Not eligible for JSA

mojoman

Help needed,please..My son has worked in construction for more than 30 years.he has always been self employed as a sole trader. he now wants to leave his trade,partly because he has lost his driving licence and this has been the wake up call he needed to give him the motivation to change careers. He is not entitled to the new JSA because of self employment and because he has a partner who works,but on quite low pay.Could someone advise us on any benefits he can claim while looking for a job,also how to apply for a job for the first time in his life!! How can he do this without references?Your help would be greatly appreciated.

calcotti

Universal Credit
See https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/
Whether or not there is entitlement will depend on family circumstances. There are online calculators here https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
Both you and your partner would have to apply.

comeandgo

Why will he have no references? Did he work as a sub contractor to a main contractor or work for individual private persons? Can he get a character reference from any of those? Can any of his mates give a reference on his work ethics?

McKneff

Was he not paying ni cobtributions when he was self employed. He should have been tnen he would have been eligible.
The lack of NI paymrnts could well agfect his old age pension
He needs to get a pension forecast from the dwp

calcotti

McKneff wrote: »

Was he not paying ni cobtributions when he was self employed. He should have been tnen he would have been eligible.

No he wouldn’t. Self employed Class 2 contributions do not give entitlement to ‘new style’ JSA in the same way that they didn’t give entitlement to the old contribution based JSA.
https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance/what-national-insurance-is-for

xylophone

Has he obtained a state pension forecast?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

McKneff

What about class 4 contributions

Davy_Jones_II

Can he not look for a job while working?

calcotti

McKneff wrote: »

What about class 4 contributions

From the link I have already posted “Class 4 contributions paid by self-employed people with a profit over £8,632 do not usually count towards state benefits.”

In addition I don't think Class 4 contributions can be paid voluntarily anyway.

HMRC NI manual says
“Class 4 NICs are payable in addition to any flat-rate Class 2 NICs due. Class 4 NICs do not count for benefit, but they are paid into the NI Fund and help to spread the cost of benefits for the self-employed more evenly.”

sportsarb

mojoman wrote: »

Help needed,please..My son has worked in construction for more than 30 years.he has always been self employed as a sole trader. he now wants to leave his trade,partly because he has lost his driving licence and this has been the wake up call he needed to give him the motivation to change careers. He is not entitled to the new JSA because of self employment and because he has a partner who works,but on quite low pay.Could someone advise us on any benefits he can claim while looking for a job,also how to apply for a job for the first time in his life!! How can he do this without references?Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Does he have any ailments or disabilities?

mojoman

He's already looking for some kind of job,but finding it difficult as he has never been employed by someone References and interview techniques have all to be explained to him,also job applications and the way to find the jobs has changed considerably in the last few years.for instance he has never had to write a cv, it's all new to him. Please be kind in your comments.