JSA Contribution based

furiousmum18

Hi,
I will tell you a little bit about my situation. I am 30 years of age and I have worked continuously since I was 18 years of age, I am an engineer by trade. In September last year I lost my mum to cancer and had some time of work, she was only 53 and it all happened within 2 months, very sad and I took it pretty hard.
I returned by to work in the January to be informed I was being made redundant in the Feb (2018)
The redundancy package was awful as I was only there for 3 years. Anyway, I went on to make a claim at the job centre for Job seekers allowance and housing / council tax benefit. I am a single parent of a 6 year old boy.
The claim was processed fine and my housing benefit and council tax benefit was processed, all was good.... until now!!!
I have just received 7 continuous fines through the post from the NHS authority. For prescriptions I get every 3 weeks, (antidepressants) apparently I am not entitled to free prescriptions. I called them up to explain I was getting benefits and they said the JSA I was receiving doesnt entitle me to free prescriptions. I was baffled.
Anyway, they went on to tell me if its not paid within the time frame they will seek County Court Judgements against me for the costs.

So a couple of weeks ago I made an application for a budgeting loan with the job centre for £812 so I could pay off these fines and I got declined today, this was on the grounds that I don't receive a qualifying benefit, at this point I am completely confused.
I called them to see if my claim had been process incorrectly and this is what they informed me.... I am absolutely furious...

I dont receive Income Related Job Seekers Allowance, I receive contribution based because of all my national insurance contributions I have made over the years., Therefore this does not entitle me to free prescriptions, any budgeting loans or any extra help. Even though I get £71 per week from them to live off for me and my child. (£142 per fortnight)

Can I also state, I have no other income and I do not have a penny in savings.

I also get £31 per week in tax credits and £20 child benefit. So in total I have £100 per week to live off.

Anyway, my fridge freezer has just broke and I called the local council to see if they could help, guess what not entitled to any help because I don't get a qualifying benefit. I guess im supposed to get a new one out of the £100 per week I get.

I am being penalised for working all my life. My friend gets income related job seekers allowance and has done for a couple of years, its the same amount of money as I get but she gets everything free, aswell as access to loans and grants.

I am absolutely sick and tired how the government operate, how is this fair?!

xylophone

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/help-with-health-costs/get-help-with-prescription-costs/

Conts JSA does not give entitlement to free prescriptions.


Has Conts JSA not run out by now so that you should be applying for income based?

pmlindyloo

You can still apply for help with prescription charges and can make a request for backdated help if it occurred during the last 3 months.

Read this:

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/help-with-health-costs/nhs-low-income-scheme-lis/

Your contribution based JSA will run out after 6 months and then you will be transferred to income based JSA so will not have this problem in the future.

Ring the NHS authority and explain what you are doing - applying for the NHS low income scheme and ask them to put everything on hold until you get things sorted.

By the way, were you claiming tax credits when you were working as your child tax credits award doesn't seem right to me?

PS. I agree that this is unfair but suspect it would be too difficult to change as a lot of people receiving contribution based JSA have savings/a partner who works etc etc. and it would be difficult to differentiate between those in your situation and the others. Hence the NHS low income scheme.

You could also try the appeal route if you were not asked by the pharmacist if you were receiving contribution based JSA or income based JSA or asked for proof. A bit of a long shot because it is ultimately your responsibility but it might have the effect of preventing further action whilst you appealed.

pmduk

pmlindyloo wrote: »

=
You could also try the appeal route if you were not asked by the pharmacist if you were receiving contribution based JSA or income based JSA or asked for proof. A bit of a long shot because it is ultimately your responsibility but it might have the effect of preventing further action whilst you appealed.

Sadly, that's unlikely to work as the prescription statement that the OP will have signed explicitly states income-based JSA. However, the JSA should be switching to that any day now, if it hasn't already.

pickledonionspaceraider

I know what you mean. The system really does seem to penalise people who have bothered to work in the past and either fell on hard times or got ill

skcollobcat10

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

I know what you mean. The system really does seem to penalise people who have bothered to work in the past and either fell on hard times or got ill

It definitely is like what you describe I have been disabled for 18 years but before this I was working full time for 28 years. The system is wrong especially for those who have worked full time, you are penalised. You are better if you have never worked a day in your life. Nice to see a fellow Liverpudlian who thinks along the same lines.

parkrunner

furiousmum18 wrote: »

Even though I get £71 per week from them to live off for me and my child. (£142 per fortnight)

Can I also state, I have no other income and I do not have a penny in savings.

I also get £31 per week in tax credits and £20 child benefit. So in total I have £100 per week to live off.

Assuming you don't pay anything towards housing or council tax you have £122 per week to live off. Not a lot but certainly doable until you find work again. I do agree that different rules for different types of JSA are daft though. For a fridge freezer look on freecycle or similar in your area, normally don't have to wait long for one to come up.

calcotti

Have you advised HMRC about your change in circumstances. If you expect your income this year to be more than £2,500 less than last year you can ask them to reassess your award based on this year's income which could increase your Child Tax Credits. Obviously this puts you in the difficult situation of trying to estimate this year's income without knowing whether you will find a new job quickly or not. This could then result in a Tax Credits overpayment if you do get back into work.