New Style JSA 1st claim queries

kaMelo

Roxie said:

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. 

35 years is only relevant to those who started working since April 2016, essentially those born this century. Everyone else fall under transitional rules which, depending upon your work history, can mean you need more or less than 35 years. Examples seen on the pensions board have ranged between as few as 29 years and as many as 50 years.

Have another look at your pension forecast and read all of it, not just the large green box at the top.
The line, "estimate based upon your NI record up to April 2022 (2023)."  If it says you are entitled to £203.85 per week (or more) and you cannot improve your forecast then you are fully paid up.

If you are short there will be another line below it, telling you how many years you would still need to contribute to obtain a full pension.

R200

Keep in mind Everything changes this September with higher earnings requirements for being on soft touch

Spoonie_Turtle

R200 said:

Keep in mind Everything changes this September with higher earnings requirements for being on soft touch

Irrelevant.  That only applies to UC, this is JSA.  The rules for earnings are completely different.

NedS

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.  

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!!!)

The system for those who are working and claiming JSA in my local jobcentre is somewhat different.

Yes, JSA signing must be on a specific day dictated by your NI number, and the jobcentre are not able to offer much flexibility in appointment times (they do all the appointments within a 1h window), BUT for those who are working and therefore have good reason for missing their appointment, they are allowed to call into the jobcentre either before work or after work on that day to bring in copies of their wage slips. No one would reasonably want people to take time off work to attend the jobcentre when claiming JSA - that would be totally nonsensical.

Spoonie_Turtle

NedS said:

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.  

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!!!)

The system for those who are working and claiming JSA in my local jobcentre is somewhat different.

Yes, JSA signing must be on a specific day dictated by your NI number, and the jobcentre are not able to offer much flexibility in appointment times (they do all the appointments within a 1h window), BUT for those who are working and therefore have good reason for missing their appointment, they are allowed to call into the jobcentre either before work or after work on that day to bring in copies of their wage slips. No one would reasonably want people to take time off work to attend the jobcentre when claiming JSA - that would be totally nonsensical.

Good to hear reason prevails!