Help! No employment history and no NI contributions - JSA?

clarebear19

Hello
No judgement please!
This is actually on behalf of my brother who is 32, graduated from University 10 years ago and has had no paid employment since.  He volunteers 1 day a week at a charity shop.  He has some savings, an inheritance which was around £20000 but this will be less now as he uses this for any day to day spending.  He lives at home (parental) and doesn't have to pay rent or keep but does have a car with the associated costs of that.
My questions are:

• Is there any way for him to get national insurance contributions?  I know that due to the savings he won't get any money but I thought that JSA might pay NI contributions.  When I have looked on the gov.uk webiste but it says "You can get this for up to six months if you have been working and have paid enough national insurance contributions within the last couple of years."  Is there any other way (apart from buying them)?
  

• Is it worth buying any contributions  - I think they would be class 3 (State pension only) or would it be better to invest in a private pension with the savings now?

• Also the government website says this:

Is it worth him going to the jobcentre, will he be able to claim Class 1 credits even though he has no employment history?
Any help or advice gratefully received.
Thanks

PS  Yes he is trying to find a job, yes I know that people disagree with supporting people who work and in an ideal world I wouldn't need to write this, but it isn't ideal!  I also know he is in a better position than many hence my questions about buying contributions.
I am (selfishly) concerned that I will end up supporting him in my old age so am trying to look at alternatives whilst he gets himself sorted out.

[Deleted User]

He's 32 and his likely retirement age will be 67 so in 35 years time for the new state pension you need 35 years NI cont, so he needs to start thinking/worrying about this now, even a part time job on nmw that pays over NI rate would do.

Spoonie_Turtle

New-style JSA isn't, as far as I can see, affected by savings. However, eligibility is based on class 1 contributions which can't be paid voluntarily, only class 3. https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions As for claiming class 1 *credits* in the second instance (unemployed, looking for work but not on JSA), I have no idea, sorry.

Once his savings are below £16000 he will have some entitlement to Universal Credit, which would give him class 3 credits (I don't know which classes go towards what). 

Hopefully those two points are at least somewhat helpful and I hope you're able to find out everything you need to make the best decision

tacpot12

Class 3 Credits only cover state retirement pension (and bereavement benefits) whereas the Class 1 covers the state retirement pension and allows you to claim contributory benefits like JSA and ESA. 
If your brother has not paid Class 1 NI contributions he cannot claim JSA/ESA, so Universal Credit will be the only benefit he can claim to get NI Credits - his savings need to be below £16,000 as has been stated already. He cannot deprive himself of his saving intentionally in order to claim UC, but he is allow to pay off any debts that are legally enforceable. If he has any such debts, clearing these might allow him to claim UC.

You should definitely encourage him into work so that you don't have to support him in your old age. He needs to provide for himself. 

tomtom256

He could potenially claim JSA as a non-claimant to get his stamp, but wouldn't get any payments and would still be expected to look for work etc.

calcotti

Expanding tomtom’s response. He can apply for new style JSA. He will fail the NI qualifying conditions so will not be paid anything. However he should be able to complete the rest of the claim process (agree a Claimant Commitment and attend JobCentre fortnightly with proof of work search). This will then give him the NI Credits as a jobseeker referred to in the opening post.

TELLIT01

calcotti said:

Expanding tomtom’s response. He can apply for new style JSA. He will fail the NI qualifying conditions so will not be paid anything. However he should be able to complete the rest of the claim process (agree a Claimant Commitment and attend JobCentre fortnightly with proof of work search). This will then give him the NI Credits as a jobseeker referred to in the opening post.

We don't know the brother's background, but I wonder whether he would be able / willing to fulfil the Claimant Commitment as he appears only to have worked 1 day per week for the past 10 years. The option is certainly worth investigating.

calcotti

TELLIT01 said:

calcotti said:

Expanding tomtom’s response. He can apply for new style JSA. He will fail the NI qualifying conditions so will not be paid anything. However he should be able to complete the rest of the claim process (agree a Claimant Commitment and attend JobCentre fortnightly with proof of work search). This will then give him the NI Credits as a jobseeker referred to in the opening post.

We don't know the brother's background, but I wonder whether he would be able / willing to fulfil the Claimant Commitment as he appears only to have worked 1 day per week for the past 10 years. The option is certainly worth investigating.

Certainly, if he wants the credits he is going to have to commit to 35 hours of work search (unless there are any circumstances which would allow a reduction in the 35 hours).

clarebear19

Thanks everyone.  I know that the best solution is to get a job. 
I know that there are criteria to meet about looking for work.  I am trying to give him a kick up the backside about all this, part of me thinks he has it a bit too easy at home but part of me worries about him, his mental health and the future.  
Does anyone know what counts towards work search?   35 hours per week seems a long time for searching for jobs (seem to be the same jobs on multiple sites) and uploading CVs,  coupled with the issue of stone age speed internet where he lives.   Is there anything else he can do that would also count? 

ETA: I didn't think he would be eligible for UC but I will bring this up with him.  Does that give NI contributions?

John_

calcotti said:

Expanding tomtom’s response. He can apply for new style JSA. He will fail the NI qualifying conditions so will not be paid anything. However he should be able to complete the rest of the claim process (agree a Claimant Commitment and attend JobCentre fortnightly with proof of work search). This will then give him the NI Credits as a jobseeker referred to in the opening post.

You need to be actively looking for work to claim JSA, which he appears unlikely to be doing.

OP, why is he not working in paid employment, and what are his plans for the next thirty five years?

calcotti

John_ said:.

You need to be actively looking for work to claim JSA, which he appears unlikely to be doing.

It doesn’t matter what he has done in the past, previous posts have made clear that he will need to meet the work search requirements in future if he wishes to qualify for NI credits.