're pretty much paying the same amount each month in terms of rent, council tax etc.

I've always been pretty cautious with money but everything I pay out each month is necessary. I've been thinking that if he were to get JSA, which would be the under 25 rate, we could use all of that for his half of the bills and I could add the rest, which i think would roughly be 12 a week.

Mojisola

thomas. wrote: »

My partner lost his job on Friday but he should get paid for the time he worked up until then, and hopefully the 4 weeks notice money the letter he got spoke about.

I work full time and we split the rent, council tax and bills down the middle, and the money he has coming in from the above should cover us until at least March.

When one of a couple needs to claim means tested benefits, the DWP looks on all the money that comes into the house as joint money. It can be a difficult time for couples who have kept their finances separate.

Good luck to him in finding a new job.

Mojisola

thomas. wrote: »

I've been thinking that if he were to get JSA, which would be the under 25 rate, we could use all of that for his half of the bills and I could add the rest, which i think would roughly be 12 a week.

He'll need to check that he has paid enough NI to claim contributions based JSA. As he's under 25, it might be that he hasn't.