New Style JSA 1st claim queries

Roxie

Completely new to claiming, will try not to ramble on.

I put in a claim 4wks after becoming unemployed and have a 1st appt for new style JSA next week.  

I understand I already missed out on 4wks possible benefit as I did not claim on day 1 of being unemployed.  I have now been offered a job for 15hrs a week starting in 3wks.  Would I be expected to look for a second job, or a full time job to continue receiving any JSA while working 15hrs (they have said hours will increase at times to cover staff holidays/sickness and more permanent hours might be available in future). 

I will have a 5wk claim period (out of 9wks unemployment) but as I have a small amount in a Nest pension and I am over 55 will I be expected to access that before any JSA claim is processed/paid?  I’m really wondering if it is worth proceeding with the claim as I can use my savings (less than £12k) until I will receive wages at end of August? 

Thanks in advance to anyone who can advise. 

p00hsticks

I don't believe your pension will be taken into account until you reach State Pension Age (or the Normal Retirement Age of the scheme if applicable). 

I'm not sure about that JSA, but I think that, apart from a £5 disregard, once you start working your earnings will be deducted £1 for £1 from your JSA, so it may not be worth claiming beyond that point. 

poppy12345

Yes the £5 disregard applies but then your JSA reduces £1 for £1. Working 15 hours/week will mean no entitlement to JSA. You will need to report the changes once you start working. 

Whether you continue with your claim in the meantime is entirely up to you but i don’t see the point in ending it before you start working. 

NedS

poppy12345 said:

Yes the £5 disregard applies but then your JSA reduces £1 for £1. Working 15 hours/week will mean no entitlement to JSA. You will need to report the changes once you start working. 

Whether you continue with your claim in the meantime is entirely up to you but i don’t see the point in ending it before you start working. 

Definitely continue - do not report the change until after you have actually started work. Any number of things can go wrong between now and a start date 3 weeks down the line. You may get in on the first day, find out the job is not what you thought and never go back.

Newcad

Have you also claimed UC?

Of course whether you are eligible for UC, and how much you could get will depend on your circumstances, such as savings, maybe a working partner, children, health conditions,  if you pay rent or not, etc. etc.

UC can continue in payment if/when working, depending on your income, in UC 55p is deducted for every £ that you earn. (And if you qualify for a work allowance you can earn up to that allowance before the 55p deductions start).

Try putting your details into one of the online benefits calculators: https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
I prefer the entitledto calculator, but which you use is up to you, or use more than one to double check.

Brie

Sounds like me last year.  In the end I got about 1 week's worth of paid JSA but continued the claim as I was told (rightly or wrongly) that it would top up my NI contributions towards my state pension.  Surprisingly (or maybe not) the staff at the job centre couldn't actually tell me for sure and suggested I ring the relevant department to find out.  

The problem may be that assuming you start working and you want the claim to continue you will still need to attend appointments.  This was the bit where I came unstuck as they insisted that my appointment every other week had to be at a time I needed to be at work.  I was told that they could do phone appointments but despite my best efforts they would never ring me at or even close to an arranged time (just some random day or time so might be when I was working, driving, in the shower.....) and eventually I just gave up.  I complained but was told that the claim was closed as I didn't co-operate with their process.  So basically I should have taken time off and miss 2 hours of a 10 hour a week job to attend an appointment to ensure I was looking for a job.  Carpy system frankly and I'm always amazed that they seem justified in their approach. (crankiness session is now over!!!)

calcotti

Brie said:

Sounds like me last year.  In the end I got about 1 week's worth of paid JSA but continued the claim as I was told (rightly or wrongly) that it would top up my NI contributions towards my state pension.  Surprisingly (or maybe not) the staff at the job centre couldn't actually tell me for sure and suggested I ring the relevant department to find out.  

If earning at least £123/week from a single employer you get Class I contributions through work (even though you don’t actually pay anything until £242/week). It would only be worth thinking of JSA for the NI if earning less than £123.

Roxie

Brie I think my circumstances are going to be very similar to yours, thanks for the info.  I will be working 15hrs over 3 days, it’s not going to look good to ask for time off to attend the Job Centre which is 18 miles away from my new workplace.  

I’m not entitled to UC, it would be just contribution based Job Seekers based on my NI contributions for last 2/3yrs.  I’ve not had a break in employment until now so have my 35yrs NI contributions for full pension.  I think I will go along to 1st appt to see what they say but suspect I will end up closing the claim when my job starts. 

Thanks to everyone for their input and shedding some light on this. 

Shirker_Bee

Roxie said:

I’ve not had a break in employment until now so have my 35yrs NI contributions for full pension.

If you believe this you are in for a bit of a shock!

Roxie

Shirker_Bee said:

Roxie said:

I’ve not had a break in employment until now so have my 35yrs NI contributions for full pension.

If you believe this you are in for a bit of a shock!

Shirker_Bee - is this not the case? I’m confused now, can you elaborate?  I’ve previously done a state pension forecast on gov.uk site to confirm my pension age and it confirmed I would get full amount and I had over 35yrs contributions so your comment is a bit of a shock. 

huckster

As long as you have checked your state pension forecast and it shows full pension due.

Some people quite a while ago, opted out of some state pension contributions by paying less national insurance and their employers paid more into the company pension scheme.  So they find that although they have worked for 35 years or more, they don't have a full contributions record.