jsa and child benefit question

dazzadub

i havent worked since my daughter was born and am a stay at home dad.

my daughter was born in 2010 in may


my question is

i want to claim jsa as want to return to work, my partner works 26 hours a week earning before tax 11781 a year

so i would only be able to claim jsa contribution based.


with me being claim the child benefit for my daughter will have have earnt enought NI contributions to qualify for the contribution based Jsa while i find work

Mojisola

dazzadub wrote: »

with me being claim the child benefit for my daughter will have have earnt enought NI contributions to qualify for the contribution based Jsa while i find work

That only entitles you to an old age pension, not other benefits.

rogerblack

Mojisola wrote: »

That only entitles you to an old age pension, not other benefits.

I am unsure this is always the case, and would welcome clarity.
If the claimant has earned over 26* the lower earning limit in one of the two previous tax years, (around 2600 pounds) and they paid contributions at least one week, they would meet one of the contribution conditions for JSA/ESA.

If they then had been claiming any benefit which credits NI conts for 50 of 52 weeks of the of the most recent two tax years, as I understand it, this would qualify them.

In short - in some cases you may qualify if you have earned significantly in one year and paid contributions, and been on certain benefits for the other tax year.

Mojisola

rogerblack wrote: »

I am unsure this is always the case, and would welcome clarity.

I hope someone will come along with definite info. I thought that all the CB did was give you credits towards a pension.

dazzadub

this is why i asked the question, as to be able to claim contribution based jsa you need to have paid NI for previous tax years, which surely the CB claimant would be doing.

Mojisola

dazzadub wrote: »

this is why i asked the question, as to be able to claim contribution based jsa you need to have paid NI for previous tax years, which surely the CB claimant would be doing.

Claiming CB doesn't credit you with NI contributions - it gives you credits towards your pension -
https://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/start/claiming/protect-pension.htm

Waiting to see if anyone has the answer to roger's post.

dazzadub

we understand that, but to qualify for contribution based jsa you need to have contributed a NI credit.

i have hunted the internet for anwser. but cannot find one.

so still not sure if CB that give NI contribution allows the contribution to be used towards another benefit

Mojisola

dazzadub wrote: »

we understand that, but to qualify for contribution based jsa you need to have contributed a NI credit.

i have hunted the internet for anwser. but cannot find one.

so still not sure if CB that give NI contribution allows the contribution to be used towards another benefit

Receiving CB does not credit you with NI contributions. It gives you credits towards your old age pension.

zzzLazyDaisy

From the CAB website

"Whether you get contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance will depend on your national insurance contributions. If you have been working and paying national insurance contributions within the last couple of years, you may qualify."

This would seem to suggest that only NI contributions that have actually been paid from earnings from employment are counted (other links confirm that NI conts from self employment are also not counted)

EDIT - the actual wording is 'paid or been credited with'.... which brings us back full circle. Sorry :-(

zzzLazyDaisy

Bingo! I think this explains the 'or been credited with'

I think it should say, you must have worked and paid, or been credited with, Class 1 national insurance contributions in the relevant years.

The 'credits' being the NI conts credited on earnings between the lower earnings limit and the primary threshold.

Having said that - the extract below was taken from a Northern Ireland website, and the law there is not always the same as the rest of the UK. I am still searching for an UK govt link....

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.

zzzLazyDaisy

Bingo! I think this explains the 'or been credited with'

I think it should say, you must have worked and paid, or been credited with, Class 1 national insurance contributions in the relevant years.

The 'credits' being the NI conts credited on earnings between the lower earnings limit and the primary threshold.

Having said that - the extract below was taken from a Northern Ireland website, and the law there is not always the same as the rest of the UK. I am still searching for an UK govt link....

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.

Edit

Here is a link to HMRC table for lower earnings limit and primary thresholds amounts

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/nic.htm

And a link explaining about NIC credits for lower earners

http://taxaid.org.uk/info/national-insurance/national-insurance-for-employees-and-employers/national-insurance-thresholds