Quit..rest ..restart . Diary no.3

another_casualty

Well , I joined the uk plumbers forum that you kindly suggested harz:)
I listed the issues that I've had etc . I must admit that I'm a little surprised that I was advised that it's never good to have a policy regarding your boilers . They all said that it's better to put money aside each month instead .

I was on the disability forum here, and it looks like I cannot claim for my condition . Fair enough . I have however realised that I must get my finger out and claim Jobseeker's Allowance .
I have been off the radar for over 2 years ,and one thing that has alarmed me somewhat , is that you must have been paying tax / national insurance for the last 2 financial years .
As I quit everything in November 2016, it looks like I've just scraped through in spite of paying in for over 90% of my existence ..

I will go online later and apply for j s a . I would then expect to be contacted and for me to go to the job centre and be put on the radar looking for work . This , being the most uncomfortable part of my life changing experience . Thankfully it's only a part time job that I need.
I can only do mornings due to my condition . Hopefully , I can get something that suits and that it won't take too long to find something
Not looking forward to this at all ...

Apparently I can claim for LCW ( limited capability for work ) .
That will help ..

enthusiasticsaver

We never bother with boiler insurance. Just save so much per month so you have a contingency for repairs and find a good local plumber who is Corgi registered.

Being off the radar re not being registered for benefits etc also affects your state pension as you have not been paying NI presumably. Get sorted by registering for some sort of benefit either ESA, JSA or PIP or the dreaded UC (sorry not a benefits expert but I am sure there are many on here who do know the difference and what you might claim for). LCW sounds as if that might be appropriate.

another_casualty

Thanks enthusiastic
I was in a strange situation when I decided to start over . I was really unwell , too much cash to claim anything and not ready to look for employment . I did look at the pension , and filled in the forms . Apparently I'm still okay for that , but you can't trust governments as we know . People did say that I should sign on to get my stamp.
Leaving school in 1979,and being less than 6 months unemployed until this 2 year break must've been a positive thing regarding the state pension . But as I say, never trust . I cannot believe it's 40 yers since I left school in July . I also cannot believe it's been a little over 2 years since I started over . Originally the plan was to have 6 months to a year to get to grips with everything , but I just wasn't well enough. Exciting / depressing times ahead ...

enthusiasticsaver

So hopefully you have 38 years of contributions then which I think is enough to get full state pension. You can go on to the government gateway website and check how many years you have and what the projected pension will be and when. I cannot remember how old you are although I think you are a similar age to me - 58? In which case your retirement date should be on your 66th birthday but I think it depends on when your birthday is. Mine is February so is my 66th birthday but a friend whose birthday is in May has to wait until she is 66 and 5 months old before hers is due so 8 months after me even though we were born between 3 months of each other.

another_casualty

Thanks enthusiastic . I turned 56 in December :eek:
Yeah, I went on the gateway website.
I gave my passport no. As well as answering the relevant questions . I'm now supposed to retire at age 67, and not 65 as it once was. Don't you just love gvts ?

enthusiasticsaver

So another 11 years then :eek:

Hopefully you will have sufficient income through part time work and any benefits you have plus presumably any savings left from when you sold your Twickenham flat. Have you got any idea what you might like to do as a part time job? I know you were postal services but I get the impression that is quite a manual job which might be tricky with your health issues. You are obviously reasonable computer literate so maybe coffee shop or supermarket work? Bound to be something like that near you either in walking distance or on a bus route as I know you don't drive.

Gigervamp

Or bar work, in a pub that has live music. You'd meet other like-minded people, make friends, and get paid for it.

another_casualty

Great questions enthusiastic .
I am relying on the job centre to do their bit, and I will be contacting agencies and see what they suggest also . Some sort of office support perhaps , but I'll have to see.

I just got a rebate of £54.16 from Wessex water .
I thought I'd better give my energy readings to EDF , as they only took £1 direct debit this month .
Before today's readings ,I checked and I am £183.87 credit for electric , and £197.65 for gas .
Hopefully this means I will get a refund soon from them also .
If I had my head in the sand like I did in the past , I probably would've been owing them a similar amount .
I don't like the way that they keep changing the direct debit amount as and when they feel like . I've put the amount I wish to pay for each and they should stick to that . I very nearly quit them this year because of the constant badgering of smart meters . Even if I had a smart meter, I would still be bombarded with junk emails , texts and post . I know it's a gvt thing . I unsubscribed to them and I just want to be able to pay the bills etc ..

Gigervamp

What are you expecting the job centre to do? It's not like in the old days, where they used to help you get a job. Now, they're just there to make sure you do your job hunting, and give sanctions if they feel like you're not doing enough.
They expect you to job hunt for 35 hours a week. Ridiculous of course, because there won't be enough suitable jobs to fill that time applying for them, but thems the rules.


They might also expect you to look for jobs up to 90 minutes commuting time away.


But, until you get a job, you're just going to have to do it, or you'll end up back in the same position you were in London.

another_casualty

Gigervamp wrote: »

What are you expecting the job centre to do? It's not like in the old days, where they used to help you get a job. Now, they're just there to make sure you do your job hunting, and give sanctions if they feel like you're not doing enough.
They expect you to job hunt for 35 hours a week. Ridiculous of course, because there won't be enough suitable jobs to fill that time applying for them, but thems the rules.


They might also expect you to look for jobs up to 90 minutes commuting time away.


But, until you get a job, you're just going to have to do it, or you'll end up back in the same position you were in London.

Point taken gigervamp. Will keep you posted ..