Financial help for people out of work due to the Coronavirus?

filbertfox

Hi all
I was laid off at the beginning of March .
At the age of 63 my options may be limited but in normal times I would get work of some sort .I am an qualified Electronics Technician.
I need to work to pay bills etc.(no state pension till 66) I have applied for Jobs seekers allowance but this is only £73 a week.
I had one interview and they said there's a recruitment freeze.same news with Job agencies.
So my question is :if I was working and laid off I would get at least 80% of my wage which would be great..
But for people in my position is there going to be any extra financial help.?

mwarby

Sadly I don’t believe there will be, at least not in the short term

if you still have a mortgage you should look at getting a payment holiday

if you have other credit you should also look to see if they can offer a payment holiday or reduced payments

you should talk to your utilities companies and other bills to see if you can defer payments

calcotti

If you are eligible and depending on your circumstances UC will pay you more than new style JSA. Even if you are a single person with no children and no rent to pay, unless you have savings which reduce your entitlement, UC after it is increased from 6th April would give you a top up to your JSA (you don't need to stop the JSA).

filbertfox

thanks for the replies,
I have applied for a Mortgage holiday.
and will see about deferring other payments.
My bills are about £1k a month so JSA will not go far.
I don't expect the Government to pay all my bills but £73 a week JSA is poor compared to most worker getting 80% of
 the normal wage, that works out at about £272 a week on min wage of £8.72 hr. if I got that I could pay my bills.
I have been lucky not to be out of work for my working life and expected more support when I need it.
At age 63 I had been putting all my savings in a works pension to take advantage of the tax free contributions.
I don't want to draw it early but I may be forced to if I cant find work.