JSA ceasing after 6 months

seh567

I am currently receiving contribution based JSA separately from housing benefit from Universal credit. I have received a letter from JS saying this benefit will cease in August. Despite actively looking for work I am still unemployed. Will my JSA payment be replaced with increased UC payment automatically or will I have to reapply? I have had no contact with dwp except for a missed phone call saying not to call them as they will try again. Thanks in advance

poppy12345

seh567 said:

I am currently receiving contribution based JSA separately from housing benefit from Universal credit. I have received a letter from JS saying this benefit will cease in August. Despite actively looking for work I am still unemployed. Will my JSA payment be replaced with increased UC payment automatically or will I have to reapply? I have had no contact with dwp except for a missed phone call saying not to call them as they will try again. Thanks in advance

If you're already claiming Universal Credit then you don't need to reapply. The JSA deductions that are being made from your UC entitlement will end when JSA ends. This means that you're UC will be increased.

seh567

Well my JSA has ceased 20th Sept and I received a letter of confirmation. Tried to ring the number to let them know I am still unemployed. Although the advice is that because I am receiving UC for housing benefit the JSA deductions that are being made from UC entitlement will end and the UC will be increased it is just a bit worrying that this will not happen if I do nothing. Will I received notice to this effect from UC? Sorry for being a pain but my income will be severely affected if I don’t get this right by not following correct proceedures. The only advice I can find on gov website is to discuss it with your work coach but after 6 months unemployment I am still waiting for allocation of a work coach so can’t discuss anything. Tried to phone but unsuccessful. Any advice appreciated

Rubyroobs

seh567 said:

Well my JSA has ceased 20th Sept and I received a letter of confirmation. Tried to ring the number to let them know I am still unemployed. Although the advice is that because I am receiving UC for housing benefit the JSA deductions that are being made from UC entitlement will end and the UC will be increased it is just a bit worrying that this will not happen if I do nothing. Will I received notice to this effect from UC? Sorry for being a pain but my income will be severely affected if I don’t get this right by not following correct proceedures. The only advice I can find on gov website is to discuss it with your work coach but after 6 months unemployment I am still waiting for allocation of a work coach so can’t discuss anything. Tried to phone but unsuccessful. Any advice appreciated

Currently the JSA is deducted from your Uc, so when the JSA stops you will just get your full UC entitlement instead. you don not need to do anything.

Rubyroobs

You will not just be getting rent element on UC, you will also be getting standard element which is equivalent to the JSA amount, so when the JSA stops being deducted you will continue to get the UC standard element and your rent element paid.

calcotti

Suggest you post a not in your UC journal advising that your JSA has stopped on xxx. You would hope DWP will pick this up anyway but I'm not sure if they do. You can also try ringing UC helpline if you wish. 

lisa76

My husband was not taken on by his new employer at the end of March for obvious reasons and they will let him know in 2-3 weeks if they will be in a position to do so soon.  His JSA stops 1 October and I wondered if that was it - is there a chance of it being extended?  We weren't entitled to UC in March due to savings. Thanks in advance.

poppy12345

lisa76 said:

My husband was not taken on by his new employer at the end of March for obvious reasons and they will let him know in 2-3 weeks if they will be in a position to do so soon.  His JSA stops 1 October and I wondered if that was it - is there a chance of it being extended?  We weren't entitled to UC in March due to savings. Thanks in advance.

Starting your own thread would have been better, rather than asking on someone else's thread.

To answer your question, the JSA will not be extended, it's paid for a maximum of 6 months only.

Spoonie_Turtle

lisa76 said:

My husband was not taken on by his new employer at the end of March for obvious reasons and they will let him know in 2-3 weeks if they will be in a position to do so soon.  His JSA stops 1 October and I wondered if that was it - is there a chance of it being extended?  We weren't entitled to UC in March due to savings. Thanks in advance.

If your savings are cash (i.e. money, rather than equity in property) then you could look into whether you would be eligible for any UC once your savings dip below £16000, after the JSA has ended.