Uni cred & new style JSA (back dated)

molab

I Was removed from furlough on July 31st as no longer possible for employer to maintain ..so I had no job or income after that. had a new informal job due to start in August  but it fell through. I applied for both uni cred & jsa two weeks into August & asked to back dated from aug 1st explaining this. 

Uni cred have denied my request to back date but have granted my claim from date of application made. Haven’t heard back from NS’JSA altogether. 

Can I request / should I even attempt to request NS’JSA to grant me money from aug 1st for those two weeks missed (which uni cred won’t grant) and then cancel jsa altogether from that date? Thus, only claiming uni cred from there onwards.

PS. I am aware there is no point claiming both in conjunction as jsa is counted as earnings (I learnt that after I applied since I Haven’t done this before).  

calcotti

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/help-if-on-a-low-income/jobseekers-allowance-jsa/before-you-claim-jsa/how-to-claim-jsa/

You can only backdate your claim if you have a good reason - for example a close relative died or you were given wrong advice by the Jobcentre. You'll usually need to have looked for a job and been available for work from the day you want your JSA to start.

Very unlikely a backdating claim will be successful.

No need to close the JSA unless you want to. On JSA you will get paid fortnightly and then will get a monthly top up from UC. This may help your cash flow. If you haven’t found work in 6 months the JSA will stop and UC payments will then increase.

With JSA you will get Class 1 NI credits, on UC the credits are Class 3.

molab

@calcotti wow, thanks! After researching I was under the impression that if I applied for both at the same time some of my UC money would be deducted because of that - so pretty much ending up no better off than if i applied solely for UC. 

Now I know that Until I find a job I will get more money overall having both of them ...I will keep my application for JSA as well. 

poppy12345

molab said:

Now I know that Until I find a job I will get more money overall having both of them ...I will keep my application for JSA as well. 

That's not correct and isn't what calcotti advised. You won't be financially better off claiming both New style JSA and UC at the same time because the NS/JSA will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

molab

@poppy12345 ah I see, you’re right. I just re read the message again. What it explains is the payments will be more frequent (obviously in smaller increments), which might benefit my cash flow. Total will  not be any greater.

thanks! 

calcotti

molab said:

@calcotti wow, thanks! After researching I was under the impression that if I applied for both at the same time some of my UC money would be deducted because of that - so pretty much ending up no better off than if i applied solely for UC. 

Now I know that Until I find a job I will get more money overall having both of them ...I will keep my application for JSA as well. 

That’s not what I said. The JSA is deducted from the UC but the UC is worth more than JSA which is why you will get a (small) monthly UC top up in addition to the JSA. You get the same amounts unt f may net overall as just claiming UC.

calcotti

Occurred just occurred to me to add that in the past there was only a few pence difference between the amount you would receive on JSA and the standard allowance of UC. Currently there is a difference of about £90/month because the government added it to UC as part of their COVID response. This addition is intended to be removed in April next year at which time JSA and the UC standard allowance will again be equal (subject to government change of mind of course).

molab

@calcotti thank you! You are so so helpful really appreciate