JSA wait time

martysams

I was made redundant last month as a result of C19 and so applied for Jobseekers Allowance on 28th March. Other than the initial confirmation text and email I received, I  have not heard anything further in regards to my claim. 

I  understand that they are likely receiving a higher than usual number of claims at the moment, but does anyone have any info on how long I can expect to wait to hear about my claim? Money is tight and I'm starting to get concerned. 

I know of a number of people who applied for Universal Credit at a similar time to me applying for JSA and they have already started to receive it.

For clarity my situation means I can't apply for Universal Credit or for the government's furloughing help.

Thank you.

Fineypops

I'd love to know this too, started new job 9th March, got paid 31st March and was laid off 1st April (don't qualify for furlough). I immediately applied for new style Jsa have had confirmation email and then nothing. 

poppy12345

Under normal circumstances it can take 3 weeks or more. These are not normal circumstances, hopefully you hear something soon.

It's possible for people to have received first payment of UC because that takes 5 weeks after you first claimed. What they most likely received is an advance payment, which needs to be repaid back from future UC but it's not a first payment.

If you don't have savings/capital of more than £16,000 then UC will pay more than New style JSA. Do be aware that a claim for UC will end any tax credits you may already be claiming. Use a benefits calculator to see what you maybe entitled to.

martysams

Thank you. Looks like I'll just need to sit tight.

I'm unfortunately not able to apply for UC as I live with my partner. We don't have savings but she is fortunately still in reasonably well paid work which seems to count me out of being able to claim UC.

Thanks again.

poppy12345

That;s because UC is a means tested benefit and when living with a partner you claim as a couple.

Fineypops

martysams said:

Thank you. Looks like I'll just need to sit tight.

I'm unfortunately not able to apply for UC as I live with my partner. We don't have savings but she is fortunately still in reasonably well paid work which seems to count me out of being able to claim UC.

Thanks again.

I have received 1 weeks payment today (I applied on the 1st april) I have also been told I should be getting furlough now, so will be paying the jsa back. 

SXX

I applied for new style JSA on 20 March and received a text and then nothing.  Until yesterday when I looked at my bank account yesterday I noticed that a JSA payment was made on 15 April - so 3.5 weeks later.  The payment doesn't add up to what I should get so not sure how it was calculated.  Also I have been umemployed since 04.03 so I thought it would have been backdated  to then but I don't think so.  I think it starts from the date it is processed.

ARainyDay

I applied on 1st April. I got the standard text and email but hadn’t heard anything beyond that. Then today (22nd) I got a letter stating how much I would get (bear in mind you don’t get any money to cover the first 7 days of your claim, they call this the waiting period, so I will only be getting money to cover the period from 8th April onwards). I’ve checked my bank account and money went in yesterday, though it is much less than what I was quoted as getting. I thought I might be emergency taxed as my P45 from my previous job hadn’t come through yet, but even at that, applying the 20% emergency tax rate, the amount is still much less. Does anyone know if Nat insurance is deducted? I’ll ring them today. For those waiting, hang on in there! I was concerned about lack of contact but it just seems like there’s a big back log

japitts

For what it's worth, a recent claim I'm aware of (relative) took just over 3 weeks to go from application to response, which seems to fit with some of the other responses.