Signing off JSA

jancollins

I would like to go off JSA, however I've yet to secure employment. I have given this thought, and feel that for me personally the benefit is not worth the conditions and uncomfortable dealings I've had with my advisor. I'm only eligible for Contribution based JSA for a few more months anyway and have enough savings to support myself (more than the income based allowance). How would I go about signing off without a Job to go to, and in a worst case scenario, will there be any issues should I need to eat humble pie and sign on in again in the future for 'signing off' without a job? Is there anything else worth bearing in mind, I believe I may have to pay my own 'stamp' although this is very little and I may have already paid enough this year (only been on JSA for 3 months)

Thanks, Jan

Elvisia

I signed off as I couldn't bear it anymore. I just filled out the green booklet you have and sent it back and didn't fill in the bit that said what I was going to do. I then contacted I think it was HMRC and asked them what to do, they were able to send me a bill for my NI contributions which I paid myself (they are not very much at all). If you need to sign on again in the future you can simply do it online.

What I would say though is you are entitled to the money, I tried to sign off twice in person and the advisor I had (who was new and therefore nice and not bitter and twisted) refused to take the form off me, and said I had worked hard to pay my taxes and this was my money I was entitled to. Hence me eventually sending in my booklet!

DanielJ7

I feel the same way because of my "advisor". I found it very embarrassing breaking down in front of everyone in the office.

One way I thought of coming off was to phone up and tell them you're going out of the country for a couple of weeks.

jancollins

Thanks, I'd rather sign off over the phone / via post if it saves me yet another trip to my horrible Job Ctr. Will the JC send me out a P45 (or similar)? Will they want to know why I'm signing off without a job to go to? Will it go against me in the hopefully unlikely scenario I don't find anything and need to sign back on in the future?

doodle-bug_2

I signed off the other day with no job yet to go to. After 6 months Contributory based, I was not entitled to anything as my husband worked - except NI contributions paid. As I had already worked full time for over 27 years, one of the advisors suggested that it was pointless me turning up as there was nothing they could do for me that I wasn't already doing myself. As I expect to get a job soon, I wasn't worried about the NI contributions (yet!).

I filled in the green booklet, signing off. Didn't give a reason. Posted it back to Job Centre. Couple of weeks later, got a letter confirming that JSA had stopped and enclosing a P45.

If I want to start signing on again within 6 months, (again, for NI contributions only) I would need to apply online with a rapid reclaim.

Hope this helps.